Tag Archives: Cockatiel

Cockatiel Bird Brain Wisdom – by April Lorier

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Cockatiel Bird Brain Wisdom

cockatielsm1 It is pretty bad when God has to use Bird Brain Wisdom to get through to His daughter, but He did. I tried my best to avoid Dave at every church function. Most people did. His inordinate need for attention and his obvious emotional and spiritual immaturity embarrassed me. I went out of my way to not be associated with him. Intellectually, I understood people are often needy because they had been damaged in some way, so I would have moments of guilt for acting as I did. Then he would say something totally inappropriate and I’d be right back where I began – embarrassed for him.

At the same time I was hand feeding baby cockatiels every two hours, and one of them who I affectionately called Ernie, just couldn’t eat enough to make him grow. I tried everything, but to no avail.One night, still bleary-eyed from little sleep, I prayed, God, please help me! Ernie isn’t going to make it if You don’t help us out. He’s just too weak. And into my spirit, clear as a bell, came the thought, Ernie is the weakest of your birds, and yet you love him the most. Why doesn’t his weakness embarrass you?
Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. (Romans 14:4 NIV)

The comparison was too obvious, and I hung my head in shame. God loved Dave the same way I loved Ernie! His heart broke with tenderness over this man’s weakness the same way my heart broke over my baby bird. He would persist with Dave just as I had with Ernie, spending extra time with him. And God didn’t need a judgmental child getting in the way of Dave’s growth.

I went to bed that night wiser, but much sadder with the knowledge that I had, in my arrogance, dared to pass judgment on another human being that I really didn’t know. By judging Dave, I had positioned myself to be judged by God.I realized God wasn’t half as embarrassed by Dave’s spiritual and emotional immaturity as He was by my arrogance. And worse was my underestimation of God’s power to work in Dave’s life and make him stand strong. I had, with my attitude, questioned the sovereignty of Almighty God!

O Father, forgive my arrogance. Thank You for the wisdom You taught me through my precious little “bird brain!” Let me never lose sight of Your sovereignty and Your compassion towards Your weaker children. I, too, am one of your weak ones. (c)1996-2009 April Lorier

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1:20

Supplied by and reprinted with permission of April Lorier.

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Maturing Cockatiels and Christians – by April Lorier

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Maturing Cockatiels and Christians

Baby Cockatiels

Baby Cockatiels

There were years when I raised birds, hand-feeding them so they would grow up to be more easily trainable as pets. The fact that I was hand-feeding them meant they would be imprinted by me (a human being) instead of by the mother bird. They would bond to me, therefore, be easily trained by the human who purchased them. Imprinting is the key if birds or animals are to be sold as mature, trained birds.

I was reminiscing today about the clutches of eggs I incubated, then hand-fed after they were hatched. They looked like little aliens with almost no feathers, but soon they would grow into beautiful birds who were not afraid of humans, and it would be time to hand-train them.

Babies are born without a working immune system so they are more susceptible to getting bacterial or fungal infections from your hands, ordinary household objects and an environment that has been contaminated with disease causing organisms. And the job of feeding the formula to them is 24/7, so between the cleaning and the feeding, it’s more than a full-time job! Just making the formula (which must always be fresh) is a chore.

But there comes a time when I had to start weaning these babies from their mushy formula, throw away the syringe, and introduce them to seed/fruit mixtures. They had to switch from baby food to adult food incrementally.

Scripture teaches the same principle both through the mouth of the Apostle Paul, and of Peter. Peter said, in I Peter 2:1-3

1) Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2) Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3) now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

And then in Hebrews 5:11-14 we read:

Concerning him [Melchizedek, as a type of Christ] we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.
12) For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
13) For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
14) But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

So what the message of my Bible Study, and also of my cockatiels is, baby food is for babies. And if I am growing in my faith, I need to be desiring the meat of the Word. Sometimes it feels ‘safe’ to run back to the milk, but it will stunt my spiritual growth. Just think how my body would look if I had never eaten anything but milk! Who knows if I would even be alive?

Once again, Father, You have used nature to teach me Your principles. Thank you for allowing my memories to make this Bible Study come to life! I want to be a mature Christian!

(c) 2009 April Lorier

Supplied by and reprinted with permission of April Lorier.

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