Our resident bluebirds sit on their box and preen. They flit to a nearby branch and soak in the springtime. His blue feathers are brilliant in the early morning sunshine. Hers are more subdued. Look closely, she has blue plumage tucked in there, too. I love them. It’s wonderful to watch their nest building process and to anticipate their box filled with tiny blue eggs. The promise of new life always excites me.
But the swallows? Why do they dive-bomb the happy couple? Why do they try to steal the box? Go find a home of your own, swallows! We built this one for the bluebirds.
Is my attitude toward the swallows indicative of other phases of my life? It’s easy to love the ones for whom we have prepared a place, the ones we are expecting, the beautiful people in our lives – blue-plumed, graceful, promising new life. But what about life’s swallows? The gray and dismal creatures who are so needy they seem to suck life out of things, take life from others, dive-bomb our tranquility with their uninvited presence, contribute nothing in return – what about them? Can I love the swallows? Should I?
How?
Why?
Comments on: "Love the Swallows?" (4)
I guess we ask God to help us love the swallows in our lives not like them but love them as he loves us with no reservations.
Thank you for dropping by my blog, Marcia. I appreciate your response – and I miss our prayer time together. Come by the house whenever you can!
Great post. I adore bluebirds. In parts of the ‘Bluebird Trail’ where nest-boxes are being donated and monitored by volunteers, they learned that by putting two houses back to back on the same post allowed the bluebirds and swallows to co-exist. Interesting fact I thought I’d share. The Ellis Bird Farm is doing a lot for bluebirds. Thanks for a lovely blog. Cheers, Gina
Thank you for stopping by, Gina. I appreciate the additional information about bluebirds and swallows. Thank you. We may try putting up another box, and putting it back-to-back with the one we have. It’ll be interesting to see what happens!