Tender Loving Care ~ A Lesson Learned From God

Jon and I were enjoying a lovely Sunday afternoon in the living room when a male grosbeak hit the window. He smacked it so hard that he left feathers on the glass. We both got up to look and were sad to see him lying on the ground motionless his head at a funky angle. Sadness filled our hearts.

Adding sorrow to the incident was the way his mate sat in the tree above and waited singing to him.

The lump in my throat grew as the minutes passed and he didn’t move. Was this her last song to him? It didn’t look good, but that didn’t seem to matter to her – she kept up her musical vigil. I wondered if she knew something we didn’t. I hoped so, but he remained so still.

A funny thought crossed my mind as we listened to her sing. “It’s like she’s caring for him in a 1 Corinthians 13 kind of way – full of faith hope and love.”

But was she wasting her sweet song?

My eyes filled with tears. Then Jon whispered, “Joy – look.” The male on the ground moved. We stood at the window watching as hope for him rose in our hearts. Her quiet song got a little louder, and she continued to sing as he lifted his head, stood on wobbly feet, and shook out his feathers. She continued her musical encouragement.

I cannot tell you how excited we were when he stretched out his wings and joined her in the tree. I wanted to sing a victory song but held my breath instead, and I’m so glad I did because as soon as he landed near her, he started to sing back to her.

About this time the once hopeless tears in my eyes spilled down my face in a celebration.

She stayed beside him for a few minutes then seemed to be urging him to the feeders below by moving to branches closer to the feeders. When she flew to the jelly bowl, he joined her.

They stayed at the feeders for a long time, eating, drinking, and making sweet sounds to each other. Jon and I sat back down still watching them a little surprised by his recovery and her determined care over him.

When the birds settled back into the locust tree branches, Jon and I smiled at each other across the room our hearts deeply touched by the privilege of witnessing their tender loving care for each other.

“I want to love you that way,” I said.

And my husband responded, “I want to love you that way too.”

1 Corinthians 13:713(ESV)

¹³ So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Until Next Time,

Joy

Fun Rose-breasted Grosbeak Fact: Not all birds sing as much as these two do. Both have been seen and heard singing with sitting on their nest. The female sings while the nest is being built, while incubating her eggs, and brooding. Her mate will sometimes sing quietly from the nest and more loudly where he perches on high branches.

P. S. I just read a book I want to share with you. My friend, author Stacy Monson’s new book is out and it’s my favorite of hers so far. And that’s saying a lot because I’ve enjoyed them all. But Open Circle got to me. Please check it out on Amazon.