The Nest

      Loving birds, I was hoping to attract them to my yard. In the spring, I purchased two birdhouses. One, I hung on a tree on the edge of the woods, and the other, for bluebirds, was hung on my house, outside a window, about 10 feet above the ground.
      Later I regretted hanging one birdhouse on the tree, as the literature suggested that it was not safe for birds, to make a nest in a birdhouse on a tree, and they did not like to use birdhouses in the woods. Also, I got a tick, while hanging that birdhouse, and avoided going into the woods, to check it. Because of the tick bite, I was worried that I might have contracted lyme disease, and eventually went for a doctor visit and lyme disease blood test. Thankfully, the test turned out negative.
      In spite of my efforts and hard work, neither birdhouse had occupants all spring and summer, so I was disappointed. Nevertheless, I did hang a birdfeeder from the dining room window, and within three weeks, was treated to constant feathered companionship at meals—sparrows, cardinals, woodpeckers, purple finch. (I was having to fill the birdfeeder every three days).
      In the fall, I was cleaning the deck, outside the kitchen, and decided to discard an old cloth bag, hanging next to the kitchen door. The cloth bag had been used as a hanger for a plant pot, but the plant had died a while ago, it seemed. As I took out the plant pot, there was an unusual amount of leaves, pine needles and debris, that accumulated on the top of the pot, even though the opening for the bag was very narrow. As I put the debris into the garden, I realized that it was bird's nest! Not thinking, I threw away the cloth bag and put the plant pot with the other vacant plant pots. I was so surprised by the nest, because I never saw birds on the porch at all. How could they build a nest in such secrecy?
      The next day, when I came home from work, several upset birds were disturbed from the deck by my appearance and flew away in anxiety. Immediately, I realized that it must have been their nest, that I removed. I did not even know that it was still used. Now I regretted that the cloth bag was gone, thrown away and the trash was collected that day.
      I retrieved the nest from the garden and put it back on the pot and found another cloth bag (an "angel bag") and the pot and nest fit in it, and hung in the same place. I don't know if the birds will like it as well, as the top opening is not so narrow. I also hung a birdhouse next to it.
      So, my disappointment about the birds ignoring the birdhouses was unwarranted. They had made a nest in my yard all along and in secret, and right under my nose! So, when we face disappointments, remember that our Heavenly Father works in secret, right under our nose, with even better plans than we can imagine.