Lord, make me free like a baby birdie

Yesterday morning Baby Bear came running inside and asked Mama Bird and I to check out the baby birds in the nest a bird built in our patio cover. We went outside to see their growth and realized the birds were ready to get spread their wings and fly.

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We were all so excited for them, but with two dogs running amuck in the yard grew nervous. We put Pennie (our bird-obsessed pup) away in the dog run and Calvin (our pain-in-the-neck old man terrier) took off in the house to avoid the pen. We watched as baby birdie one leaped from the nest, flapped his wings clumsily, and then hit the ground. Baby birdie pulled himself up into a pretty little posture and as he did so, Calvin came running out of the house and gobbled the birdie up in one bite.

It was such a sad little moment. We yelled at him no and he finally dropped the baby birdie, but he was already dead. We locked Calvin in the dog run before baby birdie two decided to get his flight on. No movement from the nest left Mama Bird and I bored so we went in to finish getting ready for the day. Suddenly Baby Bear said the other bird came out of the nest and we had to see. Baby birdie two was sort of a hot feathery mess laying face down on the ground. We thought he too had died. Suddenly a little flap of the wing and he was all put back together!

Baby Bear had to leave for school but laid down his compassionate, animal-loving law. No dogs out until baby birdie two was gone. The backyard needed to be searched before the dogs could be free to roam. We all agreed.

Baby birdie two flew the coop yesterday sometime. Thank goodness, all alive and well. But as I think of the excitement of the morning, I can't help but think of God. Of His love and provisions for us.

But He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them; and often He restrained His anger, and did not arouse His wrath." -Psalm 78:38

Just like Baby Bear did for the birdie, God provides for us to fly, to soar, and to fall without being gobbled up by a ready-to-pounce enemy (or Jack Russell Terrier!). Much like the dog run, God's grace and mercy keeps us from becoming history before our time. Much like a backyard free of dogs for many hours, God gives us time and space to grow while delivering us from deadly danger.

This Friday afternoon, I pray for the freedom to grow and spread my wings while taking comfort in the grace of the God who provides safety for me. I pray that I can lean into the beautiful heart of God that loves my feathery mess of a self... Even when I'm not quite ready to fly. I pray with much thanksgiving for the sweet baby birds that gave me a lesson while doing precisely what God made them to do, if only I could hold tight to my purpose like them.