Did you know that most birds don’t say “tweet-tweet”? Last spring, the wetland meadow near our house was filled with songbirds. They built their nests in the willow and cottonwood trees and in the grass. Every morning when I walked by their homes, they sang beautiful songs, and they ate seeds from the different plants in the field, and they ate bugs on the plants and in the air.
Each bird sang a different tune. My favorite was the Meadow Lark. Their song went like this: Ooo-da-lee-oooooo, ooo-da-lee-ooo-da-lee-ooooooo. Then there were the Killdeer parents. Whenever I was too close to their nest, they would run away from the nest and try to get me to follow them. They would sing a sad song that sounded like this: Deeeee-dee-dee, deeeee-dee-dee.
But all the birds sang the same thing when danger came near: “Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!” I loved listening to the songbirds every morning.
Then the rancher put cows into the pasture where the birds lived. The cows ate all the grass and flowers that the birds had been eating, and trampled on the nests! At first, the birds tried to drive the cows out, but the cows just flicked their ears and tails and ignored the birds. They kept chomping, tromping and stomping. So most of the birds flew across the highway to a big field where there were no cows.
But some of the birds did not want to move! They stayed in the bushes along the field and attacked anyone who walked by. They couldn’t do anything about the cows, but they could gang up on any other animal or person! They were very angry and they would attack me if I tried to walk by them. So I stopped walking near them. Finally, they gave up and moved across the highway to the other field with their other bird friends.
Sometimes, things can happen that mean we have to move away from our homes to live in another place or another town. What kind of bird would you want to be like? The first ones said, “Okay”, and went to the new field. The other birds said, “No way!” They stayed and fought for their homes until they ran out of food. They were angry! But when they moved into the new meadow, they found new friends and old ones, good food and safe nests. Now all the birds are happy again.
It’s hard to move! But God has a new home and new friends waiting for you in the new place if you have to move. So trust him! He has good things ahead for you!
Until our next Campfire, I’m sending you hugs and kisses!
Montana Gramma