Blessings from Above

This past week some special things happened.  They were actually rather simple and to most people might have been overlooked, but to me they were just extra blessings from God.  The apostle James wrote “every good and perfect gift is from above…” I choose to look for the good things and to recognize where they come from.  That kind of thinking keeps me from focusing on the negative.  So, here are a few things that I experienced this week.

We’ve been feeding birds in our backyard with wild bird seed and I just happened to look out the patio door to see baby sparrows being fed by mama birds just off my patio.  Some of the birdseed had fallen on the ground and the baby birds were big enough to fly but not big enough to figure out how to feed themselves, so they would flutter their wings to get attention and the mama bird would pick up seeds and put it in their beaks.  It was just precious to observe something most people never get to witness.  As I watched this ordinary thing I felt God was speaking to my heart.  I was reminded of the passage in Matthew where Jesus says we should not worry about the “things” of life because God knows our needs and he will provide for us just like he provides for the sparrows.  I know he can meet my needs even when it seems they are overwhelming and I can’t see how it will happen.

Unfortunately I couldn’t get a photo of the birds feeding their babies, but a few days earlier Norm was able to capture this particular moment in birdlife.  I was out in the front yard and I noticed grackles were squawking right in front of my house as if they were upset about something.  There was a male and female and they were quite concerned.  I looked around and found out what it was they were so upset about.  One of their babies had fallen out of the nest in my pine tree and it didn’t have big enough wings to fly.  It was hiding under my front window box.  It could hop around but it couldn’t fly and its parents were quite concerned for its safety.  A few hours later I looked out the front window and saw this image.  It’s the male grackle feeding the baby grackle.  It was late in the day and I wondered that night if the baby bird would find a place to hide from predators.  I went out the next morning and couldn’t find him anywhere.  I felt blessed that I got to witness something very precious, but a little sad that the baby didn’t survive.  That’s life in the bird world I guess and sometimes when you leave the safety of the nest to soon, there’s not a whole lot your parents can do for you.

Well, that’s enough about birds for the moment.  My other special blessing this week was enjoying a most delicious dessert while having lunch with Norm.  We were at Macayo’s, a local Mexican restaurant chain, and since we had a light lunch we decided some dessert was in order.  I ordered the flan and it was one of the best I’ve ever had.  Warm caramel sauce was drizzled all over it along with the syrup and it was like eating toasted marshmallows.  I think I made noise with every bite and Norm said he had more fun watching me eat it.  He likes it when I really enjoy my food and that got me thinking how blessed I am to have such a sweet husband.  Over 12 years of marriage and we still are very much in love and every year I experience more sweetness in that relationship.  That’s definitely a blessing from above.