When the Birds Gave Me Voice Lessons

Most mornings in the spring and early summer months you'll find me on my back porch, with Beau of course. He's my son's dog who comes to keep me company each week day. He chases squirrels and I watch birds. He knows how much I detest the squirrels eating all the birdseed.

Cardinals, Bluebirds, Chickadees, Goldfinches, and Hummingbirds fill my feeders with activity. Two Bluebirds are nesting, providing me with hours and hours of enjoyment. There is a small bird that goes about its morning scratching and pecking at tree limbs. I rarely see it fly down to the feeders or leave the tree in search of living food. It simply pecks and scratches.

It occurred to me that's the way my mind works with worry. I peck and scratch...over and over. I become focused on whatever issue is at hand through a comment spoken or something I've read and before I know it all sense of time is lost. My mind has written its own plot with characters and endings, most of it doom and gloom. I always think the worst is going to happen. I really should be writing this stuff down, I may have a best seller on my hands. Some of my worries have been taken to outlandish measures.

On a serious note, worry gets us nowhere. It only leads into depression and anxiety. I should know for I deal with depression and am seeking help.

One of the Bible verses I'm clinging to is:

For to set the mind on the flesh is death,

but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

Romans 8:6 ESV

I don't want to be like the bird pecking and scratching in the trees, lost in my thoughts while life passes me by. I'd much prefer to be like the birds singing from the top of the trees. I know my voice is there, and she knows how to sing. The climb up the tree is the most difficult.

How about you...does worry steal precious moments from you? Does it rob you of your voice? Maybe you're like me and depression has you in its grip. The mind is a powerful organ, able to cause us to do or say things we'd rather not. God spends much of His Word focused on the mind. That's why Satan knew to suggest the thought to Eve, "Did God really say..."

Take time for yourself and watch the birds, they have much to teach us about the human condition. I'm ready to climb that tree, I hear the birds singing.

Cindy