Issue 1497 – Carried – July 12, 2024
We have been watching a pair of young grebes on our walks around the lake. Once, we were privileged to watch them in a mating dance at sunset.
The young pair have been having little success with their nest building. It keeps getting flooded out or collapsing, which does not seem unusual for a young pair.
We have seen the same thing happen to other pairs in the past. It is almost as if they are “playing house” the first year and getting used to the idea.
Further down the lake, we passed a well-built, well-established nest, but no one seemed to be home. I have been watching the parents return with fresh fish for the young for some time now, but I have not seen the babies yet.
Still further along, we saw why Mom and Pop Grebe were not home. We could see they had three young ones trying to teach them to dive and fish. It was amusing to watch. The young were quite noisy and aggressive whenever mom would come up with a small fish for them.
As we drew closer, we realized there were four babies, not just the three we had seen at first. The youngest was still small enough to be carried on mom’s (dad’s?) back. It is hard to tell the male grebe from the female, and both are involved in child-rearing.
The baby traveled safely on its back wherever the parent went, including underwater. I wasn’t able to get a photo.
Watching the grebe carry the baby, I was reminded of how our heavenly Father carries us. We think that we are adventuring out in the “big world” all alone, but He is never far away.
O Lord, you have searched me and known me!You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,”even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
Psalm 139:1-16
The LORD knows us and everything about us. He is with us no matter where we travel. We can ignore Him and turn away but He will never leave us.
The baby grebe will soon be big enough to be independent, and its parents will move on to other things. God never moves on to “other things.” Our Father remains important from before our conception through all of eternity.
What an incredible truth!
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)
Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. Your value in God’s eyes is so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing to the world. You are so precious to God that his plan for heaven will not be complete without you.
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the English Standard Version (ESV)