Nature comes indoors

It happened again, only this time it was a Carolina Wren.  I'd bent over to stretch and as I looked behind me I saw a bird flapping its wings like crazy.  "What's with that bird?" I asked aloud.  I stood up and turned around and just shook my head.  "Again? Seriously?" The bird wasn't outside the window, he'd flown in the house through the bird feeder and was trying to get back out. 

Just like I wrote in a post nearly two years ago, I'd opened the window to let in some fresh air that morning. I remembered the incident with the finch but didn't think it would happen again.

The poor guy didn't know how to get out by himself, so I raised the window and the screen with my left hand and lifted my right index finger to just below the bird. He flew up into the curtain. "I'm not gonna hurt you." I said.  "I want to help you but you have to trust me. Relax. Sit on my finger."  He did! As I moved my hand down, he panicked and flew up into the curtain.  I put my finger up again and he sat on it.  I moved a little slower this time, got my hand under the window and set him free.

I smiled and thought of how I'm like that little bird.  It's not natural for him to sit on someone's finger. It's scary and he didn't know what would happen.  Likewise, I like to know what I'm getting into before I do it. I feel insecure when I don't know what I might encounter venturing into the unknown.  But God knows what lies ahead and He wants me to trust him. I can only get where I'm going if I trust him, rest in His presence, and let him show me where to go. 

How have you been challenged to do something outside your comfort zone?  How did you handle it and what came about?  Share your story here.

Surprise visitor!



 

A bird on the dining room chair?  Inside the house?   Yep, that what I came home to Monday after a meeting that took me away from the house for about two hours. 

In my dining room, I have a window seat under 4 windows that jut out to the side of the house. 

Under the left most window sits a bird feeder where chickadees, cardinals, finches, and titmice regularly visit me and we enjoy each other’s company.  I’ve found out the hard way that if anything touches it, the feeder  falls to the ground spilling all the food. I have to stand on a ladder to put it back up on a brick that holds it there. It’s a pain.  So when I open that window, I pull the screen down to just above the birdfeeder so as not to knock it off. 

It was beautiful outside the other day so I let the soothing, cool breeze in by opening all the windows.  When I got home from an appointment that afternoon, I was greeted by a purple finch
 

that sat perched on top of a dining chair (straight ahead in the picture above), looking out the window, trying to figure out how to get back outside.  Whether he’d been there two minutes or two hours, I don’t know.  He'd started on the birdfeeder outside like the one in the picture, but he hopped inside and the next thing he knew he was lost in the house and didn't know what to do.

You’ve got to be kidding me, I thought to myself. After I stopped laughing, unable to believe my eyes, I opened the back door, hoping he’d fly out easily.  He didn’t move.

I went over to the window and he flew up into the curtain, afraid of me.  I felt bad for him but was able to coax him down, eventually. “I’m not gonna hurt you”, I said. “I want to help you.” I said. After a couple tries, when I put my finger under his feet he stayed there. I brought my hand down very slowly, opened the screen, and set him free. 

It made me think.  The poor guy had stepped in the house and when he realized he didn’t want to be there, he didn’t know how to get back outside.  He could see where he wanted to go and that it wasn’t far, but didn't know how to get there. 

He couldn’t get outside without my help. But he had to trust I wouldn’t hurt him first.  Tough call, but he had no other choice if he was going to get outside again. So he relaxed a tad and sat on my finger long enough for me to let him out.

Have you ever been like that little bird?  In a situation where you’re stuck, and don’t know what to do? God always has our best interests in mind and wants to get us where we need to be. We have to trust him first, then relax and let Him point us in the right direction.