Don't Worry! God Is Watching Over You

Don’t Worry!  God Is Watching Over You.

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Matthew 6:25–26 (ESV)

Over the Christmas holiday we saw God’s providential care for our daughter’s 7-year old cockatiel, Buddy.  On Thursday December 22 after being startled by something Buddy took off flying off of our front porch.  This was very unusual.  Bethany has had Buddy for seven years and he is a home-body.  He normally does not even like to go outside.  I ran outside looking for Buddy and the neighbor across the street pointed to a large oak one street over at the other end of our block.

The whole family set out searching for Buddy.  He was not in the tree; we began fanning out up and down near by streets calling and whistling for Buddy, but there was nothing but silence on this clear, but windy December day.  Bethany began to wonder what would happen to Buddy?  Would he be out “in the wild” by himself all night without food and water?  Would someone or something find him?

She went home and began making signs and door hangers.  I grabbed a ladder took his cage up on the roof and tied it to an old smoke stack for a furnace hoping he’d fly by and see his home.  We set his perch out in the back yard, hoping he’d return.  But he didn’t.  That evening went walked the neighborhood putting up signs on telephone poles.

The next day we passed out nearly 100 door hangers, submitted an ad for our community newsletter and posted a notice “Missing Cockatiel” on Craig’s List.  The weekend passed and there was no sign of Buddy.

Meanwhile Buddy had flown away—not just somewhere in our neighborhood, but unknowingly to us, he journeyed to the neighboring city of Altamonte Springs about 3 miles up the interstate from our neighborhood.  Buddy had never flown further than across the room—now he had disappeared from sight.

After a Christmas weekend of mixed emotions—the joy of Christmas, special services and family time mixed with the empty cage on the roof and the abandoned perch in the back yard, hope arose.  We received an email forwarded to us—it was another Craig’s List post saying that someone had found a cockatiel the same day that Buddy had flown away.  But there was no contact information in the post.

Well after a long night we received an email from the daughter of the lady who found Buddy!  We emailed,  exchanged pictures and set up a time to pick up Buddy on Thursday evening one week after he’d disappeared.

It turns out that God was watching over this small frightened bird that was spreading its wings and flying free for the first time, but without any direction or provision for safety or nourishment.  As the song says “His eyes are on the sparrow,” and on December 22 his eyes were on Buddy.

Dee was driving through her neighborhood with her daughter when she saw a small bird walking across the road.  She stopped the car and got out and immediately saw that this bird wasn’t where he was supposed to be.  Buddy stepped up onto her finger, walked up her arm and perched on her shoulder.  He must have been worn out from his flight and was now dangerously crossing a street.

Well God guided the right family to Buddy—they’d owned an African Grey Parrot for 35 years!  And they had one friend who was a veterinarian and another, with a house full of birds, who provided them with a beautifully equipped cage and food.  Buddy spent his first Christmas away from home and met some new pets.  At our house he lived with two other birds—a parrotlet and a love bird.  On Christmas Day he met a new kind of pet for the first time—a dog.  And not just one, but two when the family came together to celebrate the holiday.

This family also guarded Buddy to be sure he went to the right house.  Someone else had responded to their Craig’s List ad saying they’d also lost a cockatiel, but the pictures did not match.  When we contacted them they said they wanted to be sure his “parents” got him back and after we confirmed things, they welcomed us over to be reunited with our stray, gray cockatiel.

It is so reassuring to see how our heavenly Father watched over his creation and took care of our pet, Buddy.  Jesus said that we are even more valuable to God than a bird is.  And just like God watches over the birds he will watch over us.  Therefore Jesus said in Matthew 6 don’t worry about what you will eat, what you will wear or how tall you are—just trust in God.  Seek first the kingdom of heaven and His righteousness and God will take care of the rest!  Thank you God for caring for Buddy and for caring for us!