Tears were still flowing, as our grandson’s visit ended all too quickly. I glanced out our kitchen window and saw the bluebirds. The creepy crawlies and nastiness of their old nest was removed after the first fledge, so mama and papa are starting again from scratch. The added joy is that this time the first fledglings are in tow, waiting on close-by branches and even on top of the nesting box to be fed as their parents address the added responsibility of the work of building, again. It is the forth clutch in two years, two per year, in the same box. I like that they like it.
God knew I was feeling a little sad and at loose ends when the house suddenly got still and quiet. It’s not that there isn’t plenty to do in the way of catch-up, but the joy of nurture is a different thing. I enjoy it most of all when our grandson is here and with home and family, but also when I am growing things in the garden and watching things grow, like our bluebirds. I am blessed to have those things around me, and I thank God everyday for them. After a lifetime of thinking much else matters in the world around me, I’ve come to realize these are the things that matter most. It is where God speaks to my heart, and lessons come, and where I get stretched and where I learn. It is God’s classroom, and though I didn’t so much love school when I was younger, I look forward to it now, every day.
I think of the saying, “When God closes a door, He opens a window”. Certainly the door is not permanently shut, only for this visit with the Apple-of-Our-Eye, but until the next one I can look out my kitchen window. God has made a way for me to see what soothes my heart in the absence of my grandson. And when he comes again, maybe there will be little blue babies for him to enjoy. And most definitely there will be lessons for him too, in this little blue schoolhouse and the gardens that surround it.
