Soar like eagles

Renae Brumbaugh Green

-- Coffee Talk --

 

Have you ever seen a real, live bald eagle? I have.

 

Years ago, my parents took the kids and me over to see the bald eagle’s nest in Llano County. And it was a sight to behold.

 

The nest was enormous. It rested in a bare-branched tree, and took up the better part of the middle branches. We stood there on the side of the road, looking through the binoculars and exclaiming over its hugeness, when the nest moved. There, in the middle was a baby eagle, bobbing its head up and down as if to say, “Look at me! I’m the one you came to see.”

 

We watched the young bird for a long time. It gave us quite a show, opening its mouth wide, ducking to hide and popping up like a jack-in-the-box, at times spreading its wings in wishful thinking. After a while, we began to wonder where its parents were.

 

Surely they weren’t far . . . but we couldn’t see them. We’d heard that both parents stayed close, watching over their baby, sharing the responsibility of seeing their offspring safely to young adulthood. But as far as we could tell, that little guy was all alone.

 

Then my dad, (just call him ol’ Eagle Eye,) saw him.

 

The Daddy Eagle.

 

He rested on the tip-top of a thick, bare tree trunk; he actually looked like an extension of the trunk. But closer examination through the binoculars revealed that, yes, that was the Daddy bird. He had been there all along.

 

Our attention was drawn away from the baby as we watched the guardian, situated in the next tree over from the nest. He was several yards higher than his child, and could see directly into the nest. As a matter of fact, he could see everything that went on in the entire region. He sat there quietly, only moving his head from time to time in an effort to keep watch.

 

After a while, our attention was drawn back to the baby. It was getting more and more restless, flapping its wings and opening its beak wide, approaching panic level. I could imagine the little bird calling out, “Somebody feed me! Somebody take care of me!”

 

Then, it happened. With a spread of his tail feathers and a glorious swoop of his wings, the daddy eagle soared. It was honestly one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. The grand eagle circled majestically through the air, above the nest, into some far trees, back above the nest, and then he swooshed down into the valley beyond view, toward the Llano River.

 

The baby bobbed. He squawked. He seemed to worry and fret and complain, wondering why somebody didn’t take notice of him. If only he knew, his daddy was there all the time.

 

If only we all knew . . . just because we can’t see Someone, it doesn’t mean He isn’t there. Watching us. Protecting us. Providing for our needs.

 

Before long, the daddy showed up again with some kind of yummy, nutritious bird treat. The baby disappeared in the shadow of his father’s wings. All was right with his world.

 

Isaiah 40:31 “Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”