A Beloved's Journey

Just before New Years I tried something that I had never really done before. After reading the wonderful book series 'Sensible Shoes' I decided to take myself on a 'silent retreat.' The purpose for my retreat was to quiet my heart and mind and listen to what God might have to say. I was a little apprehensive to be doing a silent retreat. My brain often feels like a free-flowing highway and I wondered if I was actually going to be able to slow it down enough to make this work. I knew that staying at home wasn't going to help so I packed a bag with my journal, pen, bible and lunch and headed to  the place where I grew up, Living Springs. Home. I've always known I was blessed to grow up in such a beautiful place and I always deeply value the time I spend there. I hadn't been there for 3 years, which is the longest time that I hadn't visited in quite some time. I knew that a lot of changes had happened over that time and I think I was just worried

On Wednesday my students found a baby bird that had fallen out of its nest. Why the mother bird built its nest on a small branch, at the edge of the tree on a precarious lean I have no idea but hence why baby bird was on the ground. I wasn't there for the initial find, a colleague dealt with that and put the bird back in the nest. Unfortunately only an hour later some of my students came to tell me that the bird was back on the ground. I went out to find a tiny baby bird wriggling on the ground utterly helpless. He was ugly, there were no feathers, you could literally see his insides, his eyes were big, black, closed dots on his head and his wings flapped around in despair. He was in a sad state... and I had several students now watching to see what I would do. I picked the baby bird up and searched for something to feed it. I knew that holding it was the best way to keep it warm. For the next 40 hours I feed him, kept him warm, protected him from my cat and provided a heated &