for the birds

It was probably five years ago when my mother-in-law gave me a birdfeeder and a shepherd’s hook for Mother's Day. On one side she hung the feeder, and on the other side, a basket of beautiful spring flowers. I didn’t get it, but I graciously accepted it and it has been in the ground just outside the front porch all this time. Every time we go to her house, we sit at her kitchen table and watch the bird feeders just outside the window. It’s fascinating and so peaceful to see them coming and going. I quiets my soul. But still, it never occurred to me to put food in my own feeder. The wasps occupied it a few years ago so we were all scared to get too close. I didn’t quite understand the mechanics of the thing, so I wasn’t sure how to evict the tenants without getting ambushed.

Last week, on a whim, I bought a bag of bird seed. It was cold enough that the wasps wouldn’t be around to guard their nest, so I cleaned it out, filled it up and then waited. For days I watched, but it seemed hopeless. Until this morning… I just happened to be sitting by the window when two birds lit on my front porch rail and cautiously approached the tiny house. My eyes welled up when the first one discovered the fresh supply of food and signaled to it's partner that it was safe.

When I accepted the gift of the birdfeeder there was a sense of gratitude, but I didn't fully receive the gift until years later. Had I slowed myself down and paid attention, I could have had the satisfaction of watching the birds from my own window all these years. Instead, I neglected it and let the wasps take up residence.

What struck me was this morning, was that we spend all these years pouring into our children, wisdom, understanding and direction And for the most part, they accept these things dutifully, but they do not put them immediately to good use. Their reception of these things isn’t our responsibility. It’s our job to tell them. God will do the work of using these things in their lives, in time. So be diligent, darlings. Do the good work of speaking life into your people, and then pray for the harvest.