Under Your Wings

The other morning on a birding field trip and a quick stop at the nature center with my littles, I looked up and saw these wings. They were stunning–the colors, the texture, and the way the light hit them. I snapped a quick photo amidst one kid pulling me toward the beehives, another telling me he needed to go potty, and my six-month old patiently nuzzled on my chest.

When life had settled later at home, I came back to that image I’d snapped in a hurry and just lingered over something that in the rush and press of motherhood I hadn’t been allowed to enjoy: the beauty, the texture, the colors. Sometimes I feel starved for that beauty in a chaotic house of 6 little boys. And this particular beauty reminded me of one of my favorite images in the Bible. It’s the idea of the wings of refuge.

We’ve been studying birds and feathers lately with my boys. And I’ve learned that if you take a feather and zoom in really close, you’ll discover that each of those tiny branches that make up a feather has tiny little hooks, almost like velcro they attach to one another making this interlocking system of protection. Its this interlocking power that shields the bird from wind and rain and that also makes the wonders of flight possible. Its a marvelous design and when you zoom out that useful thing is also a beautiful thing.

I don’t know about you but this is a symbolic reminder, I need. God’s protection of me, His care of me, is like this beautiful wing. It shields me, warms me, and lifts me. Its a beauty to behold. And as mothers, especially, we need care too. In the midst of so much caring for others, we need to be reminded, we are held under his wing.