Little Birdies

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Matthew 6:25-27 (NIV)

The pasture behind my house has another use. It is also a flight training school and landing field for baby hawks who live in the trees above the barn. Who needs a barn cat to rid the place of rodents when you have a family of hawks at work? As the babies swoop and circle overhead expanding their repertoire of aerial moves, mama hawk fusses and calls to them. I am never sure which one she is scolding. Translated, it probably sounds like: “Junior, don’t go low that early. Keep your head up, Sissy. Now, Bubba, that’s enough playing around. Get to work. Darling, pay attention to what you are doing. You almost ran right into your brother!” Come to think of it, mama bird thinks she is offering encouragement, but to me and probably to the babies, she is just a nag. I’ve been in the same boat lately. Oldest son graduated from college, but due to the economy, could not find a job. I offered gentle hints about resumes and interviewing skills. Well, I thought that they were gentle. There may be a reason he quit calling me and only communicated through his dad. Mostly, what I worried about was health insurance. Perhaps it is my age showing, but to me, health insurance is a really big deal. He could only stay on my plan for a little while after he graduated and time was running out to either make a decision to pay extra premiums, find another plan or get a job that provided coverage. Finally, I decided I was going to buy him some health insurance if only so I could sleep at night. The final straw was a walk in clinic doctor who upon seeing a small lump oldest son had on his neck stated very casually, “Well, it could be leukemia.” I informed my husband of my decision while he was flipping channels on the television. He came upon Dave Ramsey, a financial advisor many of our friends find helpful. Husband stopped to listen just as Ramsey offered this advice to a father of a recent grad in the same situation as our son. He said, “Let that birdie fly!” and explained that when parents step in to rescue an adult child, they rob that child of their dignity and ability to provide for themselves. Uh, oh. Time for mama bird to back off. I took a deep breath, prayed and gave oldest son back to God’s care. Not two weeks later, the lump on his neck is gone and oldest son has a job in his field. Not only does he have a job, but it provides health insurance. Not only does he get health insurance, but the job is in Maui, Hawaii. He is extremely proud of himself for securing this position, and I am proud of him as well. I am also relieved that I did not step in and take over. I think my little birdie is ready to soar.