Invited?

I continue to battle with the sparrows in the yard.  I think we've gotten rid of them in the back, but just yesterday we discovered that they had built a complete nest in the front bird house!  They had not yet laid any eggs, but I'm sure they were very close.

As I was crabbing to myself about these stinkin' sparrows, I realized that these sparrows had not just "popped up" on their own; they had been invited.  Someone, with no foresight, had invited these house sparrows where they didn't belong and where they weren't wanted, under the mistaken thought that it couldn't hurt.  Here's another interesting thought - house sparrows are ONLY found near humans.

Seems to me that's very similar to sin.  Sin was invited into a perfect world, where it didn't belong and where it wasn't wanted, under the mistaken thought that it couldn't hurt - and it centers around humans.  Now, we fight a continual battle with sin.  Sometimes it's big and obvious and stubborn.  Sometimes it seems to be gone, but "pops up" when you least expect it.  Either way, it's never truly gone, it just waits to be invited back.

Persistence

Last week I told you about the house sparrows in our yard and how gleeful I was that we had gotten rid of three of them.  The count is now up to seven.  We had pulled down the traps and were ready to give them to my dad for him to use on his bluebird houses when I spotted another house sparrow.  Back into the houses the traps went....and two more sparrows were taken care of.  We pulled them down again....and in another day or two, another couple of sparrows.

I think these sparrows can be compared with sin.  I think I have a handle on a certain sin, I think I've taken my thoughts captive, I think I've allowed the Holy Spirit to work in my life, and all of a sudden, it pops back up and I have to do all that work again.

Maybe I'm trying to do too much work on my own?  Maybe I'm not allowing God to really and truly work in my life?  Maybe it's just because I'm a sinner living in a fallen world and I won't be perfect this side of heaven.

I am annoyed that it always catches me by surprise.  My son remarked this morning, when I was exasperated about the sparrows, "what do you expect?  For them to just leave?"  Yes, I do.  And yes, I guess I expect my sin to be extirpated after one try.

It's a good thing my God is the God of grace, because I certainly need it.

In the Dark

We have three bluebird houses in our yard, but every year we have at most one pair nesting.  Why, you ask?  Not because we don't have bluebirds (we have at least a dozen in our neighborhood), but because we've had house sparrows.  Awful, ugly, mean, hateful house sparrows.

If you don't know, house sparrows are NOT native to the United States.  Some idiot brought them over here from England, WHY, I don't know.

They destroy bluebird nests, eggs, and even bluebirds.  Show no pity.  

I have tried scaring them away, shooting them with a BB gun, and destroying their nests and eggs.  None of these methods work.  They've chased away chickadees, swallows, and bluebirds.  Finally this year, I had enough.  

These VanErt traps are totally worth the money.  They trap a bird in the birdhouse and then we determine what to do with the bird, depending on what bird is caught.  We set them up and not five minutes later, we caught a sparrow.  By the end of the day, three sparrows had been "dispatched".  Unfortunately, we also caught a chickadee and a bluebird.  Those were released with no ill effects.  Everything that I've read says that they may still even come and nest in our yard.

Anyway, I have spent considerable time thinking about this, because I hate the idea of killing creatures - even if it's for a good cause.  I was especially concerned about having caught the chickadee and bluebird.  As I pondered (and maybe even fretted a bit!), I realized that even though the birds were caught in the dark, it was for a really good cause.

Of course, that led me to consider periods of darkness in my life.  I hate them.  I wish I didn't have to go through them.  But I hope that I can look at them in the future as necessary.  The birds in my yard could have been chased away, injured, or destroyed by the sparrows.  The moments of dark, while they may have seemed long, were needed to protect them from the evil they didn't even know existed.

"When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.  Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back, but my face must not be seen." -Exodus 33:22

God's glory passes by me, but I am hidden in the dark by His hand so that I may live.  God fights for me, but I may not see it.  In the dark is not necessarily a bad place to be.

Be anxious for nothing...

Today I was reading an email from John Rosemond, a child-development expert.  At least, I think that's how he describes himself.  I could be wrong.  He's written several books I really like:  To Spank or Not to Spank, Because I Said So, and some others I can't remember right now.  He gives the kind of advice that our parents would appreciate.  Things like, don't make a big deal our of things that aren't a big deal (parents nowadays make EVERYTHING a big deal), and don't try to have a discussion with a four-year-old when it comes to obedience - she needs to do it "because I said so."  Ever so simple.

Anyway, his email today was talking about a kid that was doing something weird (but not THAT weird), and the parents freaked and the problem got worse (go figure).  I always see it as a control thing.  The kid figures out that you're upset, they like the control, so they keep doing it.  Watch your kid change his behavior when you stop making a big deal about it.

He said a really profound thing when writing about how the problem got worse when the parents had anxiety and it got better when they simply said, "when you act like this, 'the doctor' says it's because you don't get enough sleep, so you must go to bed immediately after dinner".  "The doctor" is completely fictional, but it lends authority to the parents' words.

The next day, the odd behavior stopped.  Rosemond said, "when children develop problems, they need parents who are authoritative, not anxious. Anxiety and authority are incompatible."

Profound, no?  When I allow God's authority in my life, anxiety is incompatible with it.  When I allow anxiety to rule my life, God's authority is not there.

Just something to ponder.

A Neat Garden

Today was (hopefully) the last hot day of the year.  I spent some time this morning cleaning up the garden - pulling weeds, yanking out tomato plants, and taking down supports.  I get so frustrated with my garden during the growing season - it's always a mess!  As I dug into the dirt, it occurred to me that my garden is only "neat" between the end of one season and the beginning of the next....when there's nothing growing.  When my garden is disheveled and disorderly, my garden is producing the most fruit (or veggies or herbs).

I started thinking that maybe I work too hard to keep my life neat and looking good, but that when I do, maybe I'm not producing any fruit.  Maybe the "messiest" times in my life - when I can't see where I'm supposed to be going, when I wonder what God is doing my life, when things aren't going my way - are the times that I'm growing and maturing fruit.

How much is TOO much??

I'm so sick of everyone being so impressed with "all I do".  I'm tired of being told I "do too much".  Everyone assumes that I don't rest and that I need a break.  What if "too much" is exactly what I'm supposed to be doing?  What if I'm not too tired because what I do and what I'm good at are aligning and I LIKE it?

In His Presence

As you all know, my animals follow me out to the garden when I go out there.  My dog is NOT allowed into the garden gate, however, as she does not know to stay out of the beds and the plants.  Abi (the dog) is my shadow.  It is so very annoying - she follows me (seriously) everywhere.

So, as I putter in the garden, my dog waits outside the fence.  She waits patiently, never going anywhere she can't see me.  It's very important to her that she be able to see me.

I was thinking again (still?!) how annoying she is when I realized that maybe she's just acting the way I should be acting.  Shouldn't I be always in sight of God?  Just to BE in His presence?  I don't talk to Abi every moment, but I do check in every once in a while to be sure she hasn't wandered.  Maybe God doesn't speak every moment (although He probably does and I'm not listening), but speaks to give me guidance as to where to be - right near Him.