How Blessings Can Look

A wren came to visit me the other day. It looked like any other wren, but this one proved different. It seemed totally unafraid. As I sat on the back porch, it perched on the railing only a few feet away and chattered at me. After several minutes, I realized it was chattering to me. Then it hopped down near my feet and started bouncing back and forth between my ankles and the bench, still chattering. Sometimes it would stop and peer up at me as if asking for permission to come aboard.
 
The next day, I spread seed out on the railing of which the wren enjoyed. But so did about twenty other wrens. Soon I had a whole messy drove of little piggies disguised as birds. Although harder to distinguish one—or one kind—from another, I tend to believe the little wren who started it all sort of adopted me. For I believe it’s this one that also sits at my kitchen window and chatters until I come to see it. Even when I’m inside at the other end of the house, I can hear the wren loudly calling me over. What a big personality in a little body.
 
That got me thinking about the saying good things come in small packages.  
 
Wildlife that I see every single day here are the biggest blessings for me right now. Deer, fox, turtle, black bear, turkeys, SO many beloved birds getting up close and personal—including a comical Pileated woodpecker, and a showy and operatic Barred owl that likes to belt out its evocative voice ending with a most elaborate trill—these are what delight my heart. Don’t get me wrong, I value and appreciate having a roof over my head, food in the pantry, and a nifty set of dependable wheels—basic things I’ve learned to not take for granted. But these other things are added blessings, like little surprises lighting up my world. I hope I never get so used to them that I take them for granted.
 
That wren that comes to the kitchen when I’m inside makes me feel like it's checking up on me. It sees me and I feel noticed; I feel like I matter to the natural world. That’s a good feeling. And I believe the Lord sends these little creatures in my path to communicate how much HE sees me, and that I matter to him. Like little love notes coming from and spoken through the forest; that crowns my joy.
 
And these little things remind me of the parable of the mustard seed from Matthew 13:31-32: “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” What a beautiful thing to imagine. I can imagine it well, envision it better, when, say, the wren comes a-visiting. This scripture comes to life in that moment.
 
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, was observed and celebrated this week. There’s a saying that is exercised during this time: May this year and its curses end, and the New Year with its blessings begin. That’s it, isn’t it? What it’s all about, a sort of spiritual reset and human reboot. But what if we have this mindset not just once or twice a year with our firm or failed long-term resolutions? Forget about the curses, the hardships from just yesterday (or even an hour ago) and look at the blessings of today (or right now in the moment). What would that look like, your blessings?
 
What blesses me might not seem like much to others, but they’re some of the sweetest and most uplifting delights—and they surround me every day. They’re meaningful, calm, and healing… somehow reassuring of goodness.
 
Try to find joy in the little things. You might not think so, but the little things see you. They know you’re there. And every once in a while, you feel the Lord reach out to you through them… a love note in its simplest, purest, yet most lasting form—and right now, the little wren has found me! He’s found me even here—in the upstairs landing where I’m writing this blog post. It just landed on the sill and is perched there peeking in at me with an energy that’s like saying, “There you are! I’ve found you. So, uh, whatcha doing?” We’re eye-to-eye, and if only I had my phone nearby to take a picture. Except, that’s part of it for me, to put down the phone, leave it somewhere else more often. It’s a habit I seem to be inadvertently developing. Makes me feel freer without that attachment.
 
Oh, this sweet bird… If the bird sees me, God surely does. He is El Roi, the God who sees me.
 
And God sees YOU. He’s interested. I hope you’re aware of His presence. “There you are! I’ve found you. So, uh, whatcha doing?”
 
Answer him; tell him what you’re up to; have a conversation, a heart-to-heart.
 
I hope you’re seeing the blessings unfold around you wherever you are. Good things do come in small packages.

---

~Genesis 1:20-25: “Then God said, ‘Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.’ So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird—each producing offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply. Let the fish fill the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.’ And evening passed and morning came, marking the fifth day. Then God said, ‘Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.’ And that is what happened. God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.”