Birds

It all started with one very determined bird. This one right here. I've been absolutely captivated with the process that has been unfolding for nearly two months on my front porch. I touched on this in a prior post, but it's unfolded even more, and it's been amazing to see.

First, there was at least ONE MONTH of that bird trying to build a nest on top one of the columns on my front porch. But the winds came and blew apart her every attempt. This picture shows the pile of that bird's fruitless efforts:
But then after more than a month, it looked like the bird was able to pull it off--an actual nest was forming up there!
And that nest was the environment for new life to hatch. :)
I don't know why this little bird saga has meant so much for me to watch. Maybe because I feel sometimes like before my eyes stands--not a little pile on a front porch--a mountain of fruitless efforts and failed attempts. And swept all together, it's hard not to wonder if what I do will ever bear lasting fruit. But I have to consider that each time I kneel by my children's beds to pray, it's a piece of the nest that is coming together. And each time I make our home comfortable for Justin to walk into, it's a piece of the nest that is coming together. It looks like one stick, one twig. And there are times when it feels like the winds come against us and dash it all apart. And so the next day I'll pray another prayer, put away another load of folded laundry, make another meal, fill more sippy cups, and read them another story about their mighty God. And twig by twig and stick by stick, I have got to trust my God to weave it into an atmosphere for new life to grow.