Story of the birds

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." Mark 10:45

But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. James 1:25

Sitting at the front desk at church as I do, I receive all kinds of visitors. People coming in for church repairs, church members on church-related business, pantry clients, people down on their luck and asking for something "extra", and people who just need to talk to someone.

One day last year during Lent, a woman came in after I had led our Lenten study, which called for a visual aid. I used something I had from home that I had just received as a birthday gift: a wooden tree with colorful wooden birds mounted on string (photo below). It was sitting in my window as I worked for the remainder of the day.

The woman had ostensibly come in to photograph stained glass windows, and was perhaps struggling with some mental health issues. She was persistent to wanting one of my birds. In fact, she came back twice to ask if I was sure that she couldn’t have her own bird. Not wanting to change the look of this gift I had received, I told her, no, the birds weren’t available. I suppose I also wanted her to realize you can’t just ask people for things.

Later, when relating the story to others, I realized that, of course I should have given this woman one of the birds. For one thing, there were more than enough to make the display look appropriate. And did giving away just one bird make a difference to me? No…and that is where I really begin to feel guilt. Even if the display needed that one extra bird to be the display it was meant to be, I maybe should have given it away. Sometimes we don’t fully understand things until later…and sometimes God gives us that extra insight when he wants us to realize where we fall short. Because, of course, we do fall short. All of us do.

About five month later, the woman returned. She explained that she was down on her luck and needed food. I recognized her right away as the “bird woman” and asked if she remembered as well. She did, and seemed pleased to be noticed. It was then that I realized I had transported the birds home all those months ago in my work bag, and that, often, things get left in the bottom of the bag. I told her, “you know, I may have one of those birds in my bag”, and proceeded to find not one, but two of the colorful little birds to give to her. Sometimes, redemption isn’t always redemption. I guess what I mean is: being able to share those two birds with this woman doesn’t mean that I can feel everything “worked out”. In fact, I still should feel guilty for not giving those birds to her in the first place…but sometimes God has a way of showing us how to be more like Him, even when we mess up the first time. And, in this case, someone has two little birds in her pocket.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for second chances. Thank you for showing us when and where we can be obedient to You, even in the small things in life. Amen.

Donna Gustafson