Bird Watcher

During this time of quarantine, I have been getting my garden prepared for new growth. Working in it is rewarding to my soul. Not everything grows, and as you have read sometimes I get surprises of things I thought were dead that had stronger roots than I expected. My garden brings me joy.

I think part of the reason it does is because it is planted in memory of two wonderful women- my grandmothers. Both of them loved to garden! I can remember going to the farm to help Grandma Winnie pick vegetables from her garden. Her blue hydrangea was the most beautiful ever. Grandma Evelyn grew the most beautiful plants. She could take a sprig of nothing and turn it into something spectacular.

At the beginning of March before our quarantine started, I went and bought bulbs of all kinds to set out around my garden. Gladiolas, peonies, calla lilies, elephant ears, caladiums- over 200 different bulbs to bring life to my garden. I worked in February trimming back my roses and feeding them so that they would begin to grow and bloom again.

As I was sitting and planting the gladiolas, I heard a bird just chirping away, almost like he was yelling at me! I stopped my planting to look around and see if I could find him. When I looked up, there he was sitting in the tree right across from me. A beautiful red cardinal was staring straight at me and singing and chirping so loudly. I could not believe my eyes.

Knowing the old folklore of “When a cardinal appears in your yard, it’s a visitor from heaven,” I stared back at the bird. I watched him as he sat in this tree. A feeling washed over me that this was my grandmothers looking down at me planting my garden. They were chirping to get my attention so that I would see them. He sat there so long and watched me that I was able to snap this picture of him sitting in the tree. I felt like that bird was truly a gift from heaven. That bird helped me plant my garden that day.

I was so grateful for that little bird that landed in the tree and sang me a song of attention. He watched me carefully and I watched him back. It was a garden meeting for sure and he was a pecan!

I am reminded as well as what the Bible says about gardening. God is the ultimate gardener. I want Him to prune me so that I can grow into what He desires for me! Let His hand cut off the branches that need to go and allow Him to fertilize me with the nutrients that I need so that my roots grow deep. Let His word seep into my soul the way that water seeps into the soil. Let it penetrate me and feed me and give me new life!

John 15:1-4 says, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”

Yes Lord, please let me be pruned and cut off every branch in my life that is not bearing fruit. Let me remain a part of You and your beautiful garden! When you are spending time outside during this time at home, look for the cardinals in your life and think of them as pecans!