Over the summer I have been sitting outside at my deck table to meet God. This morning, when I straightened out the damp table cloth to put down my journal and Bible, I noticed a chickadee’s downy feather.

I smiled. Words stirred my soul…

~~~~

You make me smile.

You, the herald of the morning,
You who dee-dee’s to the day in anticipation, before the sun unfolds her rays across the eastern sky –
You who kisses the dawn with your feathers.

You make my heart search for today’s melody –
You who knows your provision and does not fear the cold, white blankets stored in the attic of the earth
You who is clever to hide the seeds of this good day, who carefully places them in the crevice of the soft arm of the pine – before the dead of winter stiffens it with frost.  

You are content with what I prepare for breakfast,
The small, broken peanuts.
You weigh carefully what you can carry. You don’t drag along unnecessary ballast –
You who knows how to avoid what weighs down your flight.

I want to fly with you as you rely on the wind, as you trust the unseen breeze which created you and these fragile feathers.

You make me smile
You who knows the Provider,
You who trusts the One who feeds and carries you into the unknown of this sunny day.

May I be like you –
You who leaves delightful gifts for those who long to see the Sovereign.

~~~

Even the stork in the heavens
    knows her times,
and the turtledove, swallow, and crane
    keep the time of their coming,
but my people know not
    the rules of the Lord.
Jeremiah 8:7
~~~
(Poetry and pictures, Heidi Viars 2022,
Scriptures taken from the ESV)