This week I’m sharing a replay of my favorite spring story.  Enjoy!

~*~ Finding Hope When You Least Expect It ~*~

A month ago, Michael and I had thirty trees planted in our yard and as soon as they were in the ground, birds began to build nests.

I was so excited to find a robin’s nest in the pine tree behind the garage, an oriole’s nest in the Norway spruce at the bend in the driveway, and a tiny wren’s nest in the juniper tree by our front door.

Every day, as I left or entered the house, I would carefully peek into the wren’s nest to see how things were progressing. I couldn’t wait to hear the chirping of new babies once the eggs were hatched.

Much to my dismay, however, one afternoon when returning home from a meeting, I found a tiny baby lying on the ground with two eggs at its side – one cracked, one not.  Heartbroken, I gently moved a branch aside only to find another baby bird, alive and hanging by a leg from the nest.

I stood by the tree on the verge of tears, worried about what to do. I’d always heard that you should never touch a bird or its nest for fear that the mother would abandon her babies (I’ve since learned this is not true). But, knowing that I couldn’t just leave the scene like that, I rushed into the house, found a pair of gloves, and went back to at least give the baby birds a respectable end to their lives.

I oh-so-gently unhooked the baby hanging from the nest and placed it inside. Then I picked up the unbroken egg and set it next to the baby. When I reached down to pick the other tiny bird up off the ground, I discovered that it, too, was alive. So I carefully placed it into the nest next to its sibling.

Then, I went into the house to tell Michael what happened. I assumed that the birds would die together huddled in their nest.

The next morning I braced myself as I left to run errands. I prayed that the mother would come back, but I assumed the babies would have died overnight alone in the nest.

Sure enough, when I looked inside, there was no mom to be found, however, I could see tiny heartbeats in the babies that remained. Feeling frustrated and sad, I left for the day.

When I returned home, much to my astonishment, I found the mother wren sitting on top of her babies! I stood there, mouth open, amazed by the sight. I stared into the little mother’s eyes and thanked her for coming back. Then I ran into the house to share the good news with Michael.

This morning, I was a bit nervous to check in on them again to see what may have happened overnight. But, I’m happy to report that there are three babies in the nest! Yes, even the little egg hatched.

The babies look like they’re almost ready to open their eyes to the world.

Finding these beautiful little beings alive fills me with hope that even out of the most dire circumstances, good can come.

I hope it gives you a lift today, too!

xo Cheryl

PS – Our “Self Care by the Sea” retreat is sold out and if you’d like to be the first to know when October registration opens, please put yourself on the wait list here.

PPS – Waking Up in Winter: In Search of What Really Matters at Midlife is now available in paperback.  You can learn more here.

PPPS – This week’s Facebook Live will be held on Wednesday, March 27^th at 6pm EST/3pm PST.   You can join me here and also watch past sessions on my YouTube channel at CherylRichardsonTV here.

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