I read this short paragraph every night when I go to bed. Been trying to memorize it but haven’t gotten past the first two sentences. I say my prayers, then I read this. The paragraph is from a collection of daily meditations on grief titled Healing After Loss.

“I pray to the birds because I believe they will carry the messages of my heart upward. I pray to them because I believe in their existence, the way their songs begin and end each day — the invocations and benedictions of Earth. I pray to the birds because they remind me of what I love rather than what I fear. And at the end of my prayers, they teach me how to listen. — Terry Tempest Williams

I also believe in the power of prayer. Twice in my lifetime I have seen prayers lift up a family member from a life threatening illness. My oldest grandson suffered with acute disseminated encephalitis in 2012. He was very ill, lost the use of his arms, but through the power of prayer and several years of physical and occupational therapy he is happy and well. A bright teenager discovering the world. Prayers flooded in for him on a daily basis and I firmly believe those prayers put him on the path of wellness.

My nephew was diagnosed with a blood disease, PNH and Aplastic Anemia, his junior year in high school. He suffered a brain bleed during a high school football game was so fortunate to be helicoptered quickly to Children’s Hospital in Atlanta, where he was diagnosed and began treatment. After various treatments weren’t successful he began chemotherapy and received a bone marrow transplant. Family and friends and strangers from all over prayed for his healing. I called the people praying, prayer warriors. They fought for him through prayer and today he is a freshman attending college at Auburn University and thriving. He’s happy and healthy.

Don’t know why I associate birds with heaven but some days when the feeders are overflowing with cardinals I think that Chief has sent them to me to cheer me up or he is a bird himself this day checking on me.

If you look up cardinal sightings on the internet, and you know I love looking up things I wonder about, a cardinal is a sign of good fortune. Lots of folks think cardinals are visitors from heaven carrying a message from heaven. Kinda a go between between those in heaven and those on earth.

Early American settlers named the red bird a cardinal because the red color of the birds’ feathers reminded them of the Catholic bishop robes. Native Americans considered the cardinal a good omen. The Cherokees thought red birds could predict the weather and described the red bird as the daughter of the sun.

I love watching them at the feeders and have a flock of eight or more each morning and at dusk. I love my other bird friends, too. Gives me so much pleasure to watch them flit around the feeders.

Say your prayers tonight and remember family and friends and pray for folks that aren’t well. Pray for people who have lost loved ones and are learning how to walk through life without their loved ones. One little prayer can make a difference!