Look at the birds? Birds don't have laundry to do!

After 12 years of doing the "stay at home Mom" thing, I have reached the milestone of my youngest child starting Kindergarten this year. So many people have asked me, "What will you do with all your time now that you have an empty nest?" With all that I still have to do around the house, I am still one busy bird! In fact, most days, I feel like a bird before a storm, flying in circles, fretting about the impending tasks I need to accomplish in the six hours of a school day.

I have often pondered the words of Jesus, found in Matthew:

"...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)


Missing the true meaning of this scripture, I envied those darn birds! Since baby birds have one outfit, Momma bird has it made when it comes to laundry! Neither does she have to worry about how long the casserole needs to cook or if she has time to make that casserole since it is 6 PM and everyone in the nest claims to be starving. Is it any wonder that Momma bird trusts the Lord for her every need?

Upon further meditation of these scripture verses, I realize that Momma bird may have an easier nest to manage, but she is an example of a nest empty of one thing: worry. So, in answer to the question, "What will you do with all your time?" I will look at the birds, consider how the Lord cares for them, and remember that I am much more valuable to my heavenly Father than they are. I will fret less about housework and trust God to show me how to manage my busy nest. After all, is life not more important than my "to do" list?

Lord, help me to be as trusting as the birds of the air.