Mr. Red Bird

Some days are easier than others.  Yesterday I felt strong...jumped my little heart out...felt like I could jump forever.  Today my 20 minute jumping routine felt like 2 hours.  For those who missed the last post, after 2 years of deliberately neglecting the well-being of my cardiovascular health, I started jumping on my kids trampoline.  At one point when I thought I was about to vomit out all of my insides, the most beautiful red cardinal caught my eye.   

I thought of the Gospel as I watched Mr. Red Bird.  He was working awfully hard.  With purpose and determination he flew back and forth from a branch at the tiptop of a tall cedar tree searching for insects to feed his helpless babies waiting in the nest he surely must have also sacrificed greatly to prepare for them.   

He must feel so very tiny when he soars above the trees in this great big world.   

Mr. Red’s tedious work was undeniably draining but God created him to move and work and exist in this life to care and fight for the helpless in this way.  I couldn’t help but notice something incredibly attractive in Mr. Red Bird.  Through the pain of unending work, Mr. Red continually was singing praises.  It’s almost as if he was aware that the pain he was suffering meant redemption for the weak...like he had read the Gospel and really believed what it says.  The truth in this Gospel appeared to be his motivation to persevere for the ultimate glory of God.  Compassion welled up in him and there was a tranquil type of joy carrying him relentlessly back and forth through this broken world to love the weak God had put in his nest.   

Our lives are nothing apart from our Jesus but with Jesus and motivated by the truth of the Gospel, our lives can tell a better story…a story that reflects our Lord. 

My daughter found this nest of baby cardinals in the rose bush plant outside her bedroom window about a month ago.  Look at their tiny featherless features…

...so delicate and frail are their lives.  With the faintest of chirps they cry out for help.

If the mommy and daddy bird turned a blind eye to their needs or a deaf ear to their chirps they would surely die.  But these helpless birds were cared for the same way I watched Mr. Red tenderly care for those God placed in his little nest. 

I never really thought about it like this before, but I guess you could say the Gospel has motivated my family to build a nest of sorts…a nest built by God's grace and filled with the helpless who God says are precious to Him.  He wants to use us to bring them hope and healing by living our lives like Jesus for the sake of the lost and poor He's placed in our nest.  He says in doing this He will heal our brokenness and bring us hope too.   

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9)

God has entrusted to us some very delicate and frail treasures nestled in our nest and He says this is all for His kingdom and for His glory.  We hear the King say, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” 

So we have ourselves a nest like Mr. Red Bird but rather than hidden safely in the trees, it’s bursting at the seams of our hearts.  Our nest is filled with two orphaned twin girls who sit in a Haitian orphanage crying out for a family of their own to love them.  Can a single heart possibly hold anymore love?  God said yes.  As we have waited for our Raphaella and Wana to come home, God has graciously and completely unexpectedly filled our nest to overflowing with more of those He holds ever so close to His beating heart.  If you’ve been following our Jesus journey then you may have a special place in your heart for these people too…Pastor Nahum, his orphans, his family, his church, and the lost among his village…they are a blessing of forgotten and lonely souls overflowing in our nest giving us more than we could ever possibly give them.

 Loving the poor is a sacrifice but when you are driven to love them because you really believe the Gospel is true, in the midst of sacrifice, you have an inner peace.  You have this joy that doesn’t make sense.  You hear Jesus whisper to your soul that He is pleased.  He says things like, “Believe.  The kingdom of God is near.  Remember my love for you.  Remember how I left heaven, took on flesh, suffered and died on the cross to give you life.  Remember Me and love like Me.  Love until it hurts.”     

Watching Mr. Red live his story assured my spirit that the kingdom of God is near and it inspired me to want to live a better story…a story where I’m found singing praises to our holy most excellent God even when I feel broken and the world around me is falling apart.  Persevere and Praise.  When we are motivated by the Gospel and really believe what Jesus says is true then we can both persevere through the brokenness while praising God at the same time.  We can do this because we know the kingdom of God is near and it’s going to be worth it.