Birds Don't Worry

Daily Gratitude Year 7 - Day 80: Today, I am grateful the birds don't worry.

The calendar says the season is now spring. Little signs are popping up all over. The robins have returned. The sunrise finds the birds singing as they look for straw and grasses to build or refreshen a nest. The blue jays will steal a nest if they can. 

My sweet mother-in-love, Shela, avidly watched the birds. In the later season of her life, there was so much she could not control because of health issues. Her faith and hope never waivered. I used to send her "Birds and Blooms" magazine as a gift, because she enjoyed it. I remember wondering if the the day would come I would find it an interesting periodical. Indeed, the day has arrived. 

I am confident Mom Smith watched the birds with this scripture in mind: 

" 'Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.' "-Jesus, Matthew 6:25-29

There is a calming reassurance in the whispering breeze that says, "Child, it will be alright. Trust in me."

Trust, in a world where there is much uncertainty, doesn't come easy for most. To grow the roots of our faith, it helps to pause, reflect on God's goodness with gratitude and look for His reflection. His reflection can be found in the strength of the grasses that renew every spring and the brave little first flower of spring. We can see him in the rainbow colors of a sunrise and the faithfulness of the sunset. We can see him in the worry free dance of the birds. 


'“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.'"-Jeremiah 17:7-8

Take a minute today to listen for the birdsong and watch them dance. 

Today, I am grateful the birds don't worry.