I\u2019ve written 2,816 blogs. And I know my most written about subjects (other than my grandchildren) are birds. I\u2019ve written about how annoying they can be like those who kept making nests on my front porch and their droppings were everywhere. I\u2019ve written about the treasured cardinals who made their homes in trees outside my bedroom window just after my sweetheart left for heaven. And I wrote about how dumb they could be when they kept power-crashing into my windows thinking they saw another cardinal in their reflection. I wrote about the doves and their gentle cooing and calm and their little family\u2019s nest built on my back porch fireplace vent. So, of course, when it came to my new place where birds aren\u2019t quite as abundant, I added birds to my d\u00e9cor.
Yesterday morning, I laid down across my bed to \u201cice\u201d that knee that has given me some trepidation. As I look up at my bedroom wall, I see the framed picture of an eagle in flight that my mother-in-law gave me. The scripture with it is Isaiah 40:31 — \u201cThey that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.\u201d (\u201cLord, I know You see me waiting for my healing!\u201d) \u201cThey shall mount up with wings as eagles and they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint. (\u201cLord, You know how much I want to get back to playing pickleball and my morning work-outs!\u201d). Oh, the lessons I learn and the little talks with Jesus that makes everything alright!
I use this \u201cawakening\u201d to consider God\u2019s loving ways of speaking to me. I think about the wall hanging of gold birds in flight that I purchased at a furniture store. It was on the floor behind the cashier\u2019s area. I asked about it. The cashier said they were asked to hold it for a customer but never returned for it. I claimed it as mine. Then, I looked online for a canvas painting with the colors I decorated with \u2013 blues, oranges, and whites. I found it online \u2013 and it included doves flying! Welcome, Holy Spirit!
Recently, a friend and I went to Panera Bread for lunch. It was a beautiful day, so we sat out on their patio. We were amused as birds were scampering around for the crumbs on the ground, as well as hopping on tables to grab some delicacies left by previous guests. I said to my friend: \u201cJust look at those privileged birds. They know where to go for their daily \u2018bread\u2019.\u201d My friend responded: \u201cI\u2019m not so sure they\u2019re all that privileged. Those who live daily for the Father\u2019s bread are much more privileged!\u201d Indeed, we are privileged to be children of God Who daily offers us so many blessings, but maybe it\u2019s a matter of being present to recognize them.
There are over 300 references to birds in the Bible. In fact, Jesus used birds in many of his illustrated sermons to explain God\u2019s love for us. He said in Matthew 10:29 \u201cAre not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father\u2019s care.\u201d Jesus was so good at analogies! This one meant that if God cares for the birds, how much more does He care about us. It doesn\u2019t mean that we won\u2019t experience stuff — like this knee of mine. But it does mean we should be care-free because God\u2019s great plans for us are good. His care for us will sustain us throughout our lives, because \u201cWe know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.\u201d (Romans 8:28). Like the birds…..we are privileged!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019ve written 2,816 blogs. And I know my most written about subjects (other than my grandchildren) are birds. I\u2019ve written about how annoying they can be like those who kept making nests on my front porch and their droppings were everywhere. I\u2019ve written about the treasured cardinals who made their homes in trees outside my…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14924,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17819,21704,12938],"tags":[19724,2656,3513,1210,21700,1186,1769,19227,21701,21702,5667,40,21698,21703,19777,6420,3519,378,3973,21699,2363,2478,7755,1850],"class_list":["post-14923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-birds","category-care-free","category-privileged","tag-awakening","tag-birds","tag-birds-of-the-air","tag-blog","tag-cardinals","tag-care-free","tag-christian","tag-decor","tag-doves","tag-eagle-in-flight","tag-eagles","tag-inspiration","tag-lessons-from-birds","tag-not-be-weary","tag-not-faint","tag-panera-bread","tag-privileged","tag-romans-828","tag-run","tag-sparrows","tag-strength","tag-wait-on-the-lord","tag-walk","tag-wall-hanging"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14923"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14925,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14923\/revisions\/14925"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}