Posted on by Lori Cartmell

In the Shadow of His Wings

Image by Radovan Zierik from Pixabay

Sometimes there can be something very powerful right above you, and you’re not even aware of it.

I’ve found this out a few times while on a walk in a nature area.

I’ll think I’m totally alone: I don’t see or hear any other creature.

But then suddenly a large shadow will zoom across the path in front of my feet.

I look up to see what the shadow belongs to, and spot a majestic red-tailed hawk. He’d probably been circling above me the whole time, but he was so silent that I didn’t know he was there.

Recently, I came across two large, striped feathers on the ground. Their tell-tale markings told me they belonged to a bird of prey. Looking up into a nearby tree, I was surprised to see a hawk perched by its nest. I’d walked underneath the same tree many times before without realizing the nest was even there.

In each case, the bird had been right there with me, but I initially hadn’t been aware of its presence.

Similarly, sometimes we feel that God isn’t near us.

We can’t see or hear Him. We can’t seem to feel His presence in our lives. It feels like we’re alone in our struggles.

But there is something (or rather, Someone) powerful right above us, who promises to never leave us or forsake us. God’s children are never truly alone.

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Posted on by Lori Cartmell

A Perfect Fit

Image of tailorbird by hartono subagio from Pixabay

There’s nothing quite like a perfect fit, is there?

When you buy a piece of clothing that hugs you where it’s supposed to, and is more flowing where you want it to be looser, you feel confident and comfortable. There’s something special about a garment that seems like it was made just for you.

The tailorbird of tropical Asia know this, too. When it fashions a nest for its young, it makes sure it is perfectly suited for its young family.

The female tailorbird makes its nest out of a living leaf hanging from a shrub or tree. She chooses a leaf and carefully checks it for size by wrapping it around her body like a cloak.

If the leaf suits her, she uses her needlelike beak to sew the sides together with plant fibre or spider silk, making as many as 200 stitches.

Once the leaf “cup” has been sewn, the male tailorbird lines it with soft materials in preparation for the eggs that will soon be laid in it. The parent birds make a perfect home for their chicks.

If a tailorbird goes to so much trouble to make nest that is perfectly suited for her family, won’t God make sure that the service He has in mind for you is a perfect fit, too?

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