as i took my nest update pics today i was amazed at how carefully mama robin is making her nest. remember yesterday it was mud and bugs and a few pieces of straw and twigs.
this is it today...
she has carefully padded it for the eggs that will soon be nurtured here using every means she has to prepare a safe place for her babies. a place of safety and a haven from the elements.
we too try to carefully construct places that are loving, warm, authentic, and safe. sadly, like the starlings above our garage, there are those who come and try to take for themselves things that are not theirs to take or to destroy what has been built in our life together. they engage in actions that undermine the fabric of the community, much like the starlings did to this nest...
it is easy to become discouraged and take their words and actions as permission to give up, to walk away, to search for a cave instead of build a nest.
that is where i found myself today. thanks be to God i was able to spend time with a beloved who reminded me that nests can be rebuilt, reused, and even added to. they are stronger than they appear and often take much time to construct.
i left the visit encouraged, thankful for a respite in the midst of the chaos of life in community, and time on the porch brought the remembrance of swallows from my childhood (learn more here: swallows ). i found myself waiting with anticipation for the bells to ring. as a child the joy of hearing them was a reminder of continuity in the midst of continuous change. a re-learning or re-remembering that some things, like God's love, never change even when we try to move them away or think others can tear them down.
i was also able to take these pics (reminded again how social the swallows are)...
notice the careful construction of the nest. literally thousands and thousands of nests used to be found built right on top of one another at Mission San Juan Capistrano and you can see here why they are able to do so...
feeding time (didn't want to get too close)...
this little one threw a stick at me to say it was time to go home...
... and i did grateful to my friends, feathered and not, for encouraging me to keep on building and loving me enough provide a safe place to land when the winds blow me off track.
so again i wait with anticipation for the bells to ring as we enter our little nest as a family to worship together the parent who loves us so completely.
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