With today—Oct. 28—being National Chocolate Day, I thought it was only fitting to share an excerpt from my latest book, When Chocolate Isn’t Enough: An Inspirational Survival Guide for Moms (Worthy). I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy chocolate!
“Mommy, hurry!” Abby, my then 7-year-old called from the middle of the driveway. “It’s a baby bird!”
Sure enough, right in the middle of our driveway lay a sweet, fluffy, baby dove. He had all of his feathers, but the dainty dove still couldn’t fly. He had obviously fallen from a nest in the large live oak tree a few feet away. I didn’t know what to do, so I called the Texas Wildlife Headquarters.
After explaining our bird situation, the nice man on the other end of the line told me exactly how to handle our dove dilemma in order to save our new feathered friend.
“So I need to make a makeshift nest and put it into a hanging basket, and then place that basket near the tree?” I repeated back. “OK, will do. Thanks for all of your help.”
I hung up the phone and rushed to the front door to check on the baby bird before heading to the garage to construct a makeshift nest, and that’s when I saw one of the most beautiful sights I’d ever seen—the mother dove nuzzling her baby bird—right in the middle of our driveway. She was protecting her baby at all costs.
As I watched the mama dove be so tender with her fallen baby bird, spreading her wings and wrapping them around him, I thought, “All moms are alike. We’d risk our lives for the sake of our children’s lives. We’d protect them at all costs. We devote our lives to sheltering our babies from harm, nourishing and caring for them, and raising them to be strong enough to fly.”
In that moment, I realized why God had chosen that same image to describe his love for us: “He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings…” (Psalm 91:4, NLT).
God loves us and our children more than we can ever fathom. He adores us! He cares about each one of us. When we fall out of our respective nests, He is right there, hovering over us, protecting us, and loving us until we’re out of harm’s way. That’s just who He is, and I’m so thankful, aren’t you?
Using the fallen dove in our driveway as a teachable moment, I quietly showed my girls how the mother dove was watching over her baby bird and protecting it no matter what.
“That mama dove and baby bird are just like us,” I continued. “I would protect you at all costs. I love you more than you can ever imagine and I only want the very best for you.”
Abby hugged my legs, while my then 5-year-old Ally continued munching on M&Ms.
“And you know what else?” I asked. “God loves you both even more than I do, and that’s an awful lot, and He will always be there to watch over you and protect you even when Mommy can’t.”
Abby hugged me even tighter. Ally popped another M&M into her mouth.
“Now let’s go build that nest for the baby bird,” I said, feeling quite happy about the tender moment we’d just shared.
Abby headed for the garage, but Ally headed toward the baby bird.
“Where are you going, Ally?”
“To share my M&Ms with the baby bird,” she answered, matter-of-factly. “You said we were just like the birds, and I like M&Ms.”
I could see there would need to be more teachable moments in our very near future…
Father, thank You, for always being there for me—protecting and loving me no matter what. I pray that You’ll help me watch over ‘my little birds’ the same way that You care for me. In the Mighty Name of Jesus. Amen.
