Not Your Ordinary Bird!

You may be thinking, "What does a bird have to do with this week's blog?"  This past week has been Spring Break!  Can I get an amen from all teachers out there?  I had such great plans for my spring break.  I planned to rise early, clean out numerous spaces in my house that needed to be cleaned, and catch up on everything that I had piled to the side during my normal work week.  "So how did it go?" you may ask.  My rising early went a little later than early.  Hmmmm.  Okay, it was closer to ten o'clock.  I managed to half-clean my bedroom.  What I did accomplish was to binge watch an entire season of a television show on Netflix.  I also read three books.  So as I face the dawning of a new work week, I've felt a little bit like a failure.  I wanted to be extraordinary in my accomplishments this week, but instead, I was dismally unaccomplished.  This brings me to the starling.  "What is a starling?", you may ask.  A starling is a bird whose origin boasts from Europe.  During one of my television binge-fests, I witnessed a dialogue with a woman trapped in a medieval jail hole.  As she gazed through the bars at the sky, she noticed a bird flying freely.  It was very poetic.  She proclaimed that it was a beautiful bird.  The other prisoner mentioned it was just an old crow, but she corrected her saying that it might look average at first glance.  But as you look closer, you could see the beauty in its iridescent plumage.  When you looked closer, you see the starling.  I know the movie was hinting at comparing the beautiful caged bird (the woman) with the beautiful free bird (the starling), but I was taken in by the old crow being something much more when you look closer.  I then decided to look up facts about the starlings.  The only contact I had ever had with a starling was at my office.  Several of my coworkers and I were talking when we heard a movement in the ceiling above us.  It was like a horror film.  The unsuspecting ladies were standing around talking when one of them mentions hearing something.  The others say they don't hear anything.  And then they all pause as the noise gets louder.  This is the part in a movie where you throw your popcorn at the screen and yell for the stupid ladies to run.  We all looked up at the ceiling when suddenly out burst a bird from the crack in the tile.  It flew right above us.  I would like to say we were very respectable and calm, but we weren't.  We all ran out of the room screaming while waving our hands over our heads in panic.  It would have won America's Funniest Home Videos.  One of my brave coworkers managed to catch the trapped starling and release it into the wild.  So my knowledge of starlings was definitely limited.  When researching, I found that starlings are the birds that fly in flocks.  They are the ones you see forming all of the amazing patterns as they perform gymnastic-type flight.  The reason they fly together is because of  safety in numbers.  When predators come out at night to attack, the large numbers and close movements keep the predators away.  So what does this have to do with a wasted spring break?  In our lives, we make plans.  We think of our limited amount of time in our week and all that needs to be done, and then when we fail to accomplish the insurmountable tasks, we feel like failures.  But what may look like a crow may be something more. When I examined my time off more closely, I saw something more than ordinary.  I wanted to do so many things, but I needed to rest.  When we face stress if we do not take time to just be still, we burn out quickly.  What may have seemed to be a wasteful week was a wonderful time of just resting without worrying about getting lots of things done.  I needed the strength in numbers.  Instead of sitting in front of a computer alone working, I surrounded myself with my family and my church family.  Being with fellow believers encouraged me when I felt like I was being chased by a predator.  The strength came from being with my flock.  So you may feel that you aren't doing everything you want, but ask yourself this.  Am I allowing myself quiet time to refuel?  Am I surrounding myself with encouraging people that help me stay strong when I am under attack?  Am I willing to just be still and know that He is God?  When you do, you will see God's hand in your life, and you will find the ordinary is not so ordinary after all.

Have a great week high-heeled warriors!