Matthew 6:26 – Look at the birds! They don’t worry about what to eat—they don’t need to sow or reap or store up food—for your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are.

Gratitude Day 757

We have this wonderful, beautiful front porch on our old house. It is one of the features which drew me to this house when we bought it six years ago.

It is the kind of porch that draws you in, makes you want to sit with a glass of peach ice tea and say, “Ahh.”

Seriously.

This winter, I was at an event. A woman that I did not know was also there. She lives in the country but has the same town as her address. When explaining to her what street we live on, she said that the only house she can think of on our street is the house that always has hanging baskets on the front porch.

Yep, that’s my porch, I said. Yep, those are my hanging baskets.

Well, someone else thought our porch and hanging baskets would also make a great home this spring. A mama finch decided she wanted to hatch her babies on our front porch. So, she built a nest in one of those hanging baskets. And yep, that’s where she raised them.

Here’s how the family of baby finches began. It started with just a nest. I was amazed how creative Mama finch was in what she used to build her little nest.

These baskets need to be watered every day or two and so, I was checking on progress daily. I also began watering the basket carefully, on the opposite side of the nest.

A day later, I discovered this.

Quickly followed by this.

Yep, one more egg added for five total.

Five eggs in three days. Mama was buuuusy!

And then, we waited.

A little over a week later, oh my goodness! This was happening on our front porch! In a hanging basket! Baby birds were being born!

Two days later, there were five itty-bitty finches all cuddled up together in that little nest.

Day-by-day, their little feathers began to appear.

It did not take long for them to really begin to grow. And while this may sound a little weird, also begin to notice what appears around the edge of the next. If you think this is baby bird poop, you would be correct.

Every day, their feathers became more pronounced.

Bigger.

There eyes would be open. And I kept on watering carefully.

And then one day, I discovered this. An empty nest. Mama finch was stationed in the nearby maple tree, directing traffic as she was teaching her little ones how to fly. The babies were darting from tree to tree in our yard, carefully observed and watched by Mother Hen who was not very quiet about her instructions.

All those babies were zipping around the yard. But one. He was hanging out in the basket but not in the nest. He sat quietly there until I began to pour water into the basket. As he flew away, I was slightly surprised as I watched the last little baby flew the coop … or hanging basket.

Those baby birds? All grown up after just a couple weeks and out into the world they went.

As I shared this little adventure on my social media, one friend commented that people would probably have more kids if teens left the next after a couple of weeks. But alas, we know the schedule and timetable and how this happens for babies and teens and humans is drastically different than for these baby birds and their Mama.

Growing up on a farm, I have watched the birthing process hundreds of times. And yet, it never grows old. Each time a new baby enters this world, whether a baby calf, lamb, human baby or tiny little bird, it is an amazing and special event. I find it impossible to imagine that all of this can merely happen without Someone orchestrating the whole process. How else would it be possible for just the right amount of feathers as well as the right size be proportionally correct for those baby birds to be able to take flight and have just the right amount of wind gust to keep afloat?

My answer is simple. Only God.

Only God can know just how many feathers and size they need to be.

Only God can predict it will take about 280 days for a baby calf to develop inside of its mama and most often, come head-first out into the world.

Baby pigs and goats and snakes and alligators just do not happen. Somewhere along the line, there must have been a God who knew exactly how birth of all the animals of the world would be similar and yet uniquely different for every species.

Only God knows every time there is a new birth, no matter what type of little creature is born. Only God can look at a baby mosquito and say, “This is beautiful and precious” because the rest of us would be swatting at it and hoping it would bite us.

But here is the even more amazing thing: God knew when you were born. God watched you grow up and develop your own wings and tried to guide your days when it was time to take flight. Even now, when sometimes our flights take the less than desirable direction, God is ready and waiting for us to turn back to God and ask for some guidance to get back on course. When it feels like no one else is sure of our abilities and gifts and talents, and yes, even when we question ourselves, God still loves us and has confidence in us and delights in us.

Yes, that is correct. God delights in YOU.

Friend, I may not know what is going on in your life today. I may not know the flight pattern you are trying to follow. I do not know if you are feeling especially close to God right now or questioning if there is a God. It does not matter.

God delights in YOU. Loves you. Watches over you. Has a much larger and broader perspective of how you and your life fit into this world. Has watched you grow from the very beginning and will observe and love you until the very end.

If our God loves these little baby finches, which I am confident God does, please also know that YOU, yes, YOU, are far more valuable to God than those little babies who grew up on a hanging basket on my front porch.

For now, the nest still is a part of the hanging basket. I haven’t had the desire to take it out. It is a daily reminder of God’s part of the lives of the little birds who discovered how to grow and take flight. Maybe I need this daily reminder in my life as well. God is with me. Delights in me. The same is true for YOU, my friend.

Have a beautiful, wonderful, delightful day.

For lessons from the little family of baby finches that grew up in a hanging basket on our front porch, I am grateful.

Blessings –

Dianne

Dear God – It is so amazing to watch the process of any baby be born, grow and take flight at just the right time. Some of us will struggle at times. All of us need the guiding hand of someone who watches and tries to help direct us through this journey of life. I pray that I will feel and see and know Your grace and love for me today. May I delight in knowing that You watch over me just as carefully as You watched over those baby finches. May I know that You delight in me today. Amen.

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