Tag Archives: Bird Feeders

Leave ~ Five Minute Friday

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“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!”

Waiting For Them To Leave

They’re still here. I have been waiting for them to leave for weeks now, but they just keep coming back. I’m talking about the grackles at my bird feeders which haven’t had food in them for the aforementioned weeks to try and convince those persistent, big, black birds to move on permanently, alas with no success. Not only do they swoop in and consume all the birdseed, they also keep the little, pretty birds from visiting. For one (me), who loves bird watching, this situation is discouraging!

I’ve been waiting for something else to leave too. Not just for weeks though, but rather for years and yet, they just keep coming back. I’m talking about big, dark, anxious thoughts. I try my best not to provide “food for thought” in the hope they won’t linger long. It seems to work for a while but then, they plunge right back in devouring my peace of mind while keeping the “Still Small Voice” at bay. For one (me and maybe you, too), who loves Christ, this situation is discouraging!

I know there’s nothing I can do to keep the grackles from coming around. There’s also nothing I can do about unwanted thoughts from invading my nights….nothing on my own that is.

“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying pray. Let Petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”
Philippians 4:6-7 (The Message)

These days I try not to look out at the empty feeders but when I hear the familiar squawk of hungry grackles I rush to the window to scare them away. Maybe one day they’ll get the message and move on. 

I’m using the same technique with those pesky middle of the night worries. When I recognize their presence instead of as I like to say, rehearsing disaster, letting one distressing thought lead to another, I’ve instead begun to immediately rush to God to pray them away. Maybe one day MY little mind will get the message and the fears and anxious thoughts will move on for good!

Until then, just as I’m picky about the birds that I feed, I’ll continue to be selective in the thoughts I entertain too:

“Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious-the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.”
Philippians 4:8 (The Message)

For one (me and maybe you, too) who loves Christ, fixing our thoughts on such things takes discouraging to encouraging; anxiety to peace. It’s wonderful when “Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.” Let’s leave it all with Him.

So, the lesson for us today? Simply remember this: worrying is “for the birds!”
(Sorry, I couldn’t resist)

Day 28: While

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31 Days of Five Minute Friday Free Writes

“In my time of need, I called to the Eternal; I begged my True God for help. He heard my voice echo up to His temple, and my cry came to His ears.” Psalm 18:6 (The Voice)

Day 28: While

It’s no secret that I love birds and enjoy feeding and photographing them. I start almost every day with coffee, sitting in my chair, watching out the window as the birds partake of their morning feast. That is, until this summer. Something strange happened and I didn’t like it one bit!

Grackles (in the blackbird family) swooped in and landed on the grass under my “bird cafe.”

Fewer and fewer of my regular visitors came to the feeders as more and more grackles arrived. As the number of grackles grew, the fewer finches, titmice, nuthatches, and cardinals stopped in. Pretty soon the lawn appeared black as the flock of grackles daily foraged on it. I’m talking 25-30 boisterous birds. Much to my dismay, they seemed content to stay despite my efforts to discourage them and soon the little feathered friends I love disappeared from my feeders all together. 

Finally, it became apparent that to prompt the interlopers to move on I’d just have to stop filling the feeders, and so I did.  It took several days for them to clean up all that had fallen to the ground below, but eventually they finally moved on. I was overjoyed until……the familiar little birds didn’t come back. I waited expectantly as time passed but they still didn’t return. I. Was. Heartbroken.

What’s a bird brain like me to do when hers are missing? I prayed. Yes, I know it’s silly and I even told God I knew He had more important things to worry about. But I prayed for “my birds” to return anyway. Anyone else pray for goofy things?

Once in a while something happens that fills me with such awe that it overflows from my heart and down my cheeks. The very next day after my plea to God, I looked out the window and couldn’t believe my eyes! (Although I should have.) Scurrying head first down a tree branch toward the waiting sunflower seeds was a nuthatch, my favorite of all the birds! After weeks of their absence, but not even 24 hours after I prayed, God sent me a message through a little gray and white bird. “I hear you,” He said, and I cried.

You see, I’d already been struggling and wondering if my voice mattered to God at all. Maybe you’ve wondered too. A silly prayer and the gift of a bird’s return reassure me it does. They’ve also given me confidence to believe that those BIG things I’ve been praying for have been heard, too and that God is working them out in His time and in His way just like He did at my bird  feeders.

“Don’t be anxious about things; instead, pray. Pray about everything. He longs to hear your requests, so talk to God about your needs and be thankful for what has come.”
Philippians 4:6 (The Voice, emphasis mine)

When it comes to our prayers, big or seemingly insignificant, what a comfort Paul offers us to know God “longs to hear” them all! Now, we need to watch with expectation for what comes. And when it does, whether in years or hours, we can join in with the Psalmist with thanksgiving and proclaim:

“But surely God has heard me; He has paid attention to the urgency of my request.
Mat the True God be blessed, for He did not turn away from my prayer
nor did He hold back His loyal love from me.”
Psalm 66:19-20 (The Voice)

Lesson From the Bird Feeder

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“But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV) / Pixabay

Lesson from the Bird Feeder

Birds flitter here. 
Birds flutter there.
They eat of my seed
Without worry or care.

This is, until
The bully appears.
His size alone
Ignites all their fears.

A loud “CAW” fills the air.
They can’t miss the blue plume.
He spreads out his wings
And takes all the room.

He eats ’til he’s full
While they hide from his sight.
Lacking courage to dare him
Try as they might.

As I watched the whole scene
It struck me today.
It’s not just the birds.
I’m exactly the same way!

I’m living my life.
Things are moving along.
Then the bully chimes in
Saying I’ve done it all wrong.

She continues to chant
Lots of negative stuff.
Why do I listen
And not shout “enough”?

Just like the birds
I change what I do.
And believe when she says
“You aren’t able to see it through.”

She continues her assault.
Her list is so long.
My heart feels condemned 
Where there once was a song.

It’s time to stand up to her
But it’s not easy, you see.
The bully that’s always taunting
Is the voice inside of ME!

 

I recently read an insightful blog post called “Waking Up to the Power of Positive Self-Talk” by Cindy Krall at http://www.cindykrall.com

It got me to thinking back and wondering if I’d ever experienced being bullied.  Sure kids had called me names because of the curly ball of hair on my head and my “Pollyanna-ish” personality; but imagine my surprise when I had the realization that the biggest bully I’ve ever encountered was myself.  The things that I tend to say to myself are things I would NEVER say to anyone else.  It’s made me realize that I need to change my self-talk. I now wonder what I might have accomplished if I hadn’t been telling myself I wasn’t good enough or that I couldn’t do it.  How about you?  What words do you use to talk to yourself?  If you find yourself like me, I hope you’ll join with me and begin to mute that bully’s voice and instead, turn “Pollyanna” up full blast! And always remember that as the verse from 2 Corinthians says above, “Christ’s power is made perfect in weakness”.

**For you youngsters Pollyanna is a Disney character who was known for her positive, uplifting attitude.

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