May your tracks

slow down this weekend

and find you

nesting with those you love.

for the birds...

the birds are teaching me much about life in community these days.


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.

nest update

this morning i learned that the nest outside my window is my mama robin returning...that fills me with joy.


mama in the light fixture nest continues to be diligent and she and daddy guard closely from the garage roof each time i peek into the nest.


the sadness this morning was seeing more starling damage.  i will find a way onto the garage roof this winter to close off the area they are using to nest yet worry if that will cause other problems.  if you have removed starlings from your yard, let me know what worked.

i think this is where the nest was moved as this mama robin got very verbal when i took pics.  there won't be any in nest updates here.

nesting again

earlier this spring i had the gift of watching a nest become a home to three baby robins and share in their journey from little blue eggs to finding their way in the big bird world.  

one of the most heart wrenching things for me to see in this season is broken eggs on the ground.  i am sad for the lost opportunities and after saying a quick prayer am reminded of the need to not let chances God sends to me become like those broken eggs.

recently i noticed a nest above a light fixture outside one of our back doors.  

as it was just in its beginning stages i took it down as i thought about the hazards to wee little birdies sitting above a light switch outside a door we are in and out of and directly across from the nest of aggressive starlings that won't leave their roost on top of the garage or quit troubling the littler birds at the feeder.  

after the second time of taking down a new nest, i left it alone and figured it would be easier to use the other door.  perhaps mama bird knows better than i what her babies need.

so for now our light fixture is home to mama and daddy and baby...

oh make that two babies...  

looking forward to another chance to watch this gift of life.

jumping off the cliff

for way too many reasons this time of the year is an emotional minefield for me and new hurts compounded the pain to the point the afternoon resulted in a need to nest. 

when i get here i need to rest in that place where i am safe, loved, and home (not in a place kind of way).  it is in this place when i can let go of caring about my external roles, expectations i place on myself, and my need to belong and be that little girl needing her daddy's tender touch for a bit of time.

it is that place the tears fall steadily with no care that the mask i wear will run or be washed away.  


in that place where it is okay to be broken, honest, vulnerable, and out of control.


it is in that place that i hear those words of love..."you are my beloved child.  i've got you.  just be.  nothing else matters."


it is in that place hope begins to build again, the broken places are bound up, the boo-boos are kissed, and dreams can be re-born, re-visited, re-membered.


it is in that place courage is found again and climbing down leads me to that cliff where once again i tip toe to the edge...and this time....


i JUMP...

and i hear again...


"i've got you.  just be."


"For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart..." ~Jeremiah 29.11-13