Bye Bye Birdies!

A few weeks ago, my husband spotted a nest in a bush in our yard.  The bird had built it low enough that the kids could see it every day.  We took daily pictures and watched them grow.

We went from three cute little blue eggs to...



"Eew!"  "They look gross!"  "Like fuzzy meat blobs."

"Oooh! They're getting more feathers!"  "Look!  They're getting feathers on their wings."

"Feed me!  Feed me!  Feed me!"  Boy, that looked familiar - that mama bird ran for worms to feed her little birdies as often as I feel like I'm running to the grocery store for my little flock.

"Uh-oh - they're getting bigger.  They hardly fit in the nest."  My husband and I knew what would happen next, but this was a first time for the kids.  I wanted to wait and see how they reacted to the next phase of little birdie development.

Here they are, ready to pop out of the nest!

And then, it happened.

Yesterday, Art Girl ran in yelling, "Mom, mom!  Two of the babies hopped out of the nest!"

I threw my shoes on and followed her outside.  We caught just the end of their first journey - into small trees and bushes for cover.

Shop Girl saw the last little birdie leaving the nest.

The kids were so excited, they were shouting and hopping and chasing the little birds to see where they were going.  I am afraid we probably scared them further away from their nest than they would have gone had we been observing from inside the house.

Poor mama bird came back with her beak full of worms, only to find her nest empty.  She hopped and looked, swooping up into the trees and then over to the phone line to look for her babies.  They were nowhere to be found.  We all felt bad for her.  To lighten the mood, I joked to the girls that, if I were the mama bird, I'd say, "Whew! Finally.  Those babies had such a tremendous appetite.  I needed a rest!"

And then came the tears.  Not mine, not the mama birds.

Shop Girl burst into tears.  She said she didn't want the birds to leave the nest.  She wanted them to be there forever.  She liked visiting them and looking at them every day on her way to the sandbox.  She cried and cried.

Once she had calmed down, I explained that the birds were supposed to do that.  That was God's plan for them.  They hatched from their little blue eggs, and then they grew and grew.  When they were too big for the nest, it was time to get out and explore the world.

You know what I was thinking, right?  I wondered, when the time comes, if I will be as calm and logical when my own kids leave the nest.  Will I bawl my eyes out?  I don't know.

I have spent every waking moment of the last 10 years taking care of their needs, first physical, now emotional...and one day, it will come to an end.

Sure, there will be the move to college and the occasional phone calls.  There will be wedding showers and baby showers.  Christmases.  Birthdays.  But the big work of parenting will be done.

I will be like that mama bird, waiting with her beakful of dinner...wondering where my kids went.

There are times when I feel like I will never be done.  When the children were born, I felt like I would be chained to the house for the next 18 years.  I was terrified at this prospect.  But God has changed me over time.  He has taught me to enjoy every moment, and then move on.  To live in the present and the future.  To help our kids grow into the people God designed them to be.  To enjoy every step along the way, then move on.

I think He will prepare my heart for that step.  I think He is already preparing me.

Parenting is quite the journey, isn't it?

After all the emotions and tears had dried up, we went back to the sandbox and do you know what we found?  A new nest with 3 new blue eggs in it.  The nest was partially made from streamers borrowed from Shop Girl's scooter.

God makes all things new.

Looking forward to the new things He has in store for us this week, and in the coming years.