Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Speaking Bird

For some reason, birds seem to have an affinity for attempting to build nests in the wreaths we hang on our front door. I'm not really sure what it is. Sure, we are all about hospitality and inviting people into our home. But with these birds comes a messy front porch and several near misses of bird collisions (more on that in a second). And so, enter exhibits A and B.

Exhibit A:
We were given this lovely K wreath as a wedding shower gift. We constantly have to take down the nests that our bird friends attempt to build. One time we were a little late to the game and we even had a bird lay eggs in her nest.


Exhibit B:
Our Christmas Wreath. This bad boy was purchased from Aaron's sister as a school fundraiser. Sometime during the holiday season, a bird decided that it was time for a new home. Naturally, they chose the space between our wreath and the door.


We first noticed that a bird was making this space a home when Aaron ordered pizza the other night and the delivery man narrowly escaped the dive-bombing bird. But last night, things really came to fruition.

We were headed to a hockey game with my brothers. When they opened the door, our birdie friend decided to fly into our house, instead of away like most birds would choose. After a frenzy of wing flapping, confused perching, and the realization that we couldn't leave for the night with a bird in the house, we had to take drastic measures. Naturally, I went for the long duster.

This happened (though I'm showing you the condensed version):

Success.

This crazy occurrence reminds me of an awesome YoungLife talk we heard last summer at camp. The camp speaker, Josh VonGunten, was incredible. Seriously, look him up! One night, he gave a captivating talk about Jesus that included an analogy about "speaking bird". You see, a bird was stuck in one of the gutters on his house. There was a small opening at one end where the bird could safely escape, if only the bird could find it. If only Josh could "speak bird", he would be able to save it. If only he could communicate clearly with the bird, or climb into that gutter as a bird himself.

You see, this is what Jesus did for us. We are the birds. He did more than just "speak bird", he came down and BECAME a bird so that he could love us, live with us in that awful gutter, and tell us (in our own language) how we can be saved, if only we are willing to listen. Powerful stuff, that he would love us enough to do that!

I was reminded of this last night as I watched the bird fly frantically around our dining room and living room, attempting to perch on curtain rods and window trim when both the front and back doors were wide open the entire time. All the bird had to do was stop swooping around the room and go through the open door that we had provided. It probably thought we were trying to kill it by shooing it towards the door, when were only helping it.

But isn't this what we "birds" do on a daily basis? We frantically flap and fly around, terrified in a foreign world that doesn't feel right. We try and figure it all out for ourselves while the door is open the entire time. Then we think God's out to get us when he gently shoos us away from the things we think are better, towards that open door, and on to much better things (and he celebrates when we finally choose that way out, just like my brothers and I celebrated our bird friend in the video.)

Are you listening? Are you choosing to fly for the open door? Or are you desperately flying around, hoping you'll make it out on your own before it's too late? If only we'd listen to the one who came to speak to us in a way in which we'd understand, who came to be one of us, suffered right along with us, and then suffered more for us than we could ever begin to imagine. What a sacrifice.

Currently,
Kelsie

I'm linking up with A Life in BalanceModest MondaysThe Quintessential Mommy, Me, Coffee, and JesusThe Beauty in His Grip, Life as MumA Fresh Start on a Budget, Rich Faith Rising, and Pick Your Pin Tuesday.

4 comments:

  1. Aww wow how beautiful are they!! I think we will need to do soemthing like this soon! Lovely read too! Suz x Beauisblue.com

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Suz! I love wreaths a LOT (just not always my little birdie friends that call them home!) Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. Beautiful wreaths - great read. Thanks for linking up to #justanotherlinky xx

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