I often sit on the bench next to our house which overlooks the patio and the backyard. Away from the noise and busyness, on the back patio one enters a natural oasis of plants, flowers, trees, animals, insects and birds. On this particular afternoon I sat on the bench just to take it all in, to look and listen, especially to the birds. The chatty wren was trilling its melody from inside the anemone bush. The robin was swooping in to replenish her hungry hatchlings with her most recent morsels. The jays were scolding each other from the treetops. An occasional hummingbird would sip from the geraniums and then dart away. And just as suddenly there was a loud bang on the window to my left.

I turned immediately toward the sound only to see a little, gray bird crumple and fall to the walkway below the window. It was a nuthatch. It sat hunched on the pavement looking straight ahead, undoubtedly stunned by the blow that had suddenly interrupted its flight. As much as I wanted to gather it up to tend this poor little bird, I resisted, thinking that I might do more harm than good. Five minutes went by, it didn’t move. Ten minutes later, it remained in the same posture. By around fifteen minutes after the collision, it started to shake all over. As it shook, it tilted its head back till its beak was pointed straight up and it repeatedly opened and closed its beak. 

This continued for the next few minutes, body shaking, head tilted back, eyes closed, beak opening and closing. I expected that this was an indication that the little nuthatch was finally expiring after such a crushing blow. Sadly I went inside, not wanting to witness its last breaths, knowing that there was nothing I could do to help. I told my husband Michael about this poor creature and what I presumed was its demise. We gave our feathered friend its privacy for its final few moments.

A few minutes later we were back outside resuming our afternoon chores. But the nuthatch was shockingly gone!  It apparently had recovered enough to fly away. Hurray! But what was all that shaking and head tilting and beak opening about? And just as quickly as I asked that question, this is what occurred to me:

 “Have I ever flown into a window?

 Have I ever been going one direction and been dramatically stopped in my tracks?

 Has that experience left me stunned and disoriented?

 Has it taken me a while to recover? 

Has it shaken me to the core?

 Have I looked up to heaven and called out to God? 

Have I repeatedly called upon the Lord for help, for forgiveness for going my own way,

 for strength to go His way?” 

To all of these questions, my answer is yes. Am I grateful that despite the hurt, God has “stopped” me from going the way that I was headed? Absolutely. Would the nuthatch have fared well if it had been able to get through the window and enter the house? No, not at all. Neither would I have fared well if I had been able to have the career that I had planned, married the person that I thought was “the one”, or had no children so that I could pursue my dreams. 

What about you? Have you ever hit a window?

Has a sudden stop left you stunned and disoriented for quite a while?

Has this loss left you shaking and shaken?

Have you tipped your head heavenward?

Have you cried out to God again and again? 

If your strength is renewed, are you willing to fly in a new direction?

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary and his

understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the faint and to him who has no might, he increases strength.

Even youths shall faint and be weary and young men shall fall exhausted;

but they who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up 

on wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isa.40:28-31

I lift my eyes up to the hills. Where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. Ps. 121:1

I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.

I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, 

I shall not be shaken.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy;

at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Ps.16:7,8,11

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground ` apart from your Father. Fear not, therefore, you are of more value than many 

sparrows.  Mt.10:29,31

Yes, you are of more value than that little nuthatch.