The Raven and the Old Woman’s Garden by Emma Foster
“And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32 NKJV)
Once there was a small raven that lived in a tree that stood in the middle of a large garden a woman had planted years ago. The woman had grown old now and spent most of the time in her small brick house. She did come out to devoutly water her plants so that her garden would be kept beautiful, but it was very difficult for her to pull out the weeds in the flower beds.
The raven would often watch the old woman from her nest in the tree as she watered her flowers. The raven enjoyed the garden the old woman had planted because so many of the flowers were different colors. During the day the raven would often fly through the flowers, and every day it seemed that there was a new and different flower for her to look at.
But one day the old woman didn’t come out of her house. The raven waited for her to come and water her flowers, but the old woman had become ill and couldn’t get out of her bed. Eventually, the raven saw from her nest a bright red and white vehicle with flashing lights come up the driveway. The raven watched some people in uniforms come into the house and take the old woman out on a bed and drive away.
A few days went by and the old woman did not come home. The raven began to worry because there was no one to water the flowers to keep the old woman’s garden looking beautiful. Several weeds had sprung up in the flower beds as well.
The raven suddenly had the idea to begin pulling out some of the weeds while the old woman was gone. She started in the flower bed closest to her nest and began pulling weeds out from the beds. While she was pulling out some of the weeds, the raven found a few seeds that the old woman hadn’t planted yet. The raven promptly decided to dig up a small place off to the side with her beak in order to plant them.
The raven continued to pull out more weeds for the rest of the day. Fortunately, because it wasn’t terribly hot outside the work was a little easier. Toward the end of the day, rain began to fall. The raven quickly retreated to her nest and watched from the protection of the tree as the rain watered the flowers to keep them from dying.
The rain stopped the next morning but continued occurring every now and then for the next couple of days. One morning the raven woke to see tiny buds had appeared out of the ground where she had planted the seeds. This made the raven very happy, but she became even happier when a car drove up into the driveway. The old woman had come back from the hospital but had to be taken into her house on a bed. The raven stayed in her nest, hoping that the old woman would be able to see the new flowers and her well-kept garden through her bedroom window.
Fortunately, the old woman was able to see her garden very clearly, but she was no longer able to come outside. The raven decided she would keep pulling out the weeds for her. It continued to rain nearly every day, which was good because the flowers had to be watered. But one day another loud flashing vehicle came back up to the house and took the old woman away, and the raven knew that she wasn’t coming back.
Eventually, several people came to the house and moved out all of the old woman’s things leaving the house bare and empty. To honor the old woman the raven kept pulling out weeds, hoping that she could keep the old woman’s garden as long as possible. But eventually it stopped raining and the flowers began to wilt. The raven began to fear that all of the old woman’s flowers would eventually die, until one day the raven woke up in her nest to see a family moving into the old woman’s house. The wife, who moved into the house with her husband and children, decided that she should continue tending the garden, which made the raven very happy. After a few weeks the garden and was healthy and beautiful again, and the flowers the raven had planted grew incredible large and tall.
“My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.” (Psalms 121:2 NKJV)
Lee’s Addition:
Another very entertaining and delightful story from Emma. Emma picks the birds in her tales and I supply the photos and scriptures. She may not be aware that the Ravens are very intelligent and can do some might surprising tasks. So, maybe this story is not really so “far-fetched”!
“But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.” (Luke 6:35 KJV)
KIND, a.
1. Disposed to do good to others, and to make them happy by granting their requests, supplying their wants or assisting them in distress; having tenderness or goodness of nature; benevolent; benignant.
God is kind to the unthankful, and to the evil. Luke 6:35
Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted. Eph 4:32
“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:32 KJV)
2. Proceeding from tenderness or goodness of heart; benevolent; as a kind act; a kind return of favors.
The Kaempfer’s Woodpecker (Celeus obrieni), also known as Piauí woodpecker, is a species of woodpecker from Brazil.
It has a total length of about 24 centimeters (9½ in). The head and remiges are mainly rufous-chestnut, the underparts and back are buff, the wing-coverts are barred in black and buff and the chest and tail are uniform black. The male has a red malar and mottling on its crest. For comparison, the rufous-headed woodpecker is larger and has extensive black barring on the back and underparts.
Little is known about its habitat preference, but it appears to be associated with bamboo (specifically Guadua paniculata) growing in Cerrado and babassu palm forest; very unlike the humid forest and woodland where the related rufous-headed woodpecker is found. There is no evidence to suggest that it occurs in Caatinga. Rather, the authors who proposed the common name Caatinga woodpecker and association it with the caatinga habitat mistook a place in the caatinga called Uruçuí-Una for the type locality Uruçuí, some 180 km. NNW in cerrado habitat. (Wikipedia) (Picidae – Woodpecker Family)
Once, in a small town, there lived a dozen or so turkey vultures. Every day, they would all gather on high places like totem poles or electrical wires and look around for food. But it was during Thanksgiving break that all of the vultures that lived in the town gathered together to decide what to do for all of the people who didn’t have anything to eat for Thanksgiving.
They all gathered on top of a church steeple to discuss what they should do; people passing by thought all of the vultures on top of the church steeple were somewhat disturbing, especially since it was a Sunday.
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) by Ray
Because there was a shortage of turkeys that year in the town (Reginald the Commander Turkey had been doing his job very well), the vultures all decided they would fly to another state to get the turkeys to bring to those who did not have much for Thanksgiving.
On Monday morning, the vultures woke up early and started flying east to Mississippi from Louisiana to another small town.
They all flew to a Wal-Mart in Mississippi and sneaked into the back room by a skylight. Of course, turkey vultures thought that good food was the kind that was dead. Each vulture picked up a turkey from the freezer to take home.
Turkey Vulture by Ian Montgomery
It was a bit difficult to fly home with a giant frozen turkey, but one by one the vultures flew out of Wal-Mart and began to fly back to Louisiana. It took them a long time to fly back from Mississippi, so by the time the vultures returned to Louisiana, it was Thanksgiving Eve.
Each of the vultures flew in different directions to different houses in several neighborhoods. They each set a turkey by the front door of the houses and rang the doorbell. Whenever someone opened the door, they would find a turkey with a little card attached to it that said “Happy Thanksgiving.” from TV.
The End
giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, (Ephesians 5:20 NKJV)
And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
(Colossians 3:17 NKJV)
Hi everybody! This is Golden Eagle and I am very excited today! I got up this morning and flew around one of the beautiful lakes in my home state of Florida! The Bible says that God sends the rain and the sunshine on the good people and the bad people. God treats us all with GRACE and kindnesses!
Genesis 6:8 says that “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” That’s the first time the Bible mentions grace and the last time? It’s in the last verse of the Bible: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” (Rev 22:21)
This ADVENTURE all started in the mind of our Creator God (the Lord Jesus Christ). Hey young people, ponder the lakes, the streams, and the rivers. Ponder the rocks, the minerals, and oh yes, the gold and silver. Ponder the butterflies, the animals, and the insects. Ponder the planets, the Earth, the stars, and the sun. Ponder the Milky Way Galaxy and our beautiful Solar System. Ponder mankind, life, and all that it means. Ponder God and His created Universe.
ALL OF THIS AND SO MUCH MORE CAME FROM THE MIND OF GOD. The Universe shows us what was in the mind of God in eternity past!
God has a PLAN for this Universe, for our Solar System, and for our Planet, Earth. He has a PLAN for your life and for my life. We are going to get to live FOREVER with God if we are saved! Are you saved? The answer is either yes or no.
This morning as I flew around my hometown lake I saw the sunrise in beautiful colors of splendor. I saw the sky turn different shades of red and pink. I saw the colors reflected in the glass like mirror of the still and smooth lake surface. I saw the birds fly in a V-shape formation. The white ibises were just beautiful. I flew around the lake for a number of minutes and the minutes turned into an hour.
Circle B Bar White Pelicans
Every moment we get closer to God. “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7) We have come from God and we are going back to God.
This ADVENTURE that God has planned for us is truly exiting. We will get to reign with Jesus for a thousand years on this very Earth. Some of you will be in charge of two or five or ten cities! Now is the time to prepare for what God has in store for us! It all starts with you admitting that you are a sinner and excepting what Jesus has done for us on the cross. He shed His precious blood to wash away our sins. Accept Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour and Lord and you will have entered this amazing journey that God has planned for us, all because of His GRACE.
Kids keep in touch and the Golden Eagle will fly in with exciting new developments in this adventurous journey. A journey that will lead to the God of the Universe and His amazing Heaven!!!
Blue-billed Black Tyrant (Knipolegus cyanirostris) by Dario Sanches
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV)
I cannot help but post this video. Made aware of it several years ago. The “music was made for a school project. A Pixar video with audio created by David Redinha”
The verses that come to my mind have to do with being kind and not making fun of someone. This video of shows what might happen when both not being kind and making fun of someone appear at the same time. Enjoy!
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:31-32 KJV)
Once there was a little boy who had short brown hair and was kind of short for his age. Every week, his parents would take him to a small park by a big lake.
When they arrived, the little boy fed the ibises bread and talked to them about how he was about to start school. The ibises ate as much bread as they could hold and decided they liked hearing the little boy talk.
Several years passed and the little boy became a teenager. He started having problems with his grades. After failing another math test, the boy drove down to the park with some bread. Watching the ibises fly over and eat the bread made the boy feel a lot better and the ibises listened patiently as he told them all about how he could not get his grades to improve.
Eventually the teenage boy became a man and got married. The ibises started to multiply. A few years later, the man brought his children to the park. The ibises did the same. The man and his wife watched as their kids fed the ibises and as the ibises showed their children how to eat the bread with them. The man also taught his children how to talk to them.
White Ibis on Table Listening by Lee
Many years passed and all the man’s children grew up and moved away. The man grew old, but he still drove to the park every week to feed the ibises.
Finally, one day, the old man grew too old to drive. He took one last drive to the park however. The ibises came as usual. The old man told the ibises that he wouldn’t be able to come and see them anymore because he couldn’t drive much longer. The ibises were very sad when they heard this statement. As the old man drove home, the ibises decided to fly after his car and follow him home. Soon there was a great flock of birds following the old man’s car.
The next day the old man opened his front door to get the mail and found the flock of ibises. The old man was very happy about the ibises coming to his house every day. From that day on, the ibises flew to the old man’s’ house so he could feed them bread.
American White Ibis (Eudocimus albus) coming to the yard by Lee
The End
Lee’s Addition:
Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; (Colossians 3:12 KJV)
Emma has written another fine Bird Tale for us. It is enjoyable to watch as she is developing her writing skills. Each tale is better than the one before. This one is very heart touching. (Maybe it meant a lot because I wonder if the birds will come “people-watching” here when I can no longer go watch them.)
A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24 KJV)
To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, (Psalms 92:2 KJV)
There is much friendliness and kindness shown in this story.
Peter Rabbit’s eyes twinkled when Jenny Wren said that she must look her old house over to see if it was fit to live in. “I can save you that trouble,” said he.
“What do you mean?” Jenny’s voice was very sharp.
“Only that our old house is already occupied,” replied Peter. “Bully the English Sparrow has been living in it for the last two months. In fact, he already has a good-sized family there.”
“What?” screamed Jenny and Mr. Wren together. Then without even saying good-by to Peter, they flew in a great rage to see if he had told them the truth. Presently he heard them scolding as fast as their tongues could go, and this is very fast indeed.
“Much good that will do them,” chuckled Peter. “They will have to find a new house this year. All the sharp tongues in the world couldn’t budge Bully the English sparrow. My, my, my, my, just hear that racket! I think I’ll go over and see what is going on.”
So Peter hopped to a place where he could get a good view of Jenny Wren’s old home and still not be too far from the safety of the old stone wall. Jenny Wren’s old home had been in a hole in one of the old apple-trees. Looking over to it, Peter could see Mrs. Bully sitting in the little round doorway and quite filling it. She was shrieking excitedly. Hopping and flitting from twig to twig close by were Jenny and Mr. Wren, their tails pointing almost straight up to the sky, and scolding as fast as they could make their tongues go. Flying savagely at one and then at the other, and almost drowning their voices with his own harsh cries, was Bully himself. He was perhaps one fourth larger than Mr. Wren, although he looked half again as big. But for the fact that his new spring suit was very dirty, due to his fondness for taking dust baths and the fact that he cares nothing about his personal appearance and takes no care of himself, he would have been a fairly good-looking fellow. His back was more or less of an ashy color with black and chestnut stripes. His wings were brown with a white bar on each. His throat and breast were black, and below that he was of a dirty white. The sides of his throat were white and the back of his neck chestnut.
By ruffling up his feathers and raising his wings slightly as he hopped about, he managed to make himself appear much bigger than he really was. He looked like a regular little fighting savage. The noise had brought all the other birds in the Old Orchard to see what was going on, and every one of them was screaming and urging Jenny and Mr. Wren to stand up for their rights. Not one of them had a good word for Bully and his wife. It certainly was a disgraceful neighborhood squabble.
Bully the English Sparrow is a born fighter. He never is happier than when he is in the midst of a fight or a fuss of some kind. The fact that all his neighbors were against him didn’t bother Bully in the least.
Jenny and Mr. Wren are no cowards, but the two together were no match for Bully. In fact, Bully did not hesitate to fly fiercely at any of the onlookers who came near enough, not even when they were twice his own size. They could have driven him from the Old Orchard had they set out to, but just by his boldness and appearance he made them afraid to try.
All the time Mrs. Bully sat in the little round doorway, encouraging him. She knew that as long as she sat there it would be impossible for either Jenny or Mr. Wren to get in. Truth to tell, she was enjoying it all, for she is as quarrelsome and as fond of fighting as is Bully himself.
“You’re a sneak! You’re a robber! That’s my house, and the sooner you get out of it the better!” shrieked Jenny Wren, jerking her tail with every word as she hopped about just out of reach of Bully.
“It may have been your house once, but it is mine now, you little snip-of-nothing!” cried Bully, rushing at her like a little fury. “Just try to put us out if you dare! You didn’t make this house in the first place, and you deserted it when you went south last fall. It’s mine now, and there isn’t anybody in the Old Orchard who can put me out.”
Peter Rabbit nodded. “He’s right there,” muttered Peter. “I don’t like him and never will, but it is true that he has a perfect right to that house. People who go off and leave things for half a year shouldn’t expect to find them just as they left them. My, my, my what a dreadful noise! Why don’t they all get together and drive Bully and Mrs. Bully out of the Old Orchard? If they don’t I’m afraid he will drive them out. No one likes to live with such quarrelsome neighbors. They don’t belong over in this country, anyway, and we would be a lot better off if they were not here. But I must say I do have to admire their spunk.”
All the time Bully was darting savagely at this one and that one and having a thoroughly good time, which is more than could be said of any one else, except Mrs. Bully.
“I’ll teach you folks to know that I am in the Old Orchard to stay!” shrieked Bully. “If you don’t like it, why don’t you fight? I am not afraid of any of you or all of you together.” This was boasting, plain boasting, but it was effective. He actually made the other birds believe it. Not one of them dared stand up to him and fight. They were content to call him a bully and all the bad names they could think of, but that did nothing to help Jenny and Mr. Wren recover their house. Calling another bad names never hurts him. Brave deeds and not brave words are what count.
How long that disgraceful squabble in the Old Orchard would have lasted had it not been for something which happened, no one knows. Right in the midst of it some one discovered Black Kitty, the cat who lives in Farmer Brown’s house, stealing up through the Old Orchard, her tail twitching and her yellow eyes glaring eagerly. She had heard that dreadful racket and suspected that in the midst of such excitement she might have a chance to catch one of the feathered folks. You can always trust Black Kitty to be on hand at a time like that.
No sooner was she discovered than everything else was forgotten. With Bully in the lead, and Jenny and Mr. Wren close behind him, all the birds turned their attention to Black Kitty. She was the enemy of all, and they straightway forgot their own quarrel. Only Mrs. Bully remained where she was, in the little round doorway of her house. She intended to take no chances, but she added her voice to the general racket. How those birds did shriek and scream! They darted down almost into the face of Black Kitty, and none went nearer than Bully the English Sparrow and Jenny Wren.
Now Black Kitty hates to be the center of so much attention. She knew that, now she had been discovered, there wasn’t a chance in the world for her to catch one of those Old Orchard folks. So, with tail still twitching angrily, she turned and, with such dignity as she could, left the Old Orchard. Clear to the edge of it the birds followed, shrieking, screaming, calling her bad names, and threatening to do all sorts of dreadful things to her, quite as if they really could.
When finally she disappeared towards Farmer Brown’s barn, those angry voices changed. It was such a funny change that Peter Rabbit laughed right out. Instead of anger there was triumph in every note as everybody returned to attend to his own affairs. Jenny and Mr. Wren seemed to have forgotten all about Bully and his wife in their old house. They flew to another part of the Old Orchard, there to talk it all over and rest and get their breath. Peter Rabbit waited to see if they would not come over near enough to him for a little more gossip. But they didn’t, and finally Peter started for his home in the dear Old Briar-patch. All the way there he chuckled as he thought of the spunky way in which Jenny and Mr. Wren had stood up for their rights.
A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, But the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness. The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good. A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, But perverseness in it breaks the spirit. (Proverbs 15:1-4 NKJV)
*
What caused all the fuss between the Sparrows and the Wrens?
Why did Bully have a right to the house?
Where had the Wrens gone?
When the cat came by, do you know what it is called when birds attack like that? It is called – Mobbing. (A simple definition of mobbing is an group of individuals around a potentially dangerous predator (the cat).
Are we suppose to get angry when things don’t go our way?
Sparrows are listed in the Bible several times and usually with a promise of God taking care of them.
Wrens are really nice birds that sing often and do raise their tail frequently.
Carolina Wren by Lee at Circle B
“Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Luke 12:6-7 NKJV)
“It was such a hot day yesterday,” said daddy, “that Mr. Plain Sparrow simply could not get cool. You see he never goes away in the winter and so he gets used to really cold weather. On a day as hot as it was yesterday he simply doesn’t know what to do with himself. He called himself Mr. Plain Sparrow because that was exactly what he was. He was just a plain, ordinary sparrow, and he thought it such a wise thing to call himself that—and not put on any silly frills. He prided himself on being sensible.
“‘If there’s anything in this world I hate,’ he said, ‘it’s pretending to be what a creature is not.’ And so he called himself by the name of Mr. Plain Sparrow, and his wife was Mrs. Plain Sparrow, and his children were the Plain Sparrow Children.
“‘I think,’ he said, ‘that I will take a walk or a fly to the duck pond in the park nearby. Yes, it seems to me that’s an excellent scheme. I would like to see those ducks, for they’re right smart creatures, and I like to hear their funny quack-quack talk.’
“‘What are you up to, ducks?’ he called, as he flew over the pond, and then perched on a small bush that was at one side.
“‘We’re well,’ said the ducks. ‘We’re enjoying a cooling drink between swims. Would you like to join us? It’s just tea time.’
“‘Tea time, eh?’ said Mr. Plain Sparrow. ‘And would you give a fellow a good, fat worm in place of bread and butter and cake?’
“‘Quack-quack! ha, ha!’ laughed the ducks. ‘We don’t like bread and butter and cake. But we can’t get the worm for you just now, as we’re not very good at digging on such a hot day!’
“‘Well, then, how about my digging for a couple of them, and then joining all you nice ducks when you’re ready to have your tea?’
“‘Splendid idea,’ quacked the ducks. And off went Mr. Plain Sparrow to a soft place in the earth where he thought there would be some good worms.
“Pretty soon he came back with some fine ones, and he sat on his perch and ate them, while the ducks nibbled at their food, and had drinks of pond water, which they called tea. Mr. Plain Sparrow flew down and took sips of water by the side of the pond, and in one very shallow place he had some nice showerbaths while the ducks were having swims. And before he left he told the ducks what a good time he had had, and how nice and cool he felt.
“‘Well, you’re so friendly we’re glad you came,’ quacked the ducks once again.”
House Sparrow by Nikhil Devasar
Lee’s Addition:
A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24 NKJV)
Here is another Bird Tale to remind us to be friendly. Even though Mr. Plain Sparrow was having a rough day, he still showed himself friendly to others around him. When things don’t go the way we want, do we become unfriendly to those around us? What should we do?
Lee's Birdwatching Adventures Plus 