One day years ago Momma called me with an infectious excitement in her voice. She loved God’s creation. That day she had seen a red-headed woodpecker in the yard. She was SO excited that when she was telling me what she had seen she got her words for red-headed woodpecker all jumbled and it came out “wood-headed redpecker”. I am just ornery enough to not let something like that go by, so I said to her, “A what?” When she started to repeat herself she realized what she had said. With an “Oh!”, she started to laugh. She laughed and laughed and laughed. We both did. For years we shared quite a giggle anytime we would hear the woodpeckers that live in the woods behind Mom and Dad’s house. I am so thankful for the memories of laughter shared with Mom.
(Now it may seem like I’m switching gears here, but hang in there, you’ll see how it all comes together!!)
If you know me, or perhaps have read my last post, you know that I love the snow. Every year on the day of the first snowfall, Momma would always call me to ask me if I was enjoying the snow. Most years she’d be at work when she’d call. She never missed a first snowfall of the year to call and love on me. Well, this year when the first snowfall came, the phone was silent. As I watched the snowflakes fall my tears fell in rhythm.
I wandered into my office and through teary eyes tried to do some work at my desk when I noticed a movement outside my window at the bird feeder. When I looked I saw none other than a woodpecker! A red-bellied woodpecker! Never had I seen a woodpecker out here. There are no words to express the overwhelming knowledge of the love of God that I experienced. For Him to send a woodpecker to visit me for the first time on the day of the first snowfall, it made me drop to my knees in tears of joy and gratitude. Oh, how great is His Love! To top it all off, that woodpecker- that precious display of God’s love, stayed feeding and bopping around in the tree until the snow shower was over. Every day this winter I have been blessed by that woodpecker. I have even come to hear his call and know he’s there even before I can see him.
Last Friday as I was cleaning up some paperwork in my office the Spirit nudged me of the temporary nature of a bird. I remember thinking to myself that even the leaves on the tree would be filling out before long and I wouldn’t probably have the line of vision as clearly to watch for the woodpecker. It was a fleeting thought in a busy day and it was soon forgotten.
As we were leaving for church on Sunday my hubby noticed there was a dead bird on the sidewalk by my office. One glance and my heart sunk! I could tell it was lifeless, and I could tell it was a woodpecker. I got out of the car to confirm and was an emotional wreck all the way to church. (shoot, I was emotional all day!!) My hubby and I recalled that we had heard a loud thud on Saturday when, no doubt, the bird must have flown into the window. We live out where stray cats and wild animals abound. How the woodpecker wasn’t carried off through the night, only God knows. What I couldn’t understand was why God wanted me to see this. This woodpecker was such a display of His love, why would it have to die, and why would I need to be witness of it?
My morning time with the Lord on Monday was full of questions. I spent much time asking God to explain all this in a way that I could get my head and my heart wrapped around. A few minutes later I heard a sound that was very familiar to me. It sounded like the sweet sound of the woodpecker and it made my heart flutter. But I actually found myself telling the mockingbird that he better hadn’t be messing with me! I went to my office window with much trepidation to see nothing but an empty feeder. Then I heard his sound again, and almost as if to show me his entrance, the woodpecker flew to the feeder! Oh, He is so beautiful! And so is the bird!
What I had failed to realize was that God hadn’t shown His love for me in the presence of one woodpecker, but two! He was loving on me “abundantly; more than I could imagine.” The bird that I buried on Sunday must have been a female. As I carried it I remember thinking that there wasn’t as much color on its head as I had thought there was. I was too wrapped up in my questions for God to notice His provisions.
Yesterday I noticed that God has loved on Mr. Woodpecker too! He has provided him another mate, for there was a female at the feeder. God is good. So good!
