I feel like my brows have a constant furrow. My face is screwed up tight against the world … with fatigue, with worry, as a defense against the Wee Man screaming.

But in between all the brow furrowing, and the forehead scrunching, this happened.

I was reading in Luke, and saw this …

“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”

I’ve read this before. It’s not new, it’s not earth shattering. I highlighted the passage on my Kindle and kept reading.

The next morning I was pumping gas and steeling myself for a long day of errands and budget planning and the various and sundry tasks that come along with managing a household. I’m sure my brows were wrinkled up tight. Then I noticed the birds.

There were at least twenty coming and going at the junction between road and parking lot. A small depression, filled with gross, dirty rainwater, a souvenir from the previous evening. They were splashing and skidding across the surface of the puddle, flapping their wings into the water to create a giant communal bird bath.

Now, I may be anthropomorphizing here, but my bird friends were joyful. They were positively gleeful as they dived down into the gravelly puddle

…. Or maybe it was me …

Taking joy in the spectacle, a smile creeping across my scowling face. These small winged ones, worth two pennies, in the hands of a Creator who gave them a bird bath on a Tuesday. And I serve the same Creator, the God of birdbaths and lilies, the God who knows the hair on my head and the distribution of our pennies. Who knows and guides the footsteps the Husband will take apart from us for nine months …  A Shepherd who gathers His lambs in His arms.

And oh friends, I needed the reminder. To banish the constant worry, the fear of the future, the fatigue of the present. This God who loves His creation will provide, not just my physical needs, but moments of glee, of joy, of respite, and of peace. The Almighty, the Namer and Counter of Stars – He’s in the business of birdbaths, too.

~M.

{Linking up with Imperfect Prose and fellow bloggers, you should REALLY read her offering today}.