The robin

It was quiet time, and I was sitting on my bed.  Suddenly there was a loud thud against my window.  I looked outside and saw a robin lying on the ground.  I went out to assess the damage.  I talked softly to him as I approached and he didn't recoil as I examined his wings, legs, head, and chest.  Nothing seemed broken, but he was panting and his eyes were glazed over.

I picked him up and held him close, and he slumped against me.  I prayed over him and sang hymns to him for about ten minutes, and then he started to perk up gradually.  First he squatted on his feet in my hand.  Then he turned to look right at me, and his eyes cleared.  He fluffed his feathers a bit and closed his beak.  The whole time, I continued to sing and pray and talk softly to him.  I told him that God created him, knows him, and cares about him.  I blessed him to have strength, health, and a full life.  He was completely relaxed, just sitting in my hand, looking at me.

Finally, after about another ten minutes, he stood up tall, pooped in my hand, chirped his thanks, and flew away.  I felt the strength of his legs pushing off against my hand and the breeze as he flapped his wings.  He stopped briefly in our tree and then took off into the sky.  I praised God for healing the bird and for allowing me to have such an amazing experience!

By then, quiet time was over, and it was time to get back to work.  Sometimes I prepare ahead for our literature lesson, but today I hadn't, so as I was reading this poem to my kids, it was the first time I'd read it, and it was right after the amazing bird experience:

It was like a direct message from God, telling me that I'm not living in vain.  I often get discouraged and feel like I'm making no positive difference in the world.  I teach my kids something and they've forgotten it the next day.  I spend hours making food that's gone in fifteen minutes.  I clean something and it's almost immediately dirtied again. It's easy to fall into the trap of believing the lie that nothing I do matters.  But God showed me today very clearly that it does.