Archive - April 17, 2013

“Kevin! I think something sad has happened but I’m too scared to look!”

I grabbed his backpack and keys from his hand and pulled him out of the front door and into our second bedroom.

“Oh dear. That’s not good.” Kevin confirmed my fear – only one of the four baby birds in our window planter was in its nest. And it was dead.

After several minutes of sadness and discussion of the oddity of their disappearance, Kevin half-heartedly suggested we look downstairs. I raced out the door to find our tiny, pink neighbors.

We almost gave up our search when Kevin looked once more in the weeds. He pulled back the tangled grass and was greeted by three fuzzy friends, beaks open, begging for food. We faced our first difficult decision – do we leave them on the ground or return them to the nest? With a cat lurking ten feet away, we chose the nest.

Armed with cardboard, drum sticks, and a plastic cup, we maneuvered their fragile bodies back to the nest (after removing their deceased sibling). And so the wait began.

“God, please bring mama bird back.” Though I felt like a small child, I earnestly asked God to provide for our baby birds.

But by 10:00 pm that night there was still no sign of mama or papa bird. And so came difficult decision number two for the night – to let them freeze in the 30 degree night or to bring them inside. Neither was an ideal option. I chose to put a lamp with them in the window planter. By 10:30, Kevin was in bed and the baby birds nestled together.

But at 11:00, I still lie awake, mind racing. All I could think about was how that lamp gets so hot I have burned my hand on it before. What if it sparked? I could live with myself if the baby birds died but not if I burned down our apartment building.

I turned off the lamp.

Matthew 6:26 reminds us that God feeds the birds of the air. But God let those baby birds die.

Here’s a hard lesson we must learn in ministry (shout out to Kevin for telling this to me): We can only do so much on our own. Those baby birds needed their mama and she failed them. The people we minister to need more than we can give – a reconciled relationship, a parent released from prison, the revelation of a Heavenly Father.

For those of you in ministry – don’t be discouraged by our baby bird adventure. Take courage that where your efforts run out, God’s never will. Work with His strength that never fails,  knowing that He will empower us to overcome the list of things we cannot provide. And know that He is at work, even when you don’t see the evidence.