It's thursday! Extra fun day at my house. I know, you are wondering why I am on the computer when I have four little one here today. I forgot to tell you yesterday that my grandchildren are perfect, so I can multi task when they are here.
Turthfully, my computer is in the playroom so I can watch them while I type.
Watching them play this morning reminds me of a story I wrote many years ago. It is a story about how sometimes our hopes and dreams for our children are sometimes crushed by circumstances that we have no control over; no matter how much we love them and try to protect them. As many of you know, I am a birdwatcher so this story will not surprise you. For once though it is not about Eastern Bluebirds. It is about a bird called a Killdeer.
"I met her one day on my way to the garden. To get to the garden I had to walk over a rocky sloping hill. On that hot summer day as I trudged over the hill carrying two buckets of water to my young plants, I was only thinking of how heavy those buckets were and how much further I had to go. Suddenly the stillness of the day was broken by her harsh two syllable trill. I put my buckets down and stood still for a minute to look for what was making the abrasive sound. Then I saw her standing not twelve feet from me. Her black, brown and white feathers were well camouflaged in the clods of clay and rocky ground. She appeared to be scolding me as I picked up my buckets to continue on.
When I was about six feet from her she began to pace back and forth, dragging one of her wings on the ground. I wondered if she was injured. As I crept forward the scolding became louder. Then she ruffled her feathers and flew straight at me. Needless to say, those buckets of water never got to the garden. I had to go back to the pond, dip out some more water and start over.
Retracing my steps, I noticed that she was gone. I stopped where she had been pacing earlier and looked around for her. Then I spotted what had made her so angry at me. In a small hollowed out spot in the dirt was three small eggs. They were gray with black spots on them. They looked like three stones and they were laying in a nest that had been lined with small pebbles.
Being the sentimental person that I am, I felt a sudden kinship with that mama Killdeer. We were both mothers. Earlier when she saw me too close to her nest, she was trying to protect her babies. I later learned that she was pretending to be injured in hopes of distracting me away from her nest.
My three daughters and I watched the nest closely over the next few days; but most days she would not let us near it. One day I watched as she chased the neighbors dog away from the nest. On another day, she chased the barn cat away. As the days went on, I began to fear for her babies. The world around her was full of potential dangers to her and her babies. I thought about asking the neighbor to keep her dog tied up, locking the cat in the barn and building a little fence around the nest to keep the snakes out. But in my heart I knew that there was really nothing I could do to help her. Nature had given the mother bird the wisdom to build that nest and camouflage it as she had. Nature had told her to pretend to be injured when danger was close by and we would have to depend on those to protect the babies against all that could destroy them. I did pray a little prayer though that God would protect them. Like I said, I am a little on the sentimental side.
About a week after I met her, as I was walking to the garden, I noticed that there was no now familiar scolding trill. "Mama killdeer is away looking for her lunch," I thought. "I'll see if any of of the eggs are hatched yet." Finding the spot quickly, I peered in. All that remained was fragments of broken shells. In spite of all her efforts, her babies never got the chance to fly.
As I look at my own little girls, I realize that no matter how much I love them, do my best to protect them, and pray for them, there are dangers in our world that can end our hopes and dreams for them. For me, it was leukemia that took my son away from me. For others it is a tragic accidnet or handicap that destroys the chance for other mom's babies to fly. There are some children who are influenced by the world around them and totally abandon thier parents and all that they are taught.
I don't know if Mama Killdeer was capable of feeling loss that day she found her babies gone, but we human mothers do feel it. And from our broken hearts we cry out "why God?" Many times we never have our question answered. Perhaps eternity will give us an answer.
Until then, we take comfort in the fact that we continue to faithfully do our best to be the best parents we know how to be. We treasure them, do our best to protect them and teach them about our Heavenly Father. That is all God expects of us. "
I wrote that in 1985. Twenty five years ago! My three girls are all grown up and have given me seven wonderful grandchildren. I thank God for them everyday and pray that He will protect them from the dangers in our world.
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