Defeathering the nest

My devo thought for today was just so good that I wanted to share it.  It was called "De-feathering the Nest" and it was from my Day-Votions for Mothers book.

(He guarded him) like an eagle that stirs up its nest
and hovers over its young,
that spreads its wings to catch them
and carries them aloft.
       Deuteronomy 32:11

Kenneth Price shares a beautiful comparison of the Golden Eagle with a Christian's life in his book The Eagle Christian.  The male and female eagle literally lock their talons and flip head over heels in love as they seal their marriage ceremony.  They then begin the business of building a nest, a virtual fortress for their future eaglets.

The father eagle completes the building of the outside nest with large limbs and branches on the cleft of a rock, sometimes as high as ten thousand feet.  The mother eagle soon settles down into the nest to cushion a sweet home, gathering leaves, grass, and other soft treasures to decorate and pad the nest.

Just before the baby eaglests hatch, Mother Eagle begins to do a curious thing.  She starts plucking some of the downy soft feathers from her breast and smoothes them like a carpet over the floor of the nest.  She does this so that the sharp branches and twigs don't poke and stick the babies.

Life continues and the eaglets begin to grow.  One day the mama starts pecking away at the soft, velvety carpet and then grabs up hunks with her powerful talons.  She doesn't want them to become too comfortable.  She knows they must learn to stand on their own without her feathery protection.  All of a sudden, the kids start squirming and hollering, "Ouch! Mom, those branches are hurting us!"

Then one day, Mama Eagle starts acting very strange.  She starts stirring up the nest, and her powerful, six-to ten-foot span reaches all the way across the nest.  She may start pushing her "teen" eaglets gently--then harder and more directly.  They cringe at the edge of the nest, mortified.  At times she may even hover over the nest, dangling food, enticing them closer to the edge.

One morning Mom wakes up with that look in her eyes.  The kids cower and whisper to one another.  "Look out! Mom's on the warpath!"

And then it happens--a kid's scariest nightmare--and the worst case of PMS they've ever seen in their mom.  Mama Eagle stirs a little too hard, and those eaglets go flying over the edge of the nest.

Only they're not flying--they're flailing those wings as panic fills their eyes.  "We're gonna diiiie!" they yell in unison as they plunge toward the ground.

But up above them a tiny figure is circling round and round.  The eaglets see nothing but their early graves down below.  Just before the eaglets hit the hard earth, Father or Mother Eagle, who can see from miles away and can fly vertically over two hundred miles per hour, comes streaking down in the nick of time.  Huge, strong wings dip and scoop up the eaglets just before they crash land.

The parents will repeat this cycle, until one day the eaglets are falling for the last time.  Their parent-child game suddenly turns into a life-threatening scenario.  This time when the eaglets fall, their parents are nowhere in sight.  What if they don't show up?  What if they don't come through?  Has it all been a cruel joke, only to end in this horrible scene?  They can see the headlines now:  Abandoned Eaglets Plunge to Their Death:  Eagle Parents Arrested for Murder.  Those kids keep moving their wings, because they don't want to die prematurely.

Then a marvelous thing happens.  Nature takes over.  Those eaglet wings start moving in slow motion, as the eaglets take off flying for the first time.  That's when Father Eagle peeks out from behind the clouds where he has been watching all along, and Mama Eagle smiles from wing to wing as she peers down from her nest.

"Look, Daddy!" the eaglets screech in unison.  "We're flying! We're flying! Just like you!"

The time comes in every mother's life when she must begin removing the "feathers" from her child's soft nest.  Standing on their own two feet hurts, and the kids may fall numerous times as they move closer to independence.  But falling doesn't always mean failing.  Unlike the eaglets, sometimes our kids may try to leave the nest too soon.  Either way, we try to rescue and forgive as good parents do, giving them more and more freedom until the time comes when they'll leave the nest permanently.  Some kids may even get too comfy "resting" and need a few gentle but firm pushes to leave the nest.

Every mom wants their child to grow up just like their Father--reflecting the character of Christ.  But every child is unique.  Some of them prefer to "test" rather than "rest."  Sometimes our kids reject even our most loving efforts to prepare them so they can "fly" through life successfully on their own.

We moms are not on this child-raising journey alone.  Mothering is a tough job, but one thing is certain.  Our heavenly Father assures us that he is always watching, ready to move at lightning speed and scoop up our children if they will let him.  We can commit them to God's care and safekeeping.  He is a strong refuge--for us and for them.

And his nest is always best.

At the end of the devotional it said to meditate on Psalm 91 as you commit your kids into your heavenly Father's keeping.  Psalm 91 says:

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."

Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

If you make the Most High your dwelling--even the LORD, who is my refuge--no disaster will come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

"Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble.

I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."

I just loved that.  It is something to think about as I have one who seems to want to "test" so often these days and she is only nine.  But, my dear sweet Hannah, my one prayer for you is that you will always call upon the LORD and acknowledge his name.  

I am SO thankful I am not on this child-raising journey alone.  HE is my refuge and my nest.