Meant to Be

There’s beauty in Your natural order, Lord.

We have been watching a bluebird family for many weeks.  We first spotted the male.  Brilliant blue from head to toe… or talon.  The female, more understated… but unmistakable nonetheless..

There’s a wooden bird house right outside our office window.  That’s how we came to know this male and female were actually Mr. and Mrs.  They took up residence, steadfastly (and as secretly as possible) building their nest.

For awhile, we wondered if they had gone.  We didn’t see them much… until the day we spotted Mr. Bluebird again.  He was perched just outside their house, with a juicy worm in his mouth.  He slipped inside the house and, in a flash, he came out again and flew away.

For awhile, Mr. Bluebird carried the “lion’s share” of this load.  Then, Mrs. Bluebird joined in, and they both flew back and forth at hyperspeed.  The Early Bird, the Late Bird and the Every Time in Between Bird.  We knew they had little beaks to feed.  We just didn’t know those little beaks could eat so many worms!

We passed by this bird house every day when we checked on our vegetable garden.  More than once, we “flushed” Mom or Dad from the nest — unintentionally, of course.  More than once, we saw them perched nearby… waiting for us to leave so we would not see the “secret” location of their nest.  Always vigilant.  Always protecting their young.

One day, I heard the evidence.  I walked by and heard the chirping.  Loud, spirited chirping!  Amplified as if through Nature’s own Bose speaker — the ultimate in high quality surround sound.

Then — was it only a day or two later? — I heard only silence.  [Deep sigh.]

They’re gone now.  The babies have flown off to find their own way.  We will miss them.  Maybe they will come back next year.  We have heard they return to their roots.

What a beautiful picture this family was of Your Natural Order, Lord.  Was this a glimpse — perhaps an increasingly rare glimpse — of the way it was Meant to Be?

I am not naive.  I wasn’t seeing Life only through “rose-colored glasses.”  There were dangers lurking everywhere… including our own little predator, Skippy.  I know from my own life that the “natural order” can also be full of the most unnatural, chaotic — even deadly — forces.

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:  a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build…” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-3)

Still, we humans could learn a lot by observing what happens in Nature… couldn’t we, Lord?  If only we would look… listen… and learn.  Not from “Mother Nature” as if “she” were the intelligence behind this very Intelligent Design.  But to You, Lord… the Designer Himself.

“Praise the Lord from the heavens… Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all you shining stars… Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do His bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and tall cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations… young men and women, old men and children… Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted, His splendor is above the earth and the heavens…”  (Psalm 148:1b,3,7-13)

Praising You, Lord, for all that was Meant to Be.  And praising You, too, in all that is… even that which was not “meant to be.”  Because You, Lord, have the loving desire and the divine power to bring good out of bad… and LIFE out of death.

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”  (Romans 8:28)

“For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.  But each in turn:  Christ, the firstfruits; then, when He comes, those who belong to Him.  Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.  For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.  The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”  (1 Corinthians 15:22-26)

Remembering the bluebird today, and singing along…

Abba’s Girl