Monday, August 12, 2013

To Be Seen. 5/19/10



Last Saturday, my husband and I decided to go take a walk on the beach.
Spend some time connecting...
We threw some slippers on and headed out the door. 
We got about half a mile from our house, 
when Brian said, "I just saw a baby bird in the middle of the road."
Me, being the observant wife I am, said,
"I just saw some rocks in the middle of the road...are you sure?"

After going not more than...well I would give you a measurement,
but honestly, I have no concept of space.
So....After going a short distance, we decided to turn back and investigate.


Sure enough, there she was. Truth is that I have no idea if it was a he or she, but we always referred to it as a she...
Tucked up in a little poof ball.
Smack in the middle of the street.
There was a mama bird and another baby bird right next to her.
They had been hit by cars.

Now, let me preface all of this by saying...In general, I am not a big fan of birds.
They freak me out.
They make me have nightmares but this bird.
There was something different about this little puff ball.
We knew if we just left her...
She was bound to be hit by a car...she was not about to move.

We snatched her up.
She sat in the front seat with me...
I had her in a cloth, and she climbed out and perched herself on my hand.
She just wanted to be held.


Brian is a softy when it comes to stuff like this.
God really has done a miracle in his heart.
He has developed a father's heart.
Although he is not yet a father physically speaking, he is.
I have never seen any other man quite like Brian and his father's heart.
There is just something different about him...something that seeps out of him.
The look in his eyes when that part of his heart is fired up.

Nonetheless, we took the bird in and proceeded to care for it
until we got a hold of the wildlife rescue.

Brian even went worm hunting and attempted to feed the bird...
By this time, the bird acquired a name...
Her name became "Pip."
Pip did not want to eat....
she wanted to sleep.
She'd puff up, close her eyes, and protest taking any food.
Everything we read told us not to hold the bird,
BUT
this bird refused not to be held.
We'd take her out of the cage with a towel, and she'd fly off the towel onto our hands.
She wanted us to hold her.
On Sunday, the wildlife rescue called us back.
By this time, we had found that she could now fly quite well.
Since she could fly, they advised us to take her to the area we found her and let her go.

Above is a picture of her on the branch, I placed her on.
She had already flown back to me once, but this time she was ready to go.

God has been speaking to my heart through our "Pip."
I believe this little poof ball was directly from the Lord to speak to our little family.

Have you ever felt unseen?
I believe every person (especially women) have a deep need and desire to be SEEN.

It is a multi-faceted desire. It is the desire for someone to see you literally...
like the "Hello, I am here....(wave, wave, wave) right in front of you! See me!"
kind of see.
There is a desire for a woman's beauty to be seen.
This is a very intimate desire, and it is often the one that causes women to hide.
It is a desire that causes deep wounds when searched out to be fulfilled in the wrong places.

There is a desire to be seen and known.
Has anyone ever looked at you...like realllllly looked at you,
and seen you...
seen your heart.
known your heart....really known you.
This desire often leaves a woman feeling lonely...
Again, she often looks in all the wrong places to fill that void.

As I have been thinking about our little Pip...
I have realized that I am SEEN by God.
He has seen me.
He knows me.
He looks at me in that way that pierces my heart.

When we were driving along that Saturday afternoon,
Brian saw this little tiny bird...
Puffed up.
Hiding.
Scared.
The bird literally looked like a stone in the road,
yet
Brian saw her.
He saw her and had to stop.

Sometimes I feel like that little bird.
Stuck in the middle of the road.
Cars zooming over me, nearly missing me.
Scared.
Alone.
Feeling Unseen...
Unknown...
Overlooked...

Hiding...
We all hide in different ways...
In so many ways being afraid to REALLY be seen.
We hide behind the image we create for ourselves.
We hide behind what people think about us.
We hide by controlling our lives.
We hide behind anything that gives us some sense of security...
It's false security.

God calls him self...El Roi...The God who Sees
This name was first used in Genesis 16, when Hagar is running.
She had just been rejected by Sarah and was running from her circumstances.
I am sure she felt very alone.
Very confused by her circumstances...

But God looked for her and found her...
He found her in the wilderness.
He identifies himself here as El Roi...
The God who sees us.

The God who sees us and wants us.
He goes out of his way...
Just as we went out of our way
to make sure we are cared for.
Provided for...

He sees me.
He knows all of my hurt.

My circumstances have blinded me for so long from this truth.
They have left me saying,
"Where are you God? Why can't you see me? Why have we been overlooked?"

The reality is that he does see me.
He sees me when no one else can find me.
He finds me when I can't quite find myself
and then gently helps me to find myself again.

If this bird was seen by us...was cared for enough to be taken in and nurtured by us...
How much more does My God care for me?
How much more will he provide every good thing for me?

He has not forgotten us.
We are not abandoned.
We are seen and known by the Living God.

6Are not five sparrows sold for two penniesa]">[a]? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Luke 12:5-7

Right now, I am inviting the Lord to SEE me...
to really SEE me.
I don't want to hide behind my false securities.
They leave me empty and lonely.
I am convinced that when I grab a hold of this truth.
I will be forever changed because...

When you know you are seen by the God of the universe,
nothing else matters.
We have no reason to fret.
No reason to be insecure.
He sees me.
He knows my every need.
I can rest in this.

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