An Opportunity

For the past few weeks I have been watching two little brown birds build a nest inside the flowerpot on my back porch.  At first I was a little disgruntled.  I know my flowers will die because I cannot water it anymore.  And these little brown birds have made a huge mess digging out the dirt and piling the small pot with pine straw.

Well, a couple of days ago a neighbor was driving by and she stopped to talk with us.  We asked about her family and she told us their sad news that her pregnant daughter is going to lose the baby because of a genetic disorder.  Tod and I instantly teared up.  We shared our story with her about losing a baby between Jacob and Brady.  I offered to speak with her daughter if she had any questions or needed anything else.  Later that night I get a text from her daughter saying "Can we talk tomorrow?"  I have to admit I was a little nervous, but was more than willing to sit with her.

Yesterday I sat across from a very beautiful teenage girl going through something so very adult.  She is having to make decisions that will effect the rest of her life.  We talked for about half an hour and I realized that it doesn't matter what stage we are in our lives that we become a mother, but it is the instinctive notion to protect our children that unites all mothers.  She has accepted the fate of her child but struggles with the continuous pain her child will go through.  We ended our conversation with a hug.

When I got home I watched the two little brown birds continue their nest building.  They are so focused and it is a constant flow of pine straw, leaves and twigs to finish this nest.  Soon we will have some little eggs to watch and hope to find some little baby birds hatching.  I will allow them to make a mess of my back porch.  Life is messy and we need to cherish all of it.