How Great!?!?

Do you want to know how great MY GOD IS? 

I have been filing some paperwork away and could not find ONE document I knew had to be there.  I flipped through the pile many times, each one more slowly than the time before because, as I said, it HAD to be THERE.  No where else.  There was no need for it to be any where else.

The anxiety began to build...

Anyone who knows me, knows that calling me an "organized person" is a bit of an understatement.  Now don't misunderstand, I live in my home just as much as the next person... my home is not a museum... but there is a place for practically everything and even in the "piles of daily life" I can typically put my finger on what I'm looking for in a matter a minutes, if not seconds.  Yes, organized I am.

So, the anxiety builds... WHERE is THAT document?

A friend calls, interrupting my search.  She can tell I'm flustered.  I explain my predicament.  We chat for a few minutes about the next days plans, and she promises to grab her family and pray for swift finding of the very important, very lost document.

I walk into another room of my home and begin to go through another set of documents that should not yield successful results of discovering the lost document... the lost document does not belong in this pile.  Why would it be here?   But discovery occurred... and much praising His name began!  I called my friend back, not three minutes after we'd ended our previous conversation to share with her the news.  Rejoicing His name in numbers multiplies JOY.

This song erupted from my heart and flowed out of my lips. How Great - Chris Tomlin

How GREAT is our God?   Greater than even this simple reminder... that a lost document can be found.  In minutes.  Yes, He is THAT great.

The Birds

No, I'm not talking about an Alfred Hitchcock movie in this post... 


Back in May while I was cutting the grass I accidentally, very lightly, "tapped" the gutter downspout with the mower.  The support holding it to the house gave way, accelerated my annoyance (already high because I was tired and I was cutting the grass which is NOT my favorite chore) and I didn't even care about the gutter so much and I just kept cutting the grass with it literally hanging in mid-air. The WHOLE time.


When I'd finished I asked my fabulous (really, they are) children to then help me sweep and put the clippings bags back behind the house.  After I had all grass cutting tools put away I finally decided to check out the annoying gutter downspout which, by the way, I was fairly certain broke away on purpose to make my annoyance level rise.   You have to look out for those gutters - they have minds of their own.   I grabbed a landscaping stone to hold annoying gutter in place until I could figure out how to fix it permanently.  (And it has been fixed by now, thanks Mr. Mike!)


Much to my dismay, this is what I came across.

Look closely at the the top of the nest.

Now, I knew that nest was perched there on top of the annoying gutter, but I thought all bird activity had long ago ceased.  Boy, did I feel sick over this discovery!  I made a few frantic phone calls - and NO ONE I KNEW WAS HOME!  (I apologize to my friends the Richter's for the weepy, very girlish sounding frantic voicemail I left... thank you for still being my friend).   After all the phones of my friends went to voicemail, I prayed.  (Now WHY didn't I do that FIRST?!!?  Sheesh!)  

My main issue with picking the baby birds up was that I was afraid the mother (who was crying at me the ENTIRE TIME from the neighbor's roof top WITH A worm in her mouth even) wouldn't come back to them if she smelled me on her babies.  Isn't that what you learn in grade school??  She was definitely NOT helping my anxiety level with all her crying!  Then I remembered that I had just purchased some new gardening gloves - THAT VERY MORNING! (Praise God for Costco and packages of things I don't know I need until I see them!)


I ran to the garage, grabbed the massive ladder and some fresh gloves.  

These birds were soooo small.  They were not even strong enough to lift their own heads up and they barely had any feathers.  Where their "ears" were (actually just flaps) the skin was still translucent.  I was in awe of how special these little creatures were.   Now, my tears were much different than the franctic ones left on voicemails all across town...  they were sheer amazement of how wonderful God had protected them from the fall off the roof top gutter, protected them from my NOT hitting them with my lawn mower, and protected them from the length of stay they had on the ground while I took my sweet, annoying, time doing finishing my chores.  

Owen and Evie are watching me respond to these creatures, a point that is not far from my mind any minute of the day, but I was so actuely aware of their soaking in this moment.  They wanted to examine each bird and make sure each one was breathing.  This teaching moment was not lost on me (Praise the Lord for His goodness in THAT!) and I was able to show them how "just fine" the babies were and explain how God loves these little birds as much as He loves us.  He created them, and He created us.  He loves His creation and to Him it brings glory. 


After we'd done our due diligence of ensuring each bird was breathing fine and had no broken "limbs", we prayed over them, I fixed the gutter (temporarily), and returned them to their "home". 

And we waited... would the mother come back to "mother" them?  Or would she abandon them as I had feared...

SHE CAME BACK!!! God IS good!!

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."  (Matthew 10:29-31 ESV)