I'm not a bird watcher. I have nothing against bird watchers, but I'm not one. I do enjoy filling my bird feeders and watching them come eat, but I couldn't tell one bird from another.
Recently, though, I saw something that caught my attention. I noticed one day a small bird kept flying into some evergreen shrubs I have along the side of my house. She, (or at least I'm guessing it was a she), would fly in with a piece of grass or string in her mouth then, after a moment in the bushes, she would fly out again and find another piece of building material.
After she left one time I snuck in for a closer look and sure enough she was building a nest. I watched over the next day or two as the nest took shape, amazed at how quickly and expertly she wove each piece into place to create this perfect little bowl of grass, sticks, string and whatever else she could find.
Then one day I was riding by on the lawn mower and I looked toward the nest and saw four blue eggs in the nest. I kept an eye on her and her nest for the next couple of weeks, really hoping to see the little birds when they hatched. The nest was right below my bedroom window so I would be able to watch without disturbing too much. This, I thought, was going to be really cool.
But then one day I walked past and noticed the nest was no longer in the bushes. It was on the ground and there was nothing left of the eggs except a couple of small pieces of blue shell. Something had happened. I don't know if a cat found the nest, or a raccoon, or if the nest fell during a high wind. All I knew was that the home had been wrecked.
I knew the bird would no longer use the nest, so I picked it up and took it into my garage. Used bird nests are great for starting fires. I placed it in a tin can and then last week I packed it for our camping trip.
Saturday night we returned to our campsite from long day of hiking and sight seeing. We were going to cook venison stew, but our fire from that morning had gone out. I had the kids gather around and I opened my fire starting kit. I took my char cloth, (see Part 2) and placed it on my flint shard. I struck the flint with my steel, (see part 1) and on the second strike I caught a spark. I blew on the char cloth to help the ember grow and then placed the piece of char cloth in the birds nest. I gently blew through the nest and the smoke grew thick. I blew again and WHOOSH! The nest burst into flames! I placed the burning nest into the fire pit and slowly began to add kindling, adding bigger pieces as each one caught until I had a roaring fire. And it all started with a broken home of a birds nest.
Many of us today come from broken homes. Many of us live in the remains of broken homes and have tried to piece back together broken homes. I know the pain and feelings of hopelessness that come when your home is wrecked. But the God we serve is an awesome God! He can take that brokenness and start a fire there that will burn brightly!
Psalm 34:18 says, "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit."
If you have experienced that kind of brokenness, and are still struggling with the pain of it all, maybe it's time to draw near to Him who wants to set you free from that pain. Maybe it's time to allow him to create a blazing fire within the remains of that broken home and re-kindle a new hope in your life.
The Lord is near. Draw near and catch the spark!
Think about it.
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