The Patience of a Dove

A few weeks ago, two doves began flying in and out of the entryway to our house. We soon discovered they were making a home in a  branch-like wreath on the wall next to our front door. As the male bird brought nesting material to the female, she diligently started building a nest in the top of the wreath.  

When nest was complete, the female stayed there. The nest was up high, so we couldn't see the eggs, but we were certain they were there, due to her presence.          

Initially, the mama Dove was afraid of us, but she soon became accustomed to our presence. Then, it was only when strangers approached that she'd fly into the front yard until the "danger" passed.

We have been watching the dove every day. We learned that the male dove is supposed to relieve the female bird at night. We haven't seen the "changing of the guard," so to speak, but perhaps the birds have exchanged places while we were unaware. Still, it it amazing how the mother bird stays on the nest all day. Occasionally she changes position, facing either the street--or our front window.     

It is amazing, isn't it, how God provides for His creation? He gives the birds an innate understanding of what to do, for no one teaches them how to build a nest, how long to sit on the eggs, or how to teach the babies to fly.      

The Dove's eggs will hatch within fourteen days, which should be any day now. We can't wait to hear the peep of the newborn "squabs" (as my husband says they are called), and see their tiny open beaks, beckoning for food. Then, in the two weeks that follow, they will grow big enough for Mama Dove to teach them to fly. If all goes well, they will succeed in departing the nest as intended.    

The Dove's presence has been a lesson in patience. If the mother dove didn't remain on the nest, the eggs wouldn't hatch. They need her presence--and warmth--to do so. Then, once hatched, she must have the patience to feed each one, and the patience to teach them to fly.   

Good things take time--and can't be rushed. Its a reminder for the things that apply to our lives, too. 

Thanks be to God for His awesome, stunning, and miraculous creation--and that includes you and me! 
                                                                                   #
"Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" - Matthew 6:26-27 

"But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or ask the birds  in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. - Job 12:7-10

Photo: N. Johnson
 
​



​
 
​   
       

---