Tend Your Nest, Beloved

Might be a little hard to see,
but if you look very carefully
you will discover
a nest just under the roof
of the prayer chapel.
One day I went there
to reflect and pray.
As I sat down
I prayed a prayer
we had been given
by our teacher,
Robert Benson:
"In the course of our busy lives, Almighty God,
You grant us times of rest and refreshment:
Grant that we may use such times as these
to perceive the ways in which you are calling to us now,
then grant us strength and courage
to pursue those things and to accomplish them.
We make our prayers always
in the name of the One Who made us,
in the name of the One Who redeems us,
in the name of the One who will sustain us until we are home.
Amen, and so may it ever be."
(A Collect for Retreat. Adapted from, The Book of Common Prayer.)

God answered my prayer
by sending a dear little bird
(maybe a sparrow)
hopping through the barely open doors.
She flew up to the high windowsill,
hopped over to her nest
and settled in.
And I heard God say:
Sally, tend the nest
I have given you
and to which you have been given.

Then I saw
that her nest
was in the shadow of the cross.
In my heart I knew that, yes,
the One Who made us,
the One Who redeems us,
the One Who sustains us
will certainly
grant us strength and courage
to pursue those things we have perceived
to which you are calling us now
and to accomplish them.

Yes, dear God, I will tend my nest.

Thank You, God, that I know I am beloved by:
*the flickering light of a candle
*a boy who is "always good":)
*Margaret, deep breath, is now a senior
*Joseph taking one more step
*a sturdy privacy fence
*receiving a CD of beautiful, peaceful music in the mail
*a full supper table
*the sound of big boys playing in the pool
*an invitation to a support circle for writers
*yard sale inspiration

With gratitude,
Sally