Consider the Birds...and the Deer

Better than being in the city when it snows is being in the country. I decided that I didn't really want to spend all my Canadian time in an urban setting so I have escaped to the wild for a week. Here I can pursue time alone with the Lord, and in clos er touch with His creation - the forest and its animals - unhindered, except when I choose, by phones and demands of urban life. I arrived here Thursday evening and on Friday it started to snow. It has been snowing all day today and I would have to guess there is at least a foot of snow that has fallen. It is quite beautiful.
My car... er, I mean, Inga's car... is safely stowed in the garage and sometime before the middle of the week I am hoping that some kind neighbour will come and plow out the driveway. I am housesitting for missionary friends who have gone away for the week and they are happy to have someone keep the woodstove going, the plants watered and the deer fed. That's right, I said something about feeding the deer. On a daily basis one can look out the picture window and see the deer make their way up to the boxes where John regularly puts out corn for them. There is also a bird feeder and it is fascinating to see the different kinds and sizes of birds that make their way out of the woods. Nuthatches, chickadees, woodpeckers, bluejays, pigeons, doves, redpolls(new one I learned today - very pretty) all flit to and fro to enjoy the seeds provided for them.Today I was thinking about what Jesus said about the little birds. Remember? He said "Consider the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" (Matthew 6:26) As I sat and watched the birds I started to do some considering - and I want to do a lot more this week. I was reminded to consider the birds and the love of the Father. I was reminded of how Jesus was so eager for people to understand and be aware of the loving care of the Father. I want others to see the Father's tender care for them, too.
Occasionally Louie the squirrel comes along but nobody pays him much mind. I've been warned, though, that if the snowdrifts are high enough he has been known to attempt flying leaps to the birdfeeder. I'll have to watch out for that.
It's all well and good to be at one with God's creatures but they are all safely outside. There is a cat, whom the lady of the house prefers not to allow in the house to avoid cat hair everywhere. The cat has a box in the garage, so is safe from the elements. Unfortunately the only animals that are in the house are skittering between the floorboards above my head as I speak. I am tempted to invite the cat into the house...
Anyway, this is Canada - the wild part - and beautiful it is. The Lord is so good to provide such a place for me to come apart for awhile and spend time alone with just me and Him. And so I settle in, stoking the stove and watching the deer and considering the birds - and the love of my heavenly Father.