I love watching the baby robins leave their nests all around my yard. This morning, I observed four little fledglings hopping all over the grass. The look like spotted fluff balls of new feathers, wobbling and tumbling. I love God’s design in it all; these young birds enjoy special camouflage with spots and muted colors so they blend right into the scenery. These birds also chirp nonstop. I watch and I listen. The fledglings chirp, and the mother bird comes and points out a worm or bug on the grass. Chirp: the parent comes. Chirp: the parent feeds the fledgling. Chirp: the parent guides the fledgling to a new spot in the yard.
It’s such a tender, dangerous time to leave a nest. But as soon as the chirp comes, I see the response.
I love how, in numerous ways in our lives and in different seasons, we’re called to step away from something safe. We leave the family in the hometown. We leave a job. We leave a friend group who brings us down. We leave a behavior or a situation. We leave a place that’s too small for our spirit.
We start to fly away, and it’s the scariest time. But remember your chirp. Keep chirping, all day long, as you cry out to a God who hears. One translation of Isaiah 30:19 says it like this: You will never weep again; he will show favor to you at the sound of your cry; as soon as he hears, he will answer you.