Monday, May 21, 2007

"PETRIE"



When the children were small we found a baby mockingbird beside our house. His mother was teaching him to fly and he had hurt his wing. We struggled with what to do with him; leave him to nature or step in and give him a hand. We stepped in.

We named him Petrie because he flew like Petrie in “Land Before Time,” not very good. We put him in a box and covered it with a screen. He would talk and visit during the day and go to bed every night at 6:00 pm. He was the perfect baby, never suffering from colic or tummy aches.

Many times a day we fed Petrie on moistened cat food. We would remove the screen and he would stand and stretch his neck as far out as possible. We would place the food on a baby spoon and he would gobble it down as if he were starving.

As time passed the soft downy feathers were replaced with new ones. He hopped around the box and seemed to grow stronger each day. From time to time when we removed the screen to feed Petrie he would perch on the side of the box to be fed.

One Saturday morning I told the kids it was time to set Petrie free. I thought he was strong enough to fly. The kids were sad, but excited to see how he had healed and then could possibly fly. We took him to the backyard in his box, removed the screen and stepped back to watch. Petrie flew to the top of the box; he sat and looked around at the big wide world. He flew to the low bar on the swing set; we all held our breath. He flew to the top bar of the swing set and to our amazement his mother came and flew beside him. They flew off together to a low branch of a tree, then to a higher branch and then they were gone. We watch in total amazement.

That momma bird had waited over 3 weeks for her baby. She had been watching the house all that time. How did she know he was there? Had she heard him singing? Each time the door opened, did she look to see who was coming and going and if it might be her baby? This mother bird was ‘faithful.’

I think about how faithful and how attuned God is to us, whether beside Him or when we have left His side. Always watching, always waiting for our return.

Hebrews 13:5-6
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"

8 comments:

Mommysmart said...

I don't know how you just made me cry over a bird story, but you did. I am not much of a pet lover so I am a little shocked at myself. That is a beautiful story and amazing how you related it to God's faithfulness to his children. Thanks for sharing.

Neva said...

Beautiful story, my friend.

Love you more

Peace
neva

TREY MORGAN said...

Cool story. You have a million animal stories.

You need to blog about the baby birds we found a grandma's farm, brought home and put in the garage. We fed them for two days and then forgot about them. We found them dried up and shriveled in the garage 3 weeks later. Yuk

But it is a cool bird story!

Monalea said...

Monica, Sometimes I cry when I least expect it. I think God reaches out and touches my heart.

Neva, How goes it friend?

Trey, 'Grosse!' I pretty sure I blocked that experience out because it was so traumatic. I would say thanks for sharing.....but I just bring myself to do it.

Monalea

Mommysmart said...

Ok, well I can see that Trey's bird stories won't make me cry. I think that the animal stroy telling should be left up to ONLY you.

Anonymous said...

Awww, that's so sweet!!

Monalea said...

Monica, I'm glad we agree. Trey is really a stinker!

Monalea

The Preacher's Household: said...

Or should we say, 'How tweet!"

Glad your back Granny!

ya Sista
Kathy