Sitting in the yard for the first time in several weeks,
I was struck by the bright colors of the trumpet vine that covers our fence. I looked with the camera and snapped this shot of the light bouncing on the flowers and leaves.
And then, I looked again - and this is what I saw.
We have a pair of orioles who visit our yard every spring.
They are very, very shy, coming out carefully to sip the nectar from the hundreds of red flowers all around our yard.
This is the male, who is of course, much showier than his mate. I was about 30 feet away and was struck, as I often am, at how the birds teach me about life. This boy had a job to do - suck the nectar out of that flower - and he did it with gusto, sitting in the fading afternoon light with no desire to call attention to himself.
Nevertheless, I paid him a great deal of attention - for the 10 seconds he allowed me to peek at him.
He was most definitely the brightest and most beautiful part of my day yesterday, doing exactly what God created him to do - every second of it shedding God-glory like tiny flecks of glitter as he flitted across my line of vision.
"As you learn more and more how God works,
you will learn how to do your
work.
We pray that you'll have the strength
to stick it out over the
long haul—
not the grim strength of gritting your teeth
but the
glory-strength God gives.
It is strength that endures the unendurable
and spills over into joy,
thanking the Father who makes us strong enough
to take part in everything bright and beautiful
that he has for us."
Colossians 1:9-10, The Message
May the rest of your weekend be layered with glimpses of the bright and beautiful things God has for you.
Joining with Sandy King for her Still Saturday
and Deidra Riggs for her Sunday invitation.
