A Net in Time

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Faith

Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending

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It has been a long time since I have sung this song.  Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending.  I didn’t recognize the tune in the hymnal I am using, but I immediately started singing the song.  I could not find the tune I was used to, and once I heard the tune on Youtube I completely lost the tune in my head.  So well you know… enjoy?  🙂 

lo he comes with clouds descending
Dramatic god lights passing through clouds and shining on shining on sky.

Lyrics to Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending

Lo! He comes with clouds descending,
Once for favored sinners slain;
Thousand, thousand saints attending,
Swell the triumph of His train:
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
God appears on earth to reign.

Every eye shall now behold Him
Robed in dreadful majesty;
Those who set at naught and sold Him,
Pierced and nailed Him to the tree,
Deeply wailing, deeply wailing, deeply wailing,
Shall the true Messiah see.

Every island, sea, and mountain,
Heav’n and earth, shall flee away;
All who hate Him must, confounded,
Hear the trump proclaim the day:
Come to judgment! Come to judgment!
Come to judgment! Come to judgment!
Come away!

Now redemption, long expected,
See in solemn pomp appear;
All His saints, by man rejected,
Now shall meet Him in the air:
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
See the day of God appear!

Answer Thine own bride and Spirit,
Hasten, Lord, the general doom!
The new Heav’n and earth t’inherit,
Take Thy pining exiles home:
All creation, all creation, all creation,
Travails! groans! and bids Thee come!

The dear tokens of His passion
Still His dazzling body bears;
Cause of endless exultation
To His ransomed worshippers;
With what rapture, with what rapture,
With what rapture
Gaze we on those glorious scars!

Yea, Amen! let all adore Thee,
High on Thine eternal throne;
Savior, take the power and glory,
Claim the kingdom for Thine own;
O come quickly! O come quickly!
O come quickly!
Everlasting God, come down!

Author and History

This song has a bit of a convoluted history.  Originally written by John Cennnick in 1752, it was later altered by Charles Wesley in 1758, and Martin Madan in 1760.   It makes me curious about what changes they might have made.  So I found an original version on the Cyber Hymnal.  It’s quite different!

Born into the Quaker tradition, John Cennick joined the Methodist movement with the Wesley’s and Whitefield.  When they parted ways, Cennick followed Whitefield and later joined the Moravians.   He became a pastor in the Moravian church.  A successful hymn writer he published two hymnals.   He left a number of hymns unpublished at the time of his death which his Son-in-law saw published. 

So I’m pretty sure that the pastors of the church I was part of growing up changed the tune of this song to a more familiar one. Why?  I don’t know this tune, though when I saw the words I started singing the hymn.   Go figure eh? 

Pondering The Words

Do you know this song?  As you sing it do you ponder Christ’s Return? How do it make you feel?

I read these words and all I see is the joy they hymnist has at Christ’s eventual return.  How he will take this kingdom for his very own, and his reign is one to celebrate. 

And so I’m convicted.  I am… I so rarely think of Christ’s return and think of it so joyfully.  Do I long for Christ to return?  Yes.  I see it as an ending to the suffering in the world and things being made right…but I often don’t go beyond that to the total joy of Christ being able to reign supreme. No longer will I have to look through a glass dimly.  I’ll be able to see him face to face in a world again made right.  This is something to celebrate don’t you think?

Caught in the Middle

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Okay, so this was actually kind of fun to do, and rolled right off my fingers.  Caught in the middle plays off the word prompt from Miss Kate.  One often hears talk about how birth order affects the way children grow up, and that you can tell where in the pack a person is based on how they act.  So it was neat to look up “birth order” websites and see what they have to say and if any of it was applicable to my life.  🙂  

caught in the middle

Caught in the middle

Caught in the middle
that’s who I am
Fourth in the line
of six kids in all.

Caught in the middle
middle of three
Girls in row
the middle.. that’s me!

Learning early to
Mediate needs
of older against
Younger.

Learning to be
easy-going
reduce the stress
on me!

Independence is
my middle name,
don’t tell me
what to do!

Figuring out
my own path,
it’s not for
you to do.

Middle children
learn and grow
and have things
just their own.

Don’t let your
past define you.
Leave yourself
room to grow!

caught in the middle

Scripture References

Remember this…your life is not defined by what order you were born in, in your family.  Your future might be influence by how you grew up, but it doesn’t have to define you.  See beyond the now. 

Psalm 139:13-16

13 For you formed my inward parts;
    you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.[a]
Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
    the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them.

Jeremiah 29:11

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

She’s There

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Oh, what can one do on a mother’s day weekend with the word She. Let me ponder this a spell and see where God would have me take this word.  Oh, in the quietness of an evening we’ll discover that She’s There.  Who?  Read on and find out!  🙂 OH, and to see what others have come up with, visit Miss Kate’s Linkup. 

She's There

She’s There

She’s There.
Surrounded by beauty and life
Two trees and a serpent
Deception
Eve

She’s There.
The Canaanite commander
Hidden in a tent
Ended with Tent peg and hammar.
Jael

She’s There.
Home, yet not.
Her man gone
A Mother-in-law to love.
Ruth

She’s There.
A wife, unfaithful
Used by God
Demonstrating Israel
Gomer

She’s There.
An old lady
A mute husband
A joyful child within
Elizabeth

She’s There.
Young, unmarried
Seen by God.
Trusting, Pondering
Mary

She’s There.
In the bustle of a crowd
selling clothes of purple
worshipper of God.
Lydia

She’s There.
Her man
Working for the enemy.
Helping disciples
Joanna

She’s There
An old woman
Pain, death facing
yet she trusts God and sees
Unnamed.

She’s There.
Netherlands Born
Protected by God
In a move across seas
My Mom

Scriptures Says

Genesis 3

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘Youa] shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 

Acts 16

11 So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. 

14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 15 And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

Judges 4

 21But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died.

Hosea 1

2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” 3 So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

And more women came….

Luke 1

39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

Matthew 1

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed[ to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

Luke 1

And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”] 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 

Luke 8

Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

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Swing Low, Sweet Chariot is a song that I have known for such a long time.  I have recollections of it being on the records my mom used to play. I think… Johnny Cash did a version of it?   At least that’s what my vague memories tell me.  ANYWAYS, it often pops into my mind and I’ll find myself singing.  I do not know all the verses by heart. 

swing low sweet chariot

Lyrics to Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

Refrain

Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home,
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home.

I looked over Jordan, and what did I see?
Coming for to carry me home,
A band of angels coming after me,
Coming for to carry me home.

Refrain

If you get there before I do,
Coming for to carry me home,
Tell all my friends I’m coming, too.
Coming for to carry me home.

Refrain

I’m sometimes up and sometimes down,
Coming for to carry me home,
But still my soul feels heavenly bound,
Coming for to carry me home.

Refrain

The brightest day that I can say,
Coming for to carry me home,
When Jesus washed my sins away,
Coming for to carry me home.

Refrain

I’m sometimes up and sometimes down,
Coming for to carry me home.
But still my soul feels heavenly bound,
Coming for to carry me home. 

Author and History

We don’t know for sure who wrote Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.  It might have been Wallace Willis, a Negro slave born in Mississippi and owned by Britt Willis, a Choctaw.   It is thought he was inspired by the Red River which reminded him of the River Jordan and the prophet Elijah. Alexander Reid, a minister at a Choctaw school Willis was at, heard him singing and transcribed the music sending it The Jubilee Singers.  Learn more at Songwriters.

Or if it was created by Sarah Hannah Sheppard a slave.  Apparently, she learned her master was going to sell her daughter and in her fear, she ran away intent on suicide for herself and her daughter.  You can read the rest of this story at the Library of Congress.   The daughter Ella was part of The Jubilee Singers.

Either way, it’s an old African Spiritual regardless of who wrote it. 

Thinking More

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot is a song that has a rhythm to it.  It’s no wonder to me that when I’m doing a repetitive task that this tune will pop into my brain.  

I like this line “I”m sometimes up and sometimes down, But still my soul feels heavenly bound”.  It’s that just so true?  We don’t always feel like we’re doing well in our faith journey but still… our goal is the same.  Heaven is our ultimate stopping place.  

Remedy Seen as a Close Measure

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According to the dictionary, the word Remedy has a variety of meanings.  It’s one of those words that is both a noun and verb.  As a verb, to remedy something is to set right an undesired situation.  As a noun I discovered two meanings, one which I knew:  a treatment for a disease or an injury.  The other I needed to research a bit more “the margin within which coins as minted may differ from the standard fineness and weight.”  It makes me wonder if we can see remedy as a close measure? 

Remedy seen as a close measure

Remedy Seen As A Close Measure

Numismatics
The study or collection
of coins, paper currency, and medals

This new word to me
Came courtesy of
Five Minute Friday.

An encouragement to
Ruminate on a simple word
Remedy.

I easily thought of
treatments and cures
or setting things right

But to consider that
Remedy also means
Something more than that.

Defined as: the margin within which coins
as minted may differ from
the standard fineness and weight

It gives some pause
A pondering on how
A remedy can be a measurement?

So I stop to consider this
If a remedy can be a measurement
of how something differs from the standard.

How do I remedy as a believer?
Is there a standard
to which I can look?

I’m reading a book
A Habit Called Faith
Not far in, yet challenges made.

Do I see the saints of old
Their struggles and their fears
Yet, so many counted as righteous

So can I let my
struggles and fears
Stop my belief?

Knowing that those
who have gone on before
Live out lives of faith, regardless.

They saw their own struggles
They knew to call out to God.
Do I remember the same?

It makes me think
of how sometimes
a bush helps us see a forest.

I need to remember
always, to see further
To see God more often.

Hebrews 11

Scripture Says

Hebrews 11

8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

A Forest of Trees

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Thinking about this prompt… a forest of trees.  I find it spurring on some questions for me. Can you have a forest without trees?   How many trees make up a forest?   What exactly is a forest … is it just a bunch of trees?   And if it’s just a bunch of trees… what number do you need to make a forest?    Then I have to consider what I should write about.  Should I write about nature schooling?  Or even forest school?   Perhaps I should do links to various “learn a tree” unit studies?   Perhaps I should do a post teaching about Trees of Ontario?   I suppose in some ways the sky is the limit, isn’t it?   Makes me curious what others members of the crew will do.    In the end, I think I’ll just let the muse take me where it will.  

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a forest of trees

Problems in definition of a forest

One of the problems folks have in conservatory work is that a forest is not a defined number of trees.  We know that it’s more than three, but how many more?  Is a forest JUST trees?   Not really, Instead, it’s a mixed biome with flowers, ferns, mushrooms, critters, bushes, shrubs and trees.  In fact, the smallest noted forest is the Kakamega forest is just under 90 square miles whereas the largest forest spans 2.2 million square miles as the Amazon Rainforest.    In Canada, the Boreal Forest Region covers 270 million hectares, and spans the length of our country.   This doesn’t really answer the question though, of when does a bush become a forest.  90 Square miles is quite the plot of land, so can a forest only reaching 70 square miles be considered a forest?  Even 20 square miles seems a forest made…. or even 10!  

Locally we have a dump and surrounding it a tract of forest…. which we call a swamp as well, and it doesn’t cover 10 square miles. But when you walk through it, its not small like a woodlot would be, it’s foresty for lack of a better word. 

Small groups of trees go by such names as wood, copse, grove, orchard, stand, bush, woods, thicket, woodland, brake, trees, growth, or cover.  Smaller woodlots can give us a glimpse into the large clime of a forest, giving a more manageable microcosm to explore. 

person walking between green forest trees
Photo by Luis del Río on Pexels.com

Can A Bush Help us See a Forest?

 As a child, I spent hours in our bush.  Listening to birds, finding flowers, observing the seasons through the trees, fishing in our pond, and watching the local wildlife.  A love of nature was thoroughly installed into my bones. 🙂 

But you know what happened the first time I walked in a true forest?   The wind whistling through all those TALL TALL trees…it spooked the very heart of me.   So totally unexpected.  Though I’d been through our bush on windy days and got a glimpse of wind through trees… the vastness of tall trees swaying and whistling in the wind was unexpected. So as much as a bush or woodlot can give a glimpse of a forest… it doesn’t give the whole picture. 

So as much as a woodlot, bush, or grove of trees can give you an idea of a forest, does it really give you a solid knowledge of the vastness and breadth of a forest?

When we go camping we like to go for hikes. This past year I mildly spooked my fellows as I got myself a bit turned around in a forest and it took some thinking (and I’m not good with knowing my east from my south) and a good couple of hours walking, to get myself home again. I just figured “I’m in big ole’ park, I know the lake is THERE so I should start seeing pointers for a walking trail somewhere”. And I did and all was good… but it wasn’t a walk in the park and kinda stupid on my part. Trees were literally everywhere. It would have been so easy to have gotten completely turned around and gotten myself into difficulty.

Parallels Drawn

Since I am raising a child who is asking questions about God when I’m prompted to look deeper into a detail, I need to consider it. I see parallels here between a bush and a forest, between child and teenager.  Between learning with a teen, and seeing God more clearly.  

We’re told in scriptures that we see now as in a glass dimly.   We can read about it in 1 Corinthians 13

8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

red trees
Photo by Artem Saranin on Pexels.com

Bush or Forest?

You see…. I never knew what a forest truly was until I walked through one. I’d never really thought about how long you could walk through one without finding an end. Forests require trails through them so you can find your way out of them again!  Forests require you to have a plan and the smartness of telling people where you are at!

A bush or woodlot… it might take you a bit of time to make your way through it, but you can eventually find your way out (as long as you keep your head about you and have some woodcraft skills).  They generally aren’t big enough to cause serious alarm if you get misdirected a bit. 

To make our way through a forest you need to know excellent woodcraft and wildlife skills.  You need to know how to navigate the hidden and known pathways.  Being safe is harder in forest than in a woodlot.  Knowing how to get through a bush will HELP you in learning how to get through a forest.  It can.

Does Childhood Help Prepare for Teenage Years?

As I further consider the difference between a bush and a forest, and how one is kinda like a dim version of the other.  I kinda wonder if God allows us those childhood years to help us prepare for the teenage ones?   What do you think?

I think of the relationships we build through childhood and how it helps us to understand our youngsters.   This understanding helps navigate the teenage years better don’t you think? These teenage years force us to develop skills in clear communication, in life skill teaching, and in understanding matters of faith.   

Sometimes we need to remember we don’t have to have all the answers… AND our teens don’t have to have all the answers or all the questions yet.   SOMETIMES our job is merely to ask questions and give them room to think.  Or perhaps to spur on their thinking so they can ask questions not just of their parents, but of others that are placed in their lives. 

The teenage years are fraught with emotions and hormones, laughter and maturity, new skills and a thousand new questions.  It’s like a forest with tall trees and no easy way through them at times.  And just like in a forest you don’t know if you’ll meet a bear or a pack of wolves, in the teenage years, you don’t know what ideas will grab a young person’s mind (and possibly their heart).  Talk with teens, try to understand their hearts and minds.  Try to prepare them for hard questions and harder answers, but really, help them keep their hearts soft and flexible.  Give your teens the room they need to think, feel and become the person they’re supposed to be.   

question mark illustration
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I don’t have all the answers

But I am learning.  I’m learning to say “I don’t know, let’s figure that out together”.  I’m learning to simply ask questions and to leave them open. A parent doesn’t always have to know their teen’s response to a question.  Sometimes a question just needs to sit.   My longing is that we’ll learn to ask better questions of each other, and better questions of God himself.  To see his word as truly the answer to those big questions. 

Perhaps, as you navigate your teenagers and their questing hearts, you’ll discover some questions I haven’t thought to ask, and you’ll help me discover answers, and I can help you too?  What do you think?  

Can this forest of trees of our teenager’s lives… be a dim mirror that helps us to see the forest of God’s truths more clearly?  It’s teaching me a lot for sure!  I guess my question is… how do we help our teens?  How do we walk it in community with them giving them a safe place to ask questions?  To provide them with the knowledge it’s okay to not have all the answers as long as you keep looking for them?

april 2021

His Eye is On the Sparrow

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My brain feels full of thoughts tonight as I write this post.  Thoughts about the rough week I had recovering from a migraine.  I also think back on talks where I speak to my boys heart of how my mind thinks and the comfort that God provides.  I repeatedly need to tell my lad that he and I think differently and sometimes that makes communication hard.  He likes a lot of precision in language…but mostly on his terms!   To be a teen again eh?   Why do I talk about this?  Well…because God constantly has his eye on me.  Just as if I were a little sparrow God watches over me.    That care changes how I live my life.  I was trying to share that thought with my lad tonight.  I don’t think I did a very good job, but hopefully the thought sticks with him a bit….   With all that, let’s learn a bit more about “His Eye is on the Sparrow” … and I know he watches me…..

His eye is on the Sparrow

Lyrics to His Eye is On the Sparrow

  1. Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,
    Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heav’n and home,
    When Jesus is my portion? My constant Friend is He:
    His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
    His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
    • Refrain:
      I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free,
      For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
  2. “Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,
    And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
    Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
    His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
    His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
  3. Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,
    When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,
    I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;
    His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
    His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Author and History

Civilla D. Martin is the lyricist who wrote this song.  She had Charles H. Gabriel compose this happy tune.  Married twice, her first marriage was to Rev. John F. Geddes a Congregational minister  She later married Baptist pastor Walter Stillman Martin.  Together they one son, A.G. Martin. She authored many of the songs he used in this ministry only using the initials C.D. due to her husband’s composing and evangelistic work.  Her husband composed many of the tunes to the poems she wrote.  Together they were part of the restoration movement. A lot of her music was released in the early 1900’s and over the course of her life wrote several hundred hymns and other religious songs. 

His Eye is On the Sparrow was inspired by a conversation Ms. Martin had while talking with a bedridden believer in the city of Elmira, New York.   She happened to ask this saint if she did not at times get discouraged.  The response she received was that God cares about the sparrow so why should she get discouraged?  This spawned a poem that Civilla later wrote and is the lovely song we sing today. 

She also wrote Be Not Dismayed what ‘ere betide. 

Other Songs by Charles Gabriel

Thinking Deeper

Matthew 10:30-32

30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,

Luke 12:4-7

4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Consider your worth.

Are you more important to God than a sparrow?  Consider how closely God watches these busy little birds.  Constantly flitting about searching for food and nesting materials.  They are like the mice of the bird word it seems.   YET get this… God himself minds them full well.  He knows when a single one falls to the ground… and he forgets them not.   We are of SO MUCH MORE VALUE than they are.   Do you not think God will watch over you just as closely as he does these wee bitty birds?   

Of course, he will!  Take comfort in that eh?