Perspectives - Woodpecker, kitten and YOU

Ever tried to resuscitate a wood pecker? 

Last evening, wearily back from a trip to London I was deeply impacted by a couple of incidents! 

Daughter no 1 had kindly offered to do the dinner and being a warm sunny evening I made the most of the offer by relaxing outside in the garden in an attempt to recover from the affects of sitting for hours on a delayed train. I was watching the birds and enjoying the beauty and peace of the space when all of a sudden someting flew into an upstairs window of the house. I was shocked and made my way over to the lifeless form of a young woodpecker laying on the patio below. The reflection of the garden in the glass must have confused it.

I wondered initially if it was merely stunned and as the family gathered to see what the fuss was about, we each took it in turns to try and resuscitate the tiny thing, praying it would revive. Sadly it had died. This upset me so much and I'm not sure why! We had been praying for resurrection and I had really expected it to come alive:-( The ancient book says that our Father sees the sparrow that falls to the ground and that these things are noted in heaven! I felt a deep compassion for this little bird and found myself shedding tears at the loss of life.

If that wasn't enough emotion for one evening, half an hour or so later I glanced up at the offending window whilst recalling the incident and was horrified to see that our kitten had somehow got upstairs, into one of the bedrooms and was perched 2 stories up precariously balanced on the same window ledge from which the bird had fallen. She was blinking down at us all eating our dinner in the garden below, looking disorientated and as if she was going to leap off at any minute! I immediately told daughter no.2 to go into the bedroom to try and coax her back inside and got hubby to stand below in case the kitten fell.The kitten had just about managed to turn itself around on the ledge, responding well to the coaxing when at the last minute she lost her balance! I watched her dropping spreadeagled  – straight into Brian's waiting arms!!!

Phew – what a hero!

My hero - fingers mark the spots - from there to ground!  

Next time he jests about getting rid of the kitten -  we won't believe him.

To sum up - I guess it's all about perspectives. 

Although sad at the loss of the baby woodpecker, how much more would we have been sad at the loss of our beloved kitten....and ...how much more than that.... if death had come to one of us?

The one who is 'all truth' says in the ancient book - 

"Two sparrows cost only a penny, but not even one of them can die without your Father's knowing it. God even knows how many hairs are on your head. So don't be afraid. You are worth much more than many sparrows."

Know today that YOU are precious and beloved.

 

Laughter IS the best medicine! Trifle bowls and amniotic fluid!

I've just come off the phone from speaking with my friend Sue. She manages to do it every time - makes me laugh from my belly. Our paths and stories have crossed over many years covering births, marriages and deaths - she finds the funny bone in all of them.

Just now she reminded me of the time we were doing a counselling course together and had been paired up to take turns sharing an emotional story. This was all very well but we had been told that on this occasion we weren't to look at each other - we had to share the stories back to back. Being in a room along with 20 + other pairs of trainee counsellors, it was quite a challenge not to be distracted.

One of the most emotionally challenging things I had ever been through was years of infertility and miscarriage so when I was finally in labour with my first daughter, it was a highly emotional experience.  I began telling Sue about the fact I was in the shower and suddenly felt water where there shouldn't have been - 'Sorry', interrupted Sue, 'can you repeat that?'. Being back to back in a room full of talking people was proving difficult! I didn't want to speak too loudly about the fact I thought my waters had broken. I repeated in a slightly louder voice and had her full attention - I explained about the fact that I felt I needed to check and see if it was me leaking or the shower head! I collected some of the fluid to see. Don't ask me why (or how!) but the only thing to hand was a trifle bowl. (As in sherry trifle - the desert ). As I explained this to Sue I felt her shoulders beginning to shake behind me, and then the humour of the situation hit me. 'Have you used the bowl since?' she asked and we both exploded in laughter, consequently unable to take anything else seriously - disrupting the whole counselling session with our irrepressible humour.

Sue is extraordinarily gifted at lightening situations. I'm not sure that she went on to be an official counsellor but in birth, marriage and death - she's good to have around!

PS -  Should you ever come to tea on a summers day and be offered trifle -  I can assure you, as lovely as my trifle bowl is, I haven't used it since!