Kids and Birds
What is it about kids and their innate fascination with baby birds? I saw it again yesterday--twice.
As I was heading outside, Levi called me over urgently, to come and see what he had found. He was standing in the front yard, with a plastic tub in his hand, ready to capture a bird that was sitting in the grass. It was a smallish gray, fluffy bird, sitting still on the ground with its wings outstretched. Levi was convinced that its wing was broken, but I wasn't so sure. To me, it looked like a fledgling who hadn't quite mastered the art of flying.
We had to leave for an appointment, so I instructed Levi to leave the bird where it was, and wash his hands thoroughly with soap. On the way to the appointment, I reiterated, yet again, how important it is to leave birds alone because they often carry diseases that can be passed on to people. When we returned a couple of hours later, the bird was right where we had left it. But, a while later, it was laying a few feet away, feet in the air in the classic dead bird pose, the victim of West Nile disease or, perhaps, a neighborhood cat.
As I was preparing supper a little later, I looked out the kitchen window to see Levi dipping some water from our backyard pond. I assumed he was mixing up some scientific concoction, as he often does in the summer. Wrong, again! After we finished supper, Victoria came down from Levi's room carrying something strange in her hand. When I looked closer, I could see a small box containing a little pond water and a naked baby bird that looked to be quite deceased. Levi explained that he had found that tiny creature in the street, still living, so he had fixed it a home, gave it some water, and fed it a worm. He suggested that the bird must have died because the worm he gave it was too big.
Victoria was indignant that Levi would ever do such a thing, until I reminded her of that time, many years ago, when she and her friend, LeeAnn, had befriended a whole family of just-hatched birdies. I remember looking out the dining window, aghast to see them handling the birds, placing them in and out of homemade nests they had fabricated from pine needles and grass.
Over the years, we have found a lot of baby birds in our yard, pushed out of the nest by some marauding interlopers, or victims of one of our too-frequent west Nebraska windstorms. Meagan still tells of the time she was so traumatized in our backyard, when she stepped on an unsuspecting baby bird with her bare foot.
To me, dead baby birds are just one of the hazards of having a large, tree-filled yard. But the kids see things differently. They see tiny, unfortunate creatures who need their help, and they do everything they can to give them the help they need, even if their feeble attempts are misguided at best, or potentially unhealthy for everyone involved.
God does the same thing for us, but his care for us is always appropriate. As Jesus said, in Matthew 6: 26-27 and 10: 29-31: Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?...Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
God loves us infinitely more than my kids love baby birds. To him, we are worth much more than many sparrows!
As I was heading outside, Levi called me over urgently, to come and see what he had found. He was standing in the front yard, with a plastic tub in his hand, ready to capture a bird that was sitting in the grass. It was a smallish gray, fluffy bird, sitting still on the ground with its wings outstretched. Levi was convinced that its wing was broken, but I wasn't so sure. To me, it looked like a fledgling who hadn't quite mastered the art of flying.
We had to leave for an appointment, so I instructed Levi to leave the bird where it was, and wash his hands thoroughly with soap. On the way to the appointment, I reiterated, yet again, how important it is to leave birds alone because they often carry diseases that can be passed on to people. When we returned a couple of hours later, the bird was right where we had left it. But, a while later, it was laying a few feet away, feet in the air in the classic dead bird pose, the victim of West Nile disease or, perhaps, a neighborhood cat.
As I was preparing supper a little later, I looked out the kitchen window to see Levi dipping some water from our backyard pond. I assumed he was mixing up some scientific concoction, as he often does in the summer. Wrong, again! After we finished supper, Victoria came down from Levi's room carrying something strange in her hand. When I looked closer, I could see a small box containing a little pond water and a naked baby bird that looked to be quite deceased. Levi explained that he had found that tiny creature in the street, still living, so he had fixed it a home, gave it some water, and fed it a worm. He suggested that the bird must have died because the worm he gave it was too big.
Victoria was indignant that Levi would ever do such a thing, until I reminded her of that time, many years ago, when she and her friend, LeeAnn, had befriended a whole family of just-hatched birdies. I remember looking out the dining window, aghast to see them handling the birds, placing them in and out of homemade nests they had fabricated from pine needles and grass.
Over the years, we have found a lot of baby birds in our yard, pushed out of the nest by some marauding interlopers, or victims of one of our too-frequent west Nebraska windstorms. Meagan still tells of the time she was so traumatized in our backyard, when she stepped on an unsuspecting baby bird with her bare foot.
To me, dead baby birds are just one of the hazards of having a large, tree-filled yard. But the kids see things differently. They see tiny, unfortunate creatures who need their help, and they do everything they can to give them the help they need, even if their feeble attempts are misguided at best, or potentially unhealthy for everyone involved.
God does the same thing for us, but his care for us is always appropriate. As Jesus said, in Matthew 6: 26-27 and 10: 29-31: Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?...Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
God loves us infinitely more than my kids love baby birds. To him, we are worth much more than many sparrows!
Wow! I just stumbled upon this story looking to find info on a baby bird I found on the street. Not only did I learn something about that, but I’m what u call a “trying Christian”, and those words at the end hit me hard. I struggle often with worry about whether or not God will take care of my family and whether or not I’m even worthy of his love.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad this blog was helpful for you. No one is worthy of God's love, least of all me, but he accepts us just as we are because of Jesus' great sacrifice for us when he died on the cross in our place and rose again. Learning to trust God day by day is a life-long process. Philippians 4:6 gives us a clue: "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done." I've found that reading God's instruction book, the Bible, every day, talking (praying) to him throughout each day, and worshiping often with other Christians, brings me closer to God, and helps me understand more about trusting in him for all I need.
ReplyDeleteYou are not alone in your struggles, but you can be sure that God loves you more than you can imagine. He wants you to know him well, and he will work hard to make that happen!