Recently, we found a huge great horned owl the size of a Thanksgiving turkey in a tree in our backyard. We began to carefully watch it, slightly concerned it might carry off my husband’s beloved Maltipoo, however chunky (and slightly annoying) the pup might be. I would rush home from work each day to see if it was still there (the owl and the dog) and for a few weeks, it lingered threateningly, watching us like a hawk…(even though it was an owl).
One day I came home to see the rooftops of several houses near mine so covered in crows, you could hardly see the homes below. As I listened to the cawing and screeching, watched them circling and swooping, I thought the only explanation must be that I was going to soon be shopping for a new puppy - thankfully, pup was safely inside.
As it turns out, great horned owls and crows are natural enemies, and the crows had declared war. The owl, however, continued to sit in the tree, completely unbothered, while the crows turned my neighborhood into an episode of Prehistoric Planet.
I think sometimes I am like the owl, and sometimes I am like the crows. At times I am able to sit quietly, unfazed, rooted in my faith, while the world spins and caws around my head. Other times, I’m the one racing and squawking, looking for answers and panicking, to absolutely no effect.
These next months of school will be filled with plenty to squawk about! Activities, projects, trips – and this week we begin standardized testing. It’s enough to make you feel like a crow; yet we are admonished in the Word to “Trust in Him at all times; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.” (Psalm 62:8) Take refuge in God as the owl did in the tree: the owl’s way is wiser.
Love,
Mrs. Mason