Another wonderful day in a yard just bursting with songbird symphonies. The sky was sketched by Father Sky’s pastels, blue and clear. The day was warm and sunny till the clouds gathered together making a thin overcast cloud cover blocking the sun’s rays. I love the colors of an overcast sky, the grays and blues and whites, the occasional smoky wisps floating quickly by, blown from Father Sky’s tobacco pipe. Mother Nature was pondering herself on her sunset pageant going forth behind the cloud curtains. She doesn’t care if clouds cover her watercolors. She’s painting for God’s glory. I’ll create one in my mind just as glorious as she paints with her watercolors. I think I’ll choose shades of amethyst, heliotrope, and orchid for my watercolor painting of the sunset. Excuse me while I get my watercolor brushes from their blue Mason jar.

Sat in the swing early afternoon enjoying the warmth of the yellow sunshine. The breeze was cool but I was too busy watching the birds to be chilled by the breeze. The pairs of cardinals were so pretty, the males dressed in their crimson robes, the females dressed demurely in their beautiful velvet brown cardigans embellished with orange and red embroidery. A few rotund chipping sparrows stirred around in the fallen brown oak leaves, scratching in the sunflower seeds on the ground under the bird feeders. The little black capped chickadees would grab a sunflower seed, fly away to an oak limb to crack the seed to eat. They hide seeds, too. I just wonder how many trips a chickadee makes each day back and forth from the feeders. Research says they cache 1,000 seeds a day in winter. I can’t keep up with my coffee cup in the mornings and surely could not remember where I hid one seed much less 1,000. The chickadees are diligent and hard working little creatures. A columnist in The Fillmore County Journal wrote, “A chickadee makes me smile without doing anything more than being.” I feel the same! And I love their cheerful “chickadee dee dee dees.”

Saw a rabble of robins under the old magnolia across the street happily running around looking for earthworms and beetles. Robins are so handsome, dressed in grayish brown suits with rusty red vests. I love how they stand up tall, poking their chests out as they survey their landscape. Drape a little gold watch chain on their vests and they can walk around like an old southern gentleman. They have distinctive yellow beaks and a broken white ring around their eyes. Folklore says robins appear when loved ones are near, serving as comforting symbols of deceased family checking in on us from heaven. They are also known for being harbingers of spring, bringing hope and renewal of Mother Earth as the earth warms following a cold winter.

I wonder what the songbirds worry about and what loads they carry on their feathered shoulders. I know the little kestrel in my neighborhood worries them. We all carry loads on our shoulders, difficulties and challenges that cause us worry. C. S. Lewis said, “It’s not the load that breaks you down, but the way you carry it.” Life can be very hard and I think we subconsciously say, “Well if doesn’t kill me, I guess I’ll get through it.” How we handle life’s difficulties has a lot to do with how we react. We can control our reactions to difficult circumstances. Some people give up hope and never recover. Others persevere and share their difficulties with family and friends to help lighten the weight on their shoulders.

We all grieve over our losses but we need to have enough faith to weather the storm of grief and go on with life. With God’s grace we can carry any burden that is put on our shoulder. In Matthew 11:28 God says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Life is never easy, full of change and challenges. When the load gets too heavy go to God in prayer and ask for help. Psalm 55:22 reads, “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee.” His hands are always open to carry our burdens and give us peace. Nothing is too heavy for him. When we stumble with our burdens, he will carry us, too. Charles H. Spurgeon writes, “When God places a burden upon you, He places His arms underneath you.” That’s beautiful scripture!

“When the weight feels too heavy, God isn’t asking you to carry it — He’s asking you to bring it to Him.” — Pastoral context