His Eye Is on the Sparrow

In the New Testament, both Matthew and Luke tell of Jesus preaching about sparrows, those common, nondescript, sometimes pesky little birds we see all over the place.  Apparently God knows when even one of his sparrows falls, and has every hair on your head counted. You know the story.  I believe it with all my heart.  Because I have seen sparrows.  And they are incredible.  Just like everything else that God created.

I talked in my last post about being childish.  I think my faith is somewhat of a child-like nature, as well.  See, I believe that I am God's favorite.  

Please don't be shocked.  Because I believe that YOU are God's favorite as well.  When God created everything, he saw that it was good.  He was pleased.  And in his infinite infinity, he liked everything that he made. The hairs on your head, the sparrows, and you.  

If you ask a mother of 12 kids which one is her favorite, she can't (or won't) tell you.  Maybe one of those kids is really being naughty that day, so maybe she is big-time disappointed in him or her, but that kid is still a favorite, just like the other 11. Even only being the mom of two, I still get that.  God gets it, as well.  

Moms have a big handicap. They are stuck on a timeline, in the same dimension, located in only one place at a time.  Still, even though a kid messes up at that particular time, she can see the possibility of that kid being infinitely loveable at least at some point!   God, who exists in all time, in all places in every possible dimension at once can see the greatness in everyone and everything.  That's why I can be God's favorite, and you can be God's favorite, and so can everyone else.  He sees your potential, and He is pleased.  

I think if everyone could realize this, they'd run out of things to fight about and just smile...a lot. They'd also have a much better sense of their own worth, which would lead to even more smiling and general all around happiness.  

Anyway, what brought this all up in my mind was SPARROWS...literally.  

When I lived in Iowa, every May we would have a migration of interesting types of sparrows through our area.  Mostly, I would wait for (and listen for) the White-crowned and White-throated Sparrows to show up in our yard.

White-throated

White-crowned

They would stay around for a week or two, and be gone.  The rest of the time, we might get a Chipping Sparrow or two, but the rest of the time, the yard would be overrun by House Sparrows, who are an invasive, non-native species.

Chipping Sparrows look way more cool sitting in the alders than anywhere in Iowa.

I have a hard time liking House Sparrows, but when you start looking at them, they are really beautiful birds.

I think this House Sparrow knows he is way more cool than the littler House Finch!

Every morning, I drink coffee and feed birds.  Sometimes, it's hard to go to work because I am busy looking at sparrows. I have been amazed that everything I see in the UP is NOT a House Sparrow, but various other interesting sparrows.  And just in case I get cocky and assume I can identify them all, each bird has three different looks.  There is the juvenile look, the breeding look, and the non-breeding look.  Explains a lot about why God has his eye on them.  I know which one is God's favorite, don't you?  Here are a few types I have enjoyed watching:

Clay-colored 

Fox

Harris's

Field 

Grasshopper 

Lark 

Lincoln's 

Savannah 

Song 

Vesper

There are actually many more kinds.  These are the only ones I've been able to get a picture of.

Civilla Martin wrote a poem in 1905, after visiting a friend who had been crippled for over 20 years of his life. This friend explained his secret for living a happy, positive life.  "His eye is on the sparrow," he explained, "and I know He watches me."

I sing because I'm happy.

I sing because I'm free. 

His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know he watches me.

That's the refrain of the song that Civilla and Charles H. Gabriel put together.  Maybe you've heard it. Whitney Houston did her thing with it.  I personally like the original hymn-like version a little better.

So, what's my point? Sparrows (among other things) make me happy. I figure if I have so much fun watching sparrows, God must have even more fun watching ME. After all, I AM his favorite :)