I love my morning (& somtimes evening) trips up to the Forest Preserve with our dogs. The scenery is amazing up there and I love to bask in God's creation while walking along the paths to give them (and myself) some exercise.
The fall leaves crunched beneath my feet as I walked out to grab the frisbee to toss for Redd (yes his name is spelled with two 'dd's ;) I bent down and picked up the (by now) slobbery round thing and gave it a big spin across the prairie land. I had to chuckle a bit as I watched my sister’s goofy looking orange and white spotted Australian Cattle dog go chasing after his favorite toy. His bushy tail bounced to and fro as he went leaping after it. Upon his return I could see his Rudolph like red nose bobbing about with the old tattered green Frisbee in his mouth.
I gave him a good pat on his soft fur and told him what a good job he had done in “capturing the escaping toy!” He looked at me with a pleased smile as if to say “Is it dead is it dead?!”.
I gave the toy another big spin only for Redd to pause for a moment and look up at me with a puzzled gaze as if to say “how could you let it get away so quickly!” this thought did not occupy his mind for to long for he was soon chasing after it again.
I started walking a little further down the path as he went bounding after the plastic escapee.
A slow crisp breeze caught me square between the nostrils as I walked. For a brief moment, I was taken back by that familiar smell of the coming of fall. Autumn had only just begun but I could feel it’s coolness all to well! Fond memories of flannel shirts, warm coco, chain saws, fire wood and the crackling in the fire within our wood stove with fresh pumpkin pie perched atop it's blackened surface flooded my mind as I took in my surroundings.
All the fields in the distance had turned golden shades of brown, I could see one or two combines busy about harvesting here and there, and the leaves were starting to turn from their marvelous green into various shades of red orange and yellow.
A few birds were flying to and fro busy about there work. Some were getting ready to migrate south for the winter, and some were gathering up seed for the winter here at 'home'.
Although I saw many different kinds of birds, the little Black-Capped Chickadees really seamed to catch my attention.
It almost seemed odd for this little common bird to peak my curiosity so much because I always see chickadees. Back at the farm they are everywhere! And yet every time I see them they seem to be so happy, content and almost grateful for everything in life.
I started thinking about how chickadees have such a bright song all the time, I even hear them during the dark cold and dreary days.
It always seems so easy for us to be grateful and cheerful during times when things are going well, yet God instructs us to give thanks “in all things,” even during the hard days of adversity. When the storm clouds gather, and the rain, sleet & snow pelts the earth the song of the chickadee can almost always be heard. The chickadee seems to embrace the cruelest weather with a bright, cheery response which amazes and almost strengthens me when I hear it. I remembered reading about how the chickadee is named after its song: “chickadee-dee-dee” I know that (warmth wise) for the chickadee to sing during winter storms is quite a feat, because its body cools quite rapidly.
These little wonders seem to have a song when other birds are silent and they always seem to be expressing their gratefulness to everyone and everything for what they have in life. Sometimes it seems that expressing gratefulness is a rare phenomenon among people.
Over time, I’ve noticed that communicating a bright, cheerful song during adverse conditions is rare for the most all the birds in the woods. In the bitter cold of winter when other birds seek out the warmth of shelter, the chickadee is busy about the task of sounding its cheerful notes throughout its domain.
Apparently, Its continual praise has beneficial effect upon the chickadee’s longevity for (I have read that) it outlives many of its feathered friends, with a lifespan of up to nine years!
As I continued to watch these little colorful wonders, I also thought about how Chickadees give a bright response to the provision of daily food. Young chickadees have very healthy appetites, and their parents have a difficult job satisfying their needs, thus, it would be logical for them to hoard whatever food they find in the forest.
However, as if to express gratefulness to God, they sing when they have found a fresh provision of food. Their song signals other chickadees that are in the area and informs them of the new provision. They quickly fly over and partake of it.
Chickadees always use a variety in the way they communicate cheer with their songs. We all know that the sincerity of gratefulness is often measured by the creativity by which it is communicated. The more forethought that is invested in expressing gratefulness, the more it is appreciated by the one receiving it. The way gratefulness is expressed must also be appropriate to the time, occasion, and circumstances surrounding it. Scripture warns that a loud blessing given too early in the morning will be taken as a curse. (Prov 27:14)
It seems to me, that the chickadee illustrates both of these points in its varied melodies.
We all know and can agree that genuine praise gives energy. It is like the chickadee bringing nourishment to its young. Just as young chickadees have an enormous appetite for food, so people have a continual need for praise. God compares His care of us with His daily concern for all of the birds, including the chickadees, “Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns: yet your heavenly Father feedeth them, Are you not much better than they?” (Matt 6:26) As we understand God’s working in and around us, we will have the basis for gratefulness.
Everyday God gives us multitudes of benefits which we tend to take for granted. There is so much wisdom in the hymn “count your blessings” … “Count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done …” Gratefulness requires daily alertness.
Whenever we face a crisis or major need, we tend to cry out to God for His help. After He gives help and the crisis is past, we often fail to thank God for His divine assistance, Sometimes we even fail to acknowledge that it was God who protected us from disaster or provided for our needs.
It is easy to be grateful when everything is going well, but God wants us to thank Him “in all things.” This includes the difficult times and the times of personal loss.
Thanking God is an act of obedience of the will. Being thankful is an emotion that often results when we obey the instruction: “in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God" … (1 Thessalonians 5:15)
When we see how difficult times are being used of God to build character in our lives, we will understand how all things work together for good, and we will be thankful. (Rom. 8:28)
True gratefulness is expressing to God and others how He has benefited our lives. Our daily speech ought to be filled with praise to God for the many ways He continues to benefit us.
Gratefulness is acknowledging the fact that everything that we have is the result of God and others investing in us. Gratefulness is an attitude of indebtedness along with the motivation to adequately express that attitude. It is recognizing that in ourselves we have nothing, that we are nothing, and that whatever we do have, we owe to God to our parents, to our family, and to others.
The Chickadee (though as common as they be) have now become such a great reminder to me of being grateful and giving thanks in all things and at all times, even during the hard days of adversity. Every time I hear their cheerful song, I am reminded to stop, and be grateful to to the Lord as well as everyone and everything for what the HE has given me in life and to start 'singing' a bright, cheerful song during adverse AND pleasant conditions.
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