My Bluebird Story

 

I don’t normally see many bluebirds at my house, but sometimes I’ll see one or two in the fall. Around September I prayed that I would see a bluebird this fall. A couple weeks later, I was sitting in my gazebo praying about something I was struggling with, and I asked God if there was a different way he wanted me to see the situation. Then a bluebird came out of nowhere and landed on the ground nearby and ate a grub or something! I thought of the verse that says, “You are the God who sees me.” (Genesis 16:13) And it was a reminder that God sees me, and he remembered my prayer asking for a bluebird, even though I had forgotten I had prayed for one.

I had a rough winter health-wise, and in January I was depressed and discouraged. The new year seemed uncertain and scary. I was also approaching my 34^th birthday, and while there are parts of my life that I really love, this isn’t the life I had planned for my 30s. My counselor wanted me to write a list of the things that give me hope. I muttered, “If I can come up with anything.” But I was surprised to come up with more than I expected. At the top of my list was birds, especially robins and bluebirds. In the next couple weeks, I kept seeing bluebirds! They tended to show up on days when I was feeling particularly depressed or hopeless, and it gave me the strength to keep going.

By late February, I was no longer depressed. I hadn’t seen any bluebirds recently and was starting to miss them, but figured maybe that was the end of the bluebirds, and God had sent them to me to help me through a hard season. I was busy and stressed, and I prayed that God would send a bluebird that week. The next day, I looked out the window and saw a bluebird in our crabapple tree!

I have lived in this house since 2006 (minus the 5 years I went away for college), and I have never seen as many bluebirds as I saw this winter. Some people might say all the bluebirds are a coincidence, or that the birds just changed their usual migration patterns because of the weather. But I believe God sent them because he knew I needed them. It is so easy to have a wrong view of God—to think that he is harsh or judgmental or all about rules. But he is a God who looks down at a world full of billions of people and sees and cares about an individual. He knows all of our secret thoughts and struggles and speaks to us in ways that are unique to us—whether that is through bluebirds or something else.

“He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds. He counts the stars and calls them all by name. How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension.” Psalm 147:3-5