Friday, April 20, 2012

The Birds Nest and Earth Day

She was persistent. And noisy. And early. Trying to build her nest on my front door wreath. Finally I just took the wreath down, and put it in the garage by our nest collection.  I brought one nest inside to show the boys. They were all together, sitting at the table. I held up the nest. And told them, "Just look at this complete nest. The mom bird made this for her babies. She had to get each and very twig. One by one. With her mouth. To make this perfect nest for her babies." They all looked again at the nest. I could tell by their posture and silence they were thinking. About the mom bird. About creatures. About moms. About God.

115 comments:

  1. Love it! God really is everywhere and in everything.

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  2. Birds are a beautiful example of how parents work hard to protect and raise their young. Such a teachable moment!

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  3. you forgot to add...and i did the same thing for you....smiles...moms are pretty cool you know...smiles....sounds like a cool fam moment...

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  4. Agree with the comments before mine. Beautiful story, great lesson and I really like what Brian Miller added.

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  5. Love that story! Brilliantly simple!

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  6. Ohhhh so sweet!

    Paula
    lifeasweknowitbypaula.blogspot.com

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  7. I'm always in awe how intricate bird's nests can be all woven together to hold baby birds.
    Mary Alice

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  8. I agree what a wonderful lesson and message.
    Anne

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  9. She's got her whole world in her nest that she lovingly constructed to bring her family together, a place of shelter, a place for babies to grow and be nurtured ... makes me think of the song lyrics "He's got the whole world in His hands". Have a lovely weekend.

    Robin
    happilyhomeafter.blogspot.com

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  10. That will stay with them a long time. Good lesson!

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  11. hat a great lesson. kids always know what nests are, but i never thought about explaining exactly how they are made. i love this!

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  12. Good blog!!
    Thanks for stopping by my blog and follow me, I also follow you :)
    http://alwaysssmiling.blogspot.com.es

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  13. Life's simple lessons. Nice post.

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  14. What a loving lesson you taught your children about the love of a mother and Creator. - Have a great weekend. xo

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  15. I agree with the others that it was a great lesson. Sometimes kids don't realize the hard work and effort we put into their care. Teaching them that each little stick contributed forms a whole home is a priceless lesson!

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  16. What a beautiful way to teach a child!! You must have beautifully spirited children with lessons like this to learn from. It's reassuring that there are other moms out there that find these little things to be important teaching tools. God bless our children!!

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  17. i've always admired birds' nests. they are a thing of beauty and life lessons.

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  18. Now my son would have just looked at me like I was crazy and said something cutesy, I'm sure. But there was only one of him. There is safety in numbers. We'd sure like to think that our kids think about things like nests and God, but really are they thinking, "who cares, Mom."

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  19. Please remember to tell your kids that the father did also his role.

    I know because I am a father too.

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  20. Great, great lesson...one they will not forget, isn't God good to teach us through nature?

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  21. hmmm..house are easy to build but home are rare...

    Nice post !

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  22. This entry was actually poignant. We give up a lot as moms and work hard so that our kids can have the best. Maybe we work too hard and need to take a break... LOL

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  23. so lovely and deep :)

    astorytohear.blogspot.com

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  24. I have always found birds' nests amazing. They are beautiful!

    ~Jess

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  25. Ann... this is a remarkable post.... short, simple and poignant!

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  26. Isn't taking time to appreciate God in the little things amazing?

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  27. The intricacies of nature are truly astounding. What I nice lesson for the kids.

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  28. Beautiful. We have so much to learn from birds about working hard and being closer to the Lord.

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  29. Beautiful! What a great lesson. :)

    Thanks for following my blog. I love your blog, and I'm definitely following you back!

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  30. A great opportunity for a Nature lesson.

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  31. The miracle of it all...
    And as I write, a daddy bird is trying to coax the mama to build a nest on our balcony, I believe!
    So beautiful...
    xoxo,
    - Irina

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  32. Sweet. Nature offers many beautiful lessons about our loving Creator.

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  33. Sometimes God makes to so easy to be a Mom.Those are the best moments.

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  34. Beautiful post...moms are special!

    XO,
    Jane

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  35. One of life's little lessons that leaves a great impact. You're a good teacher, Mom.

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  36. Sometimes i ponder too just like the kids.. There was a time i saw a very beautiful bird nest, and i said in my mind God is really a God of wonders. How could a mere bird be this creative..

    Wishing you and your kids a lovely weekend..

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  38. Nests are so amazing to look at. Bits of twigs, string, feathers, maybe even a bit of dryer lint. How wonderful to share the beauty in the nest with your children. God is certainly in the details.

    xo,
    Danielle

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  39. You have a lovely blog, i followed you, if you feel so feel free to follow back...Kisses and stay in touch !

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  40. we have birds, squirrels that are very noise too. can never sleep in- ever. ;-0

    Visiting from createwjoy, latest Thursday Two Questions post on Donors Choose to Donate

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  41. It's amazing how patient they are. And apparently they have a thng for wreaths. A good friend has a gorgeous robin's next in her wreath on her front door, too.

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  42. You are such an amazing writer. Love reading your posts.

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  43. At least they didn't say ewwwww, nasty. Good for them for being able to see the wonderment.

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  44. What a lovely image you crated with these words...I loved this post!!
    Stacy

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  45. You are very alert to important lessons for your kids!! And this is a good one!

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  46. Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and leaving those lovely comments..i'm am more than glad to be your follower!

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  47. I love how you relate to your kid..... there is a lesson there for sure but most kids would never see it or get it. They are blessed to have such a wonderful Godly mom.

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  48. A birds nest is a wonderful feat of engineering able to with stand any types of weather mother nature can throw at it :-).

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  49. That was so beautiful. I never sat down and thought how loving a momma bird could be ,to collect twigs one by one just for her babies! Just as our heavenly Father took 9 precious month to create us in our mothers` womb,careful crafting us to his perfection; when he could easily created us in one day! LOVE IT SIS! have a wonderful weekend:)

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  50. Isn't it amazing? I have birds building nests on two of my porches! Being a Mom is lots of work but soooooo rewarding:) Have a blessed weekend dear friend, HUGS!

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  51. Aw this is too sweet :)

    XO
    www.pearlsandpaws.blogspot.com

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  52. That had to be a Carolina Wren. They love to build their nests in wreaths or on porches or garages---near a house... Cute little birds... Glad you could share something about that bird to your children. I absolutely love my backyard birds.

    Have a great weekend.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  53. Great lesson for the kids. sandie

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  54. Such a neat lesson for your little ones!

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  55. Isn't it amazing what work those birds go thru just to build a nest? I love watching the birds, and feeding them, too! Nice that you could share that with your kids:)

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  56. You shared a wonderful lesson with your boys.

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  57. I love lessons like this. It must be the day of boys and nest. :) Today on our way home from school my son spotted a squirrel's nest on the side of the road. We had just entered our neighborhood which has lots of Oak trees. He turned us around to go back to the nest. He picked up the nest and looked inside to make sure there were no baby squirrels. He then carried the nest away from the road and put it on the ground. He looked up and there was a squirrel hanging on the brick wall just watching him....this is now another kind and sweet memory I have of my baby boy. Have a beautiful weekend!

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  58. And isn't that just how we came into this world? Wonderful post!

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  59. Such a great lesson! Wonderful mom!

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  60. What is it with birds and front door wreaths! LOL! I love birds' nests. So much so I use it as my avatar.
    hugs
    Caroline

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  61. What a beautiful, teachable moment you made this!

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  62. I love this! I would love to share a nest with my kids someday! They are so beautiful and intricate, and I can imagine they take so much work for one little pregnant bird : )

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  63. One built one in my hanging basket of flowers last year laid 3 eggs and then left I think they could see us ( a window was near)

    and we had to water the basket ( I hang a plastic basket so I can water from the bottom of the flowers and water will not get on the flowers under the basket) any way I think it was too much going on there and they left the basket with the eggs.

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  64. So sweet! I love how all of God's creation has ways of teaching us about Him! It all goes back to Him, doesn't it?

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  65. So much hard work in a nest, don't you think? And done with so much love :)

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  66. The best lessons are in nature, aren't they?

    =)

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  67. Its taking the time to notice, learn, absorb and LIVE the little moments life that make it a life well lived. Total awesomeness!

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  68. What a lovely moment to share with your boys. :) Thank you for your sweet words on my blog. Following you now! :)

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  69. Very fun to read! :)

    http://bronsonbloopers.blogspot.com

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  70. Do you think they were trying to picture YOU building your 'nest' bit by bit with your mouth? LOL
    Nice post Chick.

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  71. so have they voiced their thoughts aloud? truly interesting to hear what their thoughts were...very sweet~

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  72. I think birds are amazing for the way they create their nests...and also how each individual species of birds have their own little differences to make them unique!

    Last term at school they had the children making birds nests after studying them and they realised just how difficult it was and how clever the birds were to manage to make them with no hands!!

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  73. thanks for stopping by! I'm a new follower - love your posts!
    Dawn

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  74. Aren't bird nests just the most fascinating things! We had the most perfectly crafted nest in a box at our back door... she built it on top of the trash can, silly thing. So we had to keep the darn box until she was through with it... six eggs, hatched into six babies... they all flew the coop this week, and it was kinda happy and sad...

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  75. What a wonderful lesson! You're a good mom! :)

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  76. This is so cute and so wonderful ! A bird built a nest also near to my balcony...love to look at them, it makes me feel the beauty of nature ! Greetings from Italy


    Fashion and Cookies

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  77. Beautiful! You did exactly what all mom's should do. Took the time to show the importance of the work it takes to make a home, even in nature. I think it will pop into their heads at times when they may need to remember such things and have appreciation.
    You are a good mother.. :)

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  78. thanks for stopping by my blog...happy to discover yours...faith AND humor...right up my alley :-)

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  80. we have a robin building a nest outside our door - which just happens to be my daughter's favorite bird! - and a horse due to give birth any day now. hard not to marvel at the miracles of life while watching new life begin!

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  81. We had a bird build a nest right near our window onece. I was amazed at how hard she worked everyday. We also got to watch the babies from the window.

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  82. Beautiful! And beautifully written! Thank you. I'm a new follower from the MBC Blog Hop. I'd love a "like" back on my Facebook page at ateachablemom.com. Thanks! Mary

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  83. Oh that I would be as diligent in building our home as that mother bird!

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  84. Fabulous lesson!!

    http://tecuentomistrucos.blogspot.com/

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  85. but then again human moms do the same, they collect this and that to make their family a nice home <3

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  86. Outstanding story.
    Outstandingly related.

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  87. This is such a good example of how parents work hard to protect and raise their children. One can tell from your stories that you are such a beautiful person inside out. And I hope to meet more moms like you.
    Have a blessed Wednesday :)

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