A Little Bird and Birdie
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us,
that we should be called the children of God.”
1 John 3:1 (NIV)
The spring days are getting longer as we quickly move through April and head toward summer. Half-awake I lie in bed wondering whether to get up or go back to sleep when I suddenly hear the first sounds of dawn. A little bird chirps happily right outside my bedroom window insisting that it’s time to get up and get busy.
Returning to sleep is now not an option as five words quickly come to my mind and heart: “Your Father knows your need.” (Matthew 6:32) Those five words and the little bird’s sweet song remind me to pray for our newest granddaughter, Birdie James Evans. And so, I pray that Birdie will one day be a child of the King; a servant of the King; and a credit to God’s Kingdom. I pray that she will grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ (2 Peter 3:18). I also pray for Birdie’s Mama and Daddy who are now happily adjusting to sleepless nights with their newborn daughter who is the answer to years and years of loss, longing, praying, hoping, and waiting.
The little bird singing outside my window also reminds me of my sweet Mama who died four years ago. Oh, how Mama loved her birds! “They are all God’s creatures,” Mama insisted happily as she fed them with leftover rolls from her assisted living’s cafeteria. Ever a survivor of the Great Depression, Mama hated waste as much as she loved her birds. She would have loved having a great granddaughter named “Birdie!”
Throughout the morning I remember Jesus’ words- “The Father knows your need”- as He taught His most famous sermon. Using birds and lilies, Jesus repeatedly admonished his listeners, “Do not worry about your life!” (Matthew 6:25) Later in his Sermon on the Mount Jesus reminded his disciples that God is a “much more” God and a good, good heavenly Father (Matthew 7:9-11). Those words are good reminders for me as I pray for my husband, children, and grandchildren even to the third and fourth generations. One of my favorite prayers is that our family would bring God “joy, praise, renown, and honor” (Jeremiah 33:9). Taken in context, God was referring to the city of Jerusalem, but surely if a city can bring God joy, praise, renown, & honor, couldn’t a family as well? And so I pray.
“Your Father knows your need.” I whisper the words for Birdie and her parents repeatedly throughout the day acknowledging that God knows their needs far better than I do. Parenting at any age is not for the faint hearted. “Father give them strength; give them grace; give them wisdom,” I plead.
Theologian J. I. Packer writing in his classic work Knowing God asks:
“What is a Christian? The question can be answered in many ways, but the richest answer I know is that a Christian is one who has God as Father…Everything that makes the New Testament new and better than the Old, everything that is distinctively Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God. “Father” is the Christian name for God”… Our understanding of Christianity cannot be better than our grasp of adoption. God has One Son by nature, but many sons by adoption.”
Birdie’s arrival has brought our family much joy. Her first name is completely her own, but her middle name honors both her maternal and paternal grandfathers as well as her Uncle James Bruce. Birdie’s Mama has given me permission to call her Birdie James and I smile each and every time I do.
The last two weeks have been a physical and emotional whirlwind as we’ve all pitched in to gather and assemble the essentials needed to care for a newborn. Birth parents typically have nine months to prepare for their baby’s arrival. Our family had two weeks of hopeful, but hesitant, waiting before Birdie came into our family. Even then, our hearts were more than a little guarded, because there was always the possibility that her birth mom would change her mind about the adoption. We are forever grateful that this courageous mom chose life and our family for Birdie.
God, however, never changes his mind about our adoption. God spared no expense to make us a part of his family. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) My adoption into God’s family cost me nothing, but it cost God his very Son!
“Adoption is a Christian’s highest privilege.” (J.I. Packer)