The Seagulls are Everywhere!

It’s not uncommon for me to be inspired for a blog from the “birds of a feather that flock together”, so here I go again! Yesterday morning, I was “perched” in my lawn chair at 6 am here at Aransas Bay on the Texas Gulf Coast, praying for the inspiration for tomorrow’s blog. The brilliant sun was rising and seagulls were walking stealthily along the ocean's edge for their next fish or mussel treat. They’d grab a bite to eat then fly away. Then another would land right in front of me.

Jesus talked so much about birds. In Matthew 6:26 He tells His followers not to be anxious about food, but to rely on God as the birds do, who are worth far less than the people He provides for. I started thinking about how privileged those birds are to live where food is so abundant. As I ate a bite of my protein bar, I remembered my granddaughter eating chips from her kayak and being attacked by seagulls. Sharing wasn’t what she had in mind and neither was I. I quickly shoved that bar in my mouth -- quickly! Those seagulls don’t seem to have a preference for land or sea food!

Are those birds really “privileged” or do they have an innate sense of being who they were destined to be? “Privileged” is a word we’ve heard in abundance in the last few weeks. “Privileged” as in born into wealth or born in a certain ethnicity or born into a specific family of origin.

Let’s consider who the real privileged folks are! I am saying that with happy thoughts daily because I choose to believe that I was born into privilege as a member of the royal family of God. I was born into a family that believed that and so did I. As children of God, we are privileged with abundance, but we must step out in faith and go for the opportunities that are just waiting for us. When we receive Christ by faith, we become His children. We are adopted into His family. "But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." - John 1:12.

In Matthew 6, Jesus put it this way “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? Therefore, do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things (privileges) shall be added to you.”

Indeed, we are privileged to be children of God Who daily offers us so many blessings. It's time for us to recognize our privileges like living in a free country, having a roof over our head, running water, a warm bed to sleep in, and plenty of food to eat. Yes, we are privileged.

Privileged Birds, Privileged YOU and ME

PRIVILEGED means having special rights, advantages, favored

My sweet sister knows my love for cardinals because of so many that have visited me since my dear husband’s graduation to heaven seven plus years ago. She gave me these two cardinals yesterday that were given to her years ago. It touched my heart so much that she remembered what cardinals mean to me. I’m PRIVILEGED to KNOW where my sweetheart is right now. His grave site is here in Tulsa, but I rarely visit it because I know he's not there. As Billy Graham said, “Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don't you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God." I love that and that’s what I've thought since the day of my sweetheart's passing. Because I know he’s alive and well, those little cardinals which are said to represent a loved one visiting us, have been my little treat – every time I see one. I’m privileged to think that way.

I’m PRIVILEGED with happy and good thoughts daily because I choose to do so. Why am I and why are YOU so PRIVILEGED? Several years ago I was in Hawaii and eating in one of the open air restaurants. As I sat there, I watched the PRIVILEGED birds have a continual feast when someone would get up from their table. They'd sweep in and devour the leftovers. As I thought about those birds, I thought about the exquisite, yet simple lifestyle they have. They don't have to dig for worms or look far for food -- they just eat from the tables that are so readily accessible. Then, I thought about birds in other countries -- where there is abounding poverty, where there is little food to be found. Yet, those birds just stay with their "status quo", instead of venturing over to a place of blessings and abundance. They have settled for their "lot in life".

Isn't that like many of us who settle in for "I guess that's the best I can do....or the best that I can get"? As children of God, there's a place of PRIVILEGE and abundance for us, if we'll step out in faith and go for the opportunities and blessings that are just waiting for us. When we receive Christ by faith, we have the privilege of becoming His children. We are adopted into His family. "But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." - John 1:12.

Back to those birds. In Matthew 6, Jesus put it this way “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

Indeed, we are PRIVILEGED to be children of God Who daily offers us so many blessings, but maybe it’s a matter of being present to recognize them. I’m quick to recognize the cardinals. What if we started recognizing our PRIVILEGES daily as children of God? Living in a free country, having a roof over our head, running water, a warm bed to sleep in, plenty of food to eat. Matthew 6:26 again – “BUT, seek FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness and ALL THESE THINGS (PRIVILEGES) shall be added to you.”

Life Lessons From the Birds

If you follow my daily posts at all, you’ll know I seem to be fixated on birds. I’ve shared about the cardinal family that visited my home in Tulsa, who set up housekeeping (nesting) in the tree behind my bedroom window and how I liked to think that the daddy cardinal was sent by my sweetheart when I could use a little kiss from heaven. I also shared about the swallows that I wasn’t so fond of, that set up housekeeping on my front porch where I tried all kinds of tricks to get rid of them because, unfortunately, their poop wasn’t exactly the “welcoming mat” I wanted for my visitors.

I shared about the birds who, with their stealth vision, would watch for a customer leave their table at an outdoor restaurant, and would zero in on what little scraps they left in their plates. To correspond with that analogy, I used the scripture reference: Matthew 6:26 “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?” Indeed those birds had the Father’s “royal treatment” as they only needed to hover until their prey (rather, food scraps) were wide open for their taking.

My grandson, Payton, does “handyman” jobs for people in his neighborhood. One of his customers gave him three birdhouses/feeders. He was delighted with his new aviaries, setting them up in great areas of their backyard, filling them with feed and keeping a close eye on his visitors. Before long all kinds of birds were making their home in their back yard, including this nest that would soon have eggs in it. Daily, Payton and Alexia checked their tenants' progress, but before long, they saw that, though the eggs were still there (pictured here), holes were in the sides where a predator had sucked out the contents. That little safe haven met up with very bad tidings.

Alexia, with her heart for the cardinals who had worked so hard to make their nest a protected home, proceeded to see if she could provide easy access to their building materials in case they wanted to start over again. She proceeded to take the nest apart – laying out all the materials on their outdoor table: ribbons, string, sticks, fabric and other materials. After she had it all sorted out, she exclaimed: “Come cardinals. NEST DEPOT is open for business.” LOL! Such is life with Lexi!

With all my ramblings about birds, I think we are in good company. Jesus used birds in many of his illustrated sermons to explain God’s love for us. He said in Matthew 10:29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care.” God does provide care for the sparrows, and the fact that "not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's care" means that sometimes bad things can happen, like the cardinal eggs at the Wallace's. Although He watches over the sparrows, it doesn’t prevent them from being hunted by predators. Although He watches over every one of us, it doesn’t mean that our lives will be free from care. He even went on to say to us “…you are of more value than many sparrows" Matthew 10:31. So if God is concerned about the tiny sparrow, how much greater must His concern be for us. Bottom line, we are told to be care-less. There is no place for worry in the life of a sparrow, and they carry on. For them AND us, worry is needless, wears us out and keeps us from living our lives knowing the eyes of our Father are on us.

God's care for us is immeasurable -- He allowed His only begotten Son to die in our place (John 3:16).

God's care for us will sustain us throughout our lives, because “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28)

For the birds, Alexia made a Nest Depot for their building supplies. Our place of refuge, for life's building materials and the how to's for building a rock-solid foundation is found at God's Word Depot. Maybe if we would spend more time in those aisles, we'd find all the supplies we need for a worry-free, care-free life!