Maintenance of the Nest Always Affects the Pattern

            Several fascinating members of the bird family have recently come to my attention. One of these is the American Coot. The American Coot is noisy, aggressively territorial, and will steal food from other coots when eating. Although they sound remarkably similar they are not to be confused with the coots who wear Bermuda shorts, dark socks, feed in cafeterias, and winter in Florida.

            They communicate in various ways, including a series of loud guttural sounds. Again, the similarity is striking but I am still referring to the coot with feathers. Coots build their nests near bulrushes in shallow water. (Scientific note: it is extremely difficult to make a bulrush. Like the coot, they prefer moving at their own pace.) Once hatched, the young coots stay near the nest, mostly for protection from the sightseeing coots in Bermuda shorts.

            The Trumpeter Swan is another interesting bird. It gets its name from the rude noises it makes after eating spicy food. This is not to be confused with the Trombone Swan. There are only seventy-six of those in the United States.  The Trumpeter Swan builds its nest surrounded by water, protecting it from surprise attacks from predators like snapping turtles, raccoons, horned owls, and unruly jazz band agents. The mother watches the eggs and the father protects the nest. After about three months the babies take short daily flights, in preparation for the winter migration and also to avoid more sightseeing coots.

            One last interesting bird is the Laughing Gull. They are prominent along the eastern coast of the United States where they can be heard singing “Gulls Just Want to Have Fun,” and hanging around the buoys. Actually, they are named because of the sound they make when they see people walking on the beach wearing clothing that would fit better on a poodle. The male and female build their nest together. They feed near the sea but their diet includes fish, garbage, and some carrion (dead animals.) There are limitations. In flight they are limited to one carrion per gull.

            We can learn a lot from birds. They may all build their nest differently but they all have at least two things in common. The nest is built for birthing and preparation for flight. Depending on the species, the mother and father take special care in building the nest and protecting their young from predators. Each species knows when it is time to leave the nest. It is the way God designed it.

            It is August. It is the time when many teenagers leave the nest to go to college. As parents we have spent many years building the nest and preparing our children for flight. We have watched while they take little short flights away from us, always to return a few days later. We have tried to point them in the right direction of proper nutrition. God only knows what they will eat in college.

            It is difficult not to worry but worry is not God’s way. In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus asked this question during the part about anxiety, “Can all of your worries add a single moment to your life?” (Matthew 6:27) With God’s help we have tried to guide our children to the right flight pattern. There is an old proverb that says, “birds of a feather flock together.” As parents of college students we have spent eighteen years setting the feathers. It is now up to them to choose the right flock.