BAD PLANNING

Gloria has a very attractive hanging fern just outside our front door. It requires a fair amount of water, so nearly every day one of us will run the hose into it for an extended time.

For a couple of days we were startled by a bird flying out of the fern. Inspecting, we discovered she was building a nest. We should have immediately removed the partly constructed structure, but waited a couple of days. When I went outside tonight to remove the nest before the mama bird became too attached to her site, I discovered . . . you guessed it…two eggs.

Now what do we do? If we immerse the fern every day, it will flood the nest. If we don’t, the fern may not survive. If we remove the nest, the eggs will be lost, and, I assume, the mother bird will grieve.

When you think about it, the location of the nest reflects really bad planning by the mother bird. She didn’t take into account the possibility that someone much bigger than her could frustrate her plan and obliterate her carefully prepared but ill-placed “nursery.”

Some of our plans are really bad too. Like our short-sighted, feathered friend, we don’t see the big picture. Our illadvised actions place us and others at risk.

Aren’t you glad that the all-powerful God is not in His nature a home-wrecker and egg smasher? He is loving and kind, and works His sure plan for the ultimate good of all who nest in Him.