Fear Not

  It's raining right now- in July, in San Diego. The good news is I am off work for the day so I am rather enjoying the weather now that it has pushed a little past humid and on to "stormy".
  Today was a weird day. We returned to work for a week of teacher training and preparation before the kick off of a new school year. We sat in meetings for the majority of the morning and I answered parent emails and teacher questions in the few spare moments between meetings.
On one break I ran down to my office to make sure there was a welcome packet ready for a new family planing to visit today. I sat down in my chair, gave a long sigh remembering when I used to have Monday's off, but I couldn't get this fluttering sound out of my head.
Then out of the corner of my eye I saw a bird perched on our screen. Silly thing. I went to go shake the blinds so he'd fly away and stop the world's top contender for most irritating sound.
But to my surprise, the live bird was trapped in my office between the blinds and the screen and was NOT happy that i shook the blinds. Poor thing- he was terrified, but he was also pooping everywhere at this point. I panicked and ran out of my office to look for help or seek some explanation. Our AC is broken so all the doors were perched open, it suddenly made sense how the poor thing got there, but how do I help him?
  Enter two other teachers how are far more calm than me at this point. They finally coaxed him away from the dead end that is our un-openable screen and the dumb thing flew into the corner behind a stack of movies and a large plastic inflatable pool that I was pretty convinced was gonna swallow him up, which equals dead bird and diseases and horrible smells. They removed the junk corner items slowly and up he flew, into the ceiling and then the other window that doesn't open. He hid behind the knick knacks continuing to poop until I just couldn't take it anymore and I went outside.
Our brave receptionist ended up with first gloves and a clean capture that led to his freedom.
I returned to cleaning up a poopy office just wondering the how's and why's of this event.
My mind drifted to a different set of birds.
  Last night I went to hear the San Diego Symphony Summer Pops at the Embarcadero. It was a fantastic event celebrating some very wonderful composers. It would seem I found a new love-- Fiszt's Liebestraum. I am not a classical music buff and I don't play any instruments, but I do love and appreciate music. Especially the history and overwhelming skill they imparted through the togetherness of their beautiful instruments. It was like a massage for the mind. I found my brain entirely engaged and completely relaxed. And I noticed some very smart birds perched on top of the stage awning. The looked as relaxed as I felt. The beautiful bay in the background and the wonderful sounds made for quite a delight for myself or the birds .
  What a contrast between these birds- one perched almost majestically atop a symphony, one horrifically pinned between blinds and a screen trying to be captured by humans. It seems God was showing me something after all. This morning I spent some time laying out some very specific pleas to the Lord and went into my quiet time rather expectant only to read through quite a bit of genealogies. I felt disappointed- which isn't an altogether new experience- but isn't usual for my quiet times with him lately, at least not on His part. It was only as I drove home anxiously through the rain asking the Lord if He even cared that these memorable birds of late came to mind.

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" Matthew 6:26

  The thought strikes me that I often am the bird caught between the screen and the blinds and not the peacefully perched creature at the symphony. And yet, even that silly bird that doused the office in poop is precious to the Lord. The Lord cares about His people, even when we fly right into an office with windows that don't open and really make a mess of things.  He shows us this in scripture and echoes it to us each day if we're listening. In the same way that God lays out the detailed genealogies, He won't pass over or miss any individuals now either. He is in control. This is a great comfort to me. He loves His people, this world, my family and myself even more and much better than I do.

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows." Matthew 10:29-31