I have always wished I could see a hummingbird nest. Each morning as I sit at my dining room having breakfast, I watch the little hummingbirds flitting about the hummingbird feeder … then they zip across the back yard to the Pacific Yew tree, or far across to the forest in the ravine.
I know they have their little hummingbird nests in the Pacific Yew. But there’s no way I would ever have a chance of seeing their little nests high up in those branches.
So imagine my great surprise when, as I was calmly sitting on the back deck one afternoon, a little hummingbird zipped into the branches of the cedar tree right next to me … and hovered there in place. Then it zipped sideways and hovered in place. Then it zipped down and hovered in place.
Is it just me, or is it narrowing in on something each time it zips and hovers??
As if coming in on the center of a bullseye, the little hummingbird zipped and hovered … until much to my astonishment it suddenly slipped onto a tiny little nest perched atop one of the branches of the cedar tree.
No way!!
I’m looking at a for-real hummingbird nest!
I’ve always wished I could see what a hummingbird nest looks like!
I didn’t even see that little nest before! I had no idea it was even there! It blends in so perfectly!
The little hummingbird nest was just a little bit bigger than a golf ball.
I tried my hardest to get a good photo so you could see the little hummingbird nest also, but alas the zoom on my phone is not fancy schmancy. Every time I attempted to move closer, the mama hummingbird would fly away.
Then I would wait. And wait.
And eventually she would come zipping back into the branches of the cedar tree … and hover. Zip sideways … and hover. Zip down … and hover. Zip a little bit closer … and hover. Until, eventually, she slipped back onto her nest.
Here you can see the little hummingbird mama on her tiny little nest. (apologies for the fuzzy photo)
The sun moved across the sky and the shadows shifted. The sun now shone a bit more directly on the nest. I tried a few more times to get closer so I could hopefully get a better photo. But every time the little mama flew from the nest!
And I would wait.
And eventually she would zip-and-hover back again.
Here you can see the sun has shifted and the little mama is almost in the “spotlight” of the sunshine.
I was amazed how perfectly still the little mama was on her nest. The cedar branch waved and bobbed about in the breeze … and with it, the little nest (and the little hummingbird mama on it). But the little mama sat perfectly still. You would never even know she was there, if you didn’t know where to specifically look.
As I watched the little hummingbird mama on her tiny little nest – perfectly still – bobbing about with the branch as it waved in the breeze, the verse popped into my mind: “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) It seemed as if God was speaking directly to my soul specifically in relation to parenting.
There is so much to worry about when it comes to parenting.
Without meaning to, I find myself fretting and worrying about my kids, and the different hard things they are going through in their lives.
God’s lesson for me, as I watched the little hummingbird mama on her tiny little nest, was to “Be still and know that He is God.” God is watching over my kids. God will take care of my kids. I don’t need to worry. I need to be still. Still like the little mama, sitting on her nest, bobbing up and down on the breeze. “Be still and know that He is God.”
