Birds

As I sat down on this weekend after Thanksgiving, I should probably post the typical "Thankful" post that many people do on their blogs. Actually, I sat down to play catch up and explain what I have been up to and how life is going with my job as a first grade teacher and planning for a wedding when I caught myself staring out the window watching birds fly around. I guess you could call it an odd hobby, but I love watching a big group of black birds together in my front yard or field around the house and then watch them take off at the same time. It's so neat that almost all of them know where to go next by instinct. You see a small handful that start to go in a different direction, but they see the majority going another way so they change directions quickly. Aren't we like that sometimes as humans? We never really want to veer from the direction that nearly everyone is travelling. We are afraid of where it may take us, and we don't want to do it alone. I am that bird. I don't like going against the flow, and if I see that I am I will adapt to others. That can be a great quality to have to so that it is easy to work with others so you can adapt your plans. On the other hand, it can take away some of God's blessings He has made just for me or for you.

While watching the birds, I began thinking about how do the birds know who the leader is? Which one leads the others in the direction they will go? Then something dawned on me; what if they lead bird was one of those birds who chose to go in a different direction and didn't care what the others did? Maybe all the birds who wanted to go that direction see that bird going alone and join until the group gets bigger.

This is a lot like being a Christian in today's society. The world tells us we are to accept things that are against the Bible. The world tells us it is okay to do things that the Word speaks out against. So, we follow the crowd. When people ridicule Christians, we stay quiet because we don't want to be criticized or spoken out against. Sometimes, you don't feel like it is your place to say anything. Honestly, that is how I feel sometimes because I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings nor do I want people to speak out negatively against me. Lately, with all of the Ferguson mess going around and people ignoring facts to "follow" the crowd, I am learning that we as Christians are to speak up about things that are wrong. I am using the Christ-like attitude: "Love the sinner, hate the sin." Every once in a while, we see birds branch out and inspire others. This reminds me of the Duggar family. The world is so critical of their religious beliefs. I have never seen them pressure their beliefs on anyone, not even their children. What I have seen, however, is that they demonstrate love to everyone, speak kindly to others, and simply speak of what they believe in (NOT force others to follow their beliefs). I see them as the lone bird who leaves the group to fly their own way. God has truly blessed them in many ways.

My prayer is that I become that bird that branches out to follow God and fly with others who do so also. I pray that you do, too.