Fred and Ethel

We have had the joy of two doves claiming one of our hanging plants on our front porch. I knew very little about doves before this but now consider myself to be an armature professional on the subject. Together they get the nest ready and after the eggs are laid, one of them is always on the nest. Typically the male at night and female during the day. We call them Fred and Ethel. They have all ready hatched one egg (Little Ricky) and worked together feeding him until time for him to move on. They are now sitting on 2 more eggs (Pebbles and Bam Bam). Many times as I have watched, I have associated the Fathers love for us. One of the 1st hard storms that we had this season with some tornado activity and hail was the day Little Ricky had hatched. Fred was on the nest and I watched as the plant went out straight from the hook it was on and did loop after loop like a hula hoop for what seemed like a very long time. I held my breath and prayed that the basket would not come loose. The wind got under Fred and several times I saw him fight his way back down on the nest to cover his child. He stayed through the storm fighting the entire time.
I began to think of some of the storms I have been through in my own life when I was the child that God covered and never left. Some of those storms I created myself and some were just life. It reminded me that no matter how bad the storm gets our God is not going to leave us. It reminded me of some scriptures:


Psalm 17: 8-9
Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings from the wicked who assail me, from my mortal enemies who surround me.


Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.


And my personal favorite that I have stood on storm after storm:


Psalm 91
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." 3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. 5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. 8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. 9 If you make the Most High your dwelling-- even the LORD, who is my refuge-- 10 then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. 11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; 12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. 14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. 15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. 16 With a long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."


Please never forget that no matter how big you mess up or how big the storm, God will never leave you! I am a living testimony to this.


Love, Julie Powell