I wanted to share a beautiful experience I had today. I was driving a few miles from my home and witnessed a bird fly out in front of the car in front of me – a female cardinal apparently had struck the front grill of that car, tumbled under the car and landed on the pavement about 3 feet from the grass on the right side of the road in the immediate path of my car’s right tire. I stopped my car in the middle of the road, threw my blinker on, routed a few cars around me and ran over to see if the bird was okay. It was laying lifeless on the pavement with it’s little chest laboring heavily. The bird’s eyes were open when I went over to it but then it closed its eyes and a white film appeared to roll over. I felt the bird was dying. I petted the bird’s head gently as it appeared lifeless and began to pray. I became extremely emotional because right when the little bird got hit by that car, the bird’s mate, another red cardinal (the male), swooped down from the sky to apparently check on his mate. He didn’t land on the ground next to her but it was evident the two birds were a pair. My heart just sunk. I was extremely upset and continued praying for God to save this little bird. I ran back to my car and found a plastic container with my business papers in it, dumped it all over my car seat and ran back to the bird and gently picked up her lifeless but still breathing body and took her back to my car. I found a jacket in the back seat and draped it over the plastic container. I decided I would run my next errand (about 10 minutes away) and then take the bird to St. Francis Wildlife Sanctuary in Quincy, Florida, a wonderful organization that helps orphaned and injured wildlife. As I drove away, I lifted up my jacket and peeked in and the bird was still lying on its back but appeared to still be breathing. About 5 minutes later, I peeked in again and the bird was actually in an upright position. I was elated and hopeful! When I got to a red light, I lifted the jacket off of the container again and peeked in and it appeared as if the bird’s legs were broken – they were extended out sideways and then I realized she was just sliding on the plastic container. I reached in the back seat again found some cloth and placed it in the bottom of the container so the bird could get a better grip. I covered up the container and continued driving. I called St. Francis Wildlife and told them what happened and asked, “If one of the birds legs were broken and I let it go could it survive”? They told me no bird could not survive in the wild with one leg. I also mentioned to them that I had heard that you should release animals back where you found them and that was confirmed. Not knowing if the birds legs were in fact broken, I decided to drive back to where I found the bird, pull into a neighboring yard from where the bird got hit, lift the cover off the container and see if the bird could fly or if it needed to be transported to the wildlife facility. I was tearful this whole time worried about the little bird and thinking about it’s mate. Before I lifted off the cover, with a lump in my throat, I asked God to please let the bird fly. I really wanted and needed a happy ending. I lifted the cover and the bird miraculously took flight and landed about 20 feet away in a flowering shrub. I literally cried with tears of joy praising God for answering my prayer. When the bird took flight, the beautiful thing is, the bird’s mate, the bright red male, swooped through the air again – he was awaiting her return. That little bird sat on the bush for about 5 minutes just looking at me as if to thank me and allowed me to get a little closer to take my photograph. If you look at the picture below in the center you’ll see a brown bird with a red beak, the female cardinal.
I truly felt God’s presence today through this experience and it got me to thinking, sometimes we get knocked down, like that little bird, but when shown a little compassion by even a complete stranger, we are given strength to carry on. God puts people in our lives along the way at times of need for a reason – to make a difference. God shows us tender mercies daily if we only open our hearts to experience the Godwinks that are meant for us to see – I experienced this firsthand today. Although my songwriter mind was flooded with ideas today as I reflected on this experience, I am reminded of a song I’ve already written called, “Love’s Where It All Begins” To hear the song, Click on the LISTEN tab at the top and then VIDEOS and scroll down to row #15, far left. As I think back on the emotion I experienced today, I realize that God put me in the right place at the right time to help rescue that little bird. I was blessed beyond measure by helping one of God’s little creatures.
I hope my experience will bless someone today.
Libby 😉
