More Than Many

While shopping last week with The Boy I came across this bag.

It looks like you, he said, are you gonna get it?

A lover of birds, in particular the sparrow, I was trying to think of a good reason to buy it.

You could put your crochet projects in it..., he said quietly with a grin.

Sold.

I do love it. The way the little bird has her head turned toward the sky.

I've written about it before, but sparrows make me think-y. I don't know why it is so with me, but often it is the littlest things that lay my heart open.

I am again pondering the words of Christ in Matthew 10: 26-31.

"So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:26-31 NIV)



This morning especially, tucked under a down comforter covered with my Anniversary Quilt (with sparrows sewn betwixt the seams), I'm thinking of the host of sparrow that flew into my yard last week.




I sat at the pane, basking in the warm of the sun rays while so many sweet, grey little puffs of down pecked away at cold earth. They weren't worried, their little beaks hard at work. They do not fear.

I was reminded that God has me tucked safely under His wing. Me, a half-pence sparrow, purchased at a costly price and known (down to the very hairs on my head) by Christ.

But what about those being remembered this month? Children like Matthew and Alethia, and Tobias? Children I will never meet (on earth), but love all the same.

What about the boy named Blake? Born the same year my son took his first breath, who three weeks ago climbed an electric transformer, was electrocuted, fell to the ground, and was gone before the ambulance arrived.

Not one falls to the ground outside our Fathers care.

Not even one.

Once I begin to see past the loss (and, let's be honest, my fear that I might someday experience it) I can give thanks that these children did not have to be held captive to the chains of this earth; they don't have to be content in the faith of knowing God is with us, but Matthew, Alethia, Tobias and Blake (and others like them) make their home near the altar of the Lord Almighty, our God and King (Psalm 84:3). They can look into the face of God and really know that He and is Word are true.

Yes, sparrows fall, but they can also fly on wings like eagles. They do not worry about tomorrow, God feeds them today.

On earth and in heaven.