Last week I found God in a garden. This week Nellie Belle and my friend Karen found God in a garden too.
This garden is the back yard of my home. My dog Nellie Belle loves to hunt Chipmunks along the stone wall behind my home. I say hunt loosely because she has yet to capture one. And as you can see by the photo, she’s curious and sweet. I have a bird bath there next to the bird feeder. When this fledgling chickadee somehow found its way to the edge of the water, it no longer had the energy to fly back to the trees behind.
I imagine the arrival of Nellie Belle so close motivated the tiny one to attempt to escape. Interestingly, it flew toward the house and landed on Karen’s shoulder! Then the fledgling allowed her to put her on her finger, taking photos at each stage.
All the time the parents are making noise attempting to distract both human and dog from their baby. After a few poses she placed the fledgling on a safe resting place away from Nellie Belle…just in case.
Sometimes, certainly more often than we realize, when we are exhausted and afraid God brings us help in unusual ways. And sometimes we don’t recognize that help as a blessing. If I was the chickadee parents, I was likely thinking, “It’s all over now!” This time, however, the reality is that Nellie Belle is curious and gentle and Karen is a huge animal lover.
Seeing beyond our current and perceived circumstances takes cultivating our relationship with the living God. When we begin to believe and trust the truths of God’s perfectly good character combined with His perfect love for us, we can journey along the path of faith, hope and love.
Abba, help us to know you better and to see your hand at work in and around our lives.
