The Sun Bird Braves the Storm

The eternal God is your refuge,

and underneath are the everlasting arms.

Deuteronomy 33:27

Missionary Amy Carmichael tells of a beautiful illustration of God's love and care through a little bird.  With the hurricane this past week, it seems like a good time to share this sweet story.  Taken from the pages of Secure in the Everlasting Arms by Elisabeth Elliot.  

The sun bird, one of the tiniest of birds, a native of India, builds a pendant nest, hanging by four frail threads, generally from a spray of valaris.  It is a delicate work of art, with its roof and tiny porch, which a splash of water or a child’s touch might destroy.  She tells how she saw a little sun bird building such a nest just before the monsoon season, and felt that for once bird wisdom had failed – for how could such a delicate structure, in such an exposed situation, weather the winds and torrential rains?  The monsoon broke and from her window she watched the nest swaying with the branches in the wind.  Then she perceived that the nest had been so placed that the leaves immediately above it formed little gutters which carried the water away from the nest.  There sat the sun bird, with it’s tiny head resting on her little porch, and whenever a drop of water fell on her long, curved beak, she sucked it in as if it were nectar.  The storms raged furiously, but the sun bird sat, quiet and unafraid, hatching her tiny eggs.

How sweet that story is to me.  A perfect example of God's promise to care for us no matter the storms of life.

Below is a very sweet image of a little girl on the beach.  Free for you today from my collection of vintage paper.  Happy to be able to share with you.

Today is my mom's 80th birthday. Thankful to be celebrating it with her today.  Have a blessed day my friends.