Learning to Fly

There are days that I feel like God has plopped me onto this little patch of earth just to watch the lessons He loves to give! There are lessons from watching my flowers grow, dealing with the stubborn weeds and bugs that never seem to leave my yard alone. Lessons from the shifting clouds, beautiful sunrises and breathtaking sunsets. In all of it, I see God.

The city I live in is considered a bird sanctuary. Not really sure what that means other than it feels like there are more birds here than in other cities around Orange County. And these birds love to sing….I mean they REALLY loooooove to sing!!! The finches and chickadees start and then the mockingbirds join in. And not to be outdone, the parrots fly by in large groups squawking as they travel from one palm tree to the next. Yes, I said parrots. There is a fable around town that an old local animal park, that included an aviary filled with small parrots, closed down and the owner just simply let the animals loose. Hence the huge parrot population in the area.

I love the different songs the birds provide that fill the air in my neighborhood. Its best in the early morning, before most humans are awake and the cars haven’t started rushing off to work, when the birds are rousing from a quiet sleep to greet the day. I love to stand outside on the back patio with coffee cup in hand and just listen. How can you start a day like that with anything other than a smile on your face, I ask you?

One morning as I listened to the morning chorus, I noticed a baby bird working on its flying skills as momma sat on the fence nearby. The little guy kept flitting from one low branch to another and finally landed on my gutter down spout to catch his breath. It was as if the bird had simply run out of steam and was considering just giving up and staying on that spout forever.

I kept watching that little bird; he was so tiny and so adorable and so totally oblivious to me as I slowly got closer. As I investigated, momma bird’s eyes never left me. She was watching me to make sure I wasn’t going to harm her little one. She was watching him to make sure he didn’t do anything that would cause him to loose his balance. She didn’t make any sound, didn’t fly away and abandon her baby, she just kept a careful watch.

I didn’t want to scare the baby bird and I certainly didn’t want momma bird to get mad at me, so I quietly backed away and headed back inside my house. Once inside, I could still see what was transpiring outside. I heard momma bird chirp a little, baby bird chirped back. Then momma flew a little further away to a different part of the fence, but still within eye sight of her little one.

I don’t speak bird, although since I grew up reading books like Dr Doolittle I always dreamed of being able to talk to the animals and have them talk to me! As I watched this little flying lesson out of my window, with momma bird chirping encouragement and baby chirping back “but it’s too hard”, baby bird finally got up the nerve and tested its wings again. This time it flew to the spot where the momma bird sat. I’m pretty sure the two of them had a little celebration and then, just like that, both birds flew away together.

Do you ever feel that God is watching from a small distance as you test your wings? I do. Never taking His eyes off me or any impending danger headed my way, He is constantly watching. Each time I take a small leap of faith, stepping out of my comfort zone in obedience to something I feel God is trying to teach me, I feel as though He’s nearby; coaching me, encouraging me, letting me know that He believes I can do it.

He’s keeping an eye on predators, knowing full well that Satan is constantly on the prowl. Those times I feel like I just can’t and I’m ready to give up, He seems to settle in and make His presence known to me. When God believes you can do something, it seems rather foolish to sit there thinking you can’t. After all, doesn’t God know way more than I do?

Just when I think I can’t do it and am doomed to stay in this awkward, sometimes unsafe situation forever, I hear His voice saying, “just trust me. I know you can do it. You were made to do it.” So I step out in faith. I accept that challenge, tackle that task, speak up and be love to someone who needs it. And just like that momma bird towards her baby, I know that God is pleased with me for not giving up.

We were meant to do more, be more and experience more than our finite human minds can comprehend. But we can’t do any of it without the guidance and care of our Heavenly Father. I’m praying for courage to take that leap I know God is nudging me toward. And I know, with all my heart, that He is watching and will be right there with me, celebrating our victory together!

For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.   – Philippians 4:13