We were blessed to have some eagles living in a tree in our back yard, who had some babies.
One day around 4:00 pm I told my wife, “One of the eaglets has flown from the nest!” Sure enough, when we studied the nest a bit more with binoculars, it seemed as though there was only one eaglet left. Also inside the nest was the mother! She and the Dad had previously and conspicuously been missing from the nest in the recent last month, except to bring prey twice a day for the “kids”. Hmmm…. Then we spied the Dad in a tree a few yards away from the nest. Hmmmm again…. Something was definitely not right. Why were they here now? Hmmm… Then it hit us – We wondered, “Could it be that some tragedy had befallen the teenage eaglet when he tried to spread his wings to leave the nest a few hours previous to this? Concerned, I went down to the meadow and stomped around the thorny bushes to no avail. I wasn’t able to locate our teenage treasure.
Around 7:00 pm, we had a local couple scheduled to stop by to hear about our upcoming trip to Mozambique. They had been apprised of our backyard feathered prizes awhile ago, but had never come to see them. Naturally, we went out to the unfinished room to look through the open space where a custom built window would eventually be placed. We were gazing at the beauty of God’s creation when all of a sudden our guest queried, “What is that dark blob over there in that green tree?” Upon further investigation, we discovered it to be the missing teenage eaglet! As we were marveling over him, he suddenly tried to take flight. However, our joy was short lived and was replaced with horror because right in front of our eyes, and just as soon as the big teen’s ominous claws left the branch and his wings were trying to flap, instead of taking flight into the blue skies, he fell down, down, down! Then an amazing thing happened. Instead of the usual high pitched squawks that we’d always heard from the eagles, instead the sibling on the branch outside the nest, started doing a normal bird’s mournful chirp. He was aware of his brother’s demise and was letting him know he cared!
We quickly donned long pants and grabbed an old blanket and went straight to the meadow once again to try to locate the poor feathered fellow. Sure enough, as he had fallen from the tree his head got pierced by a barbed wire fence. Despite his pain and strength, he finally gave into my firm grasp through the blanket. We rescued him to the safety of the unfinished room, which remember did not have that final window installed yet. After a thorough examination, we were reassured that there were no significant injuries. But still we wanted to keep him in the security of that unfinished room overnight, safe from any foxes or predators that may have been lurking out there. We called the Game Warden and a local veterinarian friend, and were comfortable with our decision.
In the morning at around 5:30-5:45 am the parents and the sibling were outside that open window space squawking and making quite a noise. It was almost as though they knew that their family member was inside that new shell of a room and they were coaxing him to fly out and re-join the family. Encouraged by their urgent squawks, our big rescued eaglet got himself up on the window ledge and flew off. As he flew, the other sibling, who had never left the nest before, flew down to meet him and they took off into the wild blue yonder!
Now here’s the spiritual lesson that came to me so clearly from this drama: God has promised us He will never leave us or forsake us, even though we may not FEEL His presence in whatever our set of circumstances. The scriptures also reassure us that…
“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.” II Corinthians 16:9
So many other verses come to mind, but to me, here’s the key one.
“The Lord watches over you – the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm. He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” Psalm 121:5-8
When we THOUGHT those feathery parents had left those teenage eaglets alone in the nest, and were absent from their caretaking role, they HAD NOT. They were nearby somewhere and were watching over them ALL THE TIME from a distant vantage point! As soon as that eaglet showed his folly of trying to leave the nest too soon and fell to the ground, THE PARENTS CAME IMMEDIATELY!
That’s what God does for us! He will NEVER LEAVE US OR FORSAKE US! He watches over us. “He will watch our coming and going both now and forevermore!”
By the way: Want to know something just as goose-pimply as this rescue story? The window in our unfinished room – WHICH WAS ON ORDER FOR SIX WEEKS – came in the NEXT morning! RIGHT AFTER THE EAGLET FLEW! God made sure that it wasn’t installed until after this eagle rescue.
My special hobby of bird watching is joyfully shared with my loving wife, Joyce. Therefore, when this special evening unfolded right before our eyes, Our Lord revealed His constant watch of His creation, both now and forevermore.
Do your children know who is in control, who takes care of us, and who holds the future? They need to, so please share this story with them.
