MORNING ADVENTURES ON THE PORCH

I decided this morning to have my quiet time and coffee on our back porch. It was cloudy, the wind was blowing gently through the trees surrounding our back yard and rain was falling intermittently.

I needed some real "quiet" time this morning, time with just me and the Lord. I cherish those times to be still and just bask in His presence. There is something so calming about just being still and knowing He is right there with you.

Next to my rocking chair is a small table and on that table was a basket of flowers. Recently a small sparrow had made a nest in that basket and just a few days ago we discovered that there were several baby birds in that nest.

I had only been sitting there a few moments when Momma Bird flew to the porch and lit on the swing, chirping and dancing nervously back and forth. An unknown presence (ME) was threatening her baby birds and she was none too happy. She flitted from chair to chair, squawking at me. I felt really bad for her for I had no plans to harm her babies, yet she did not know that. To calm her, I moved the basket from near me to the larger table away from me a bit, but turned where if she came, I could see her tend her babies.

Soon she found the nest and oh the noise you should have heard when she appeared to those babies. Those 2 or 3 birds chirped louder than 2 dozen could have. She fed them a bite and off she went for more.

I went back to what I was reading.

Suddenly, I heard another sound. I wasn't sure what it was but looked up just in time to see, just a few yards in front of me, a deer come flying by. Yes, I do mean flying....she was laid out she was running so fast. (I am saying 'she', it could have been a 'he' but it went by too fast to tell). She flew into the woods and jumped the fence into the neighboring woods, gone in a flash!

Now that is only the 3rd time in the years we've lived here that I have seen a deer in my yard. And never this close!! I don't know what spooked it, but it was terrified when it ran by. Its instinct told it to run for its life, and run it did.

So once again, I tried to go back to what I was reading when here came Momma Bird again.

She would fly to the swing, then fly to one of the chairs at the table and then when she thought it was safe, she'd fly to the nest. As soon as she would light on the edge of the nest, the babies would begin to chirp loudly. She would deposit her morsel of food (probably worm delight) and then would dash off to the swing, then to the grill and finally off to the flower beds beyond for more food. After she would leave, the babies would cry for quite some time, then finally quiet down.

Moments later, here she'd come again with another tidbit in her mouth. Over and over she repeated this process.

How we complain about having to go to the grocery store, lug in the groceries and put them all away. We prepare a meal, serve our families and then we are done.

Momma Bird must go out dig up her babies' food, carry it in her mouth to their home, feed them and return repeatedly again and again for more. What an exhausting task that must be. And each time she only has enough in her mouth for one, so I can imagine the chaos inside that nest as the little ones fight for who gets the newest morsel of food. Talk about a labor of love!

As I was watching this parade, something caught my eye in the distance. It was more deer!!! They were just beyond our fence in the pasture around our neighbor's pond. Two of them tripping along the fence row. Then they were out of sight. But...moments later, I saw a white tail as it headed up the hill. Seconds later, there went two, then three more up toward the pond!!!

So much for a quiet morning on the porch! But oh how I enjoyed watching all of God's creation doing just what He designed it to do. In the midst of all of this a soft rain fell and the wind picked up a little causing the wind chimes to sway producing a beautiful melody.

"Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they?" Matthew 6:26 God cares for the birds. He created them to know how to gather food, bite by bite, to feed their young, to protect them, to teach them to fly. He also put within a deer the ability to sense danger, to flee, to alert one another, and to run like the wind and be able to jump tall fences in a single bound.

Yes all morning I have seen God at work....

in the actions of the bird family....

in the flight of the deer and the movement of the others....

in the falling rain and the blowing wind....

I not only got to feel His presence with me, I got to SEE it as well. A gentle reminder that He cares for me, He provides for me just as He does for the birds. His eye is on the sparrow and I know He cares for me.

If He would teach a momma bird to go back and forth, relentlessly providing food for her babies, is there any doubt that He, my Heavenly Father, would not provide for me, one who was created in His image? Oh yes! He will.

He tells us in Matthew 6: 31-33 "Therefore take no thought saying "what shall we eat?" or "what shall we drink?" or "what shall we wear?"....for your Heavenly Father knows you have need of these things. But, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteouness and all these things shall be added unto you."

Seek Him first, above and beyond all else, and He will meet your every need.