The Lord’s creations never cease to amaze me, especially in the spring. One night last week, I heard the lonesome sound of a whip-poor-will off in the distance while frogs croaked all through the swamps. The springtime brings back beautiful birds like bluebirds, finches, and hummingbirds. Rabbits seem to move in pairs as the sound of carpenter and honeybees hover overhead. Love is in the air. Crows feed by the flock in the fields while small fawns follow their mothers through the woods. All types of fish are moving close to shore to lay eggs and raise their young. The dogwood trees and azalea bushes are in full bloom while the flowers in the yard bring forth their wonderful beauty. The fields are covered in wildflowers, whose beauty not even Solomon in all his glory, could rival. Spring showers and bright sunshine bring forth the needed nourishment for all living things.
You know, I spend a lot of time in the spring working in my yard and veggie gardens. The only thing I don’t like about spring is the pollen, even though I know it’s needed for most plants and trees to reproduce.
Why just the other day, I prepared my land and planted two flats of tomato plants. As I was watering the plants with a water hose, I heard a buzzing sound right above my head; so I ducked involuntarily. It sounded like the biggest bumblebee I’ve ever heard and, out of nowhere, here came this beautiful little hummingbird. The feathers on his back and chest were an emerald green and his throat was a ruby-red color. This was the first hummer I had seen this spring.
You see, hummingbirds fly for miles and miles between their winter homes and their nesting areas here in the Southern U.S. It’s not unusual for them to send scouts ahead to check things out.
As I continued to water the tomato plants with the hose, the little hummer seemed to fly back and forth checking me out. All of a sudden it zoomed right through the water spray and was making little squeaking sounds as if he was enjoying himself. The little bird swung back and forth through the spray, occasionally wiggling in mid-air. Finally, he actually landed on the ground just a few feet in front of me. It seemed very trusting of me and I had never seen one land on the ground before. Have you ever witnessed that?
As the little hummer sat on the ground he looked around and held up his beak as though he was saying, “I’m thirsty.” I held the water sprinkler over him and he drank until he was full. He then flew off and I said to myself, “Man, that was cool.”
I doubted I would ever see that little bird again, but catch this, he returned twice and seemed to be taking himself a little shower each time. He would move his little body around and around and then shake himself off each time. Finally, he flew off into the heights of the trees and much to my sorrow, I never saw him again.
Later I got to thinking (I do a lot of that while working in my garden) how much more our Heavenly Father would bless us if we would only trust Him and come drink of His free living water like the little ruby-throated hummingbird.