God in the Clutch

Every spring Cheryl and I watch a pair of robins make a nest in the tree just off our patio. This year, because of the mild winter, the robins built a nest in early March and by Easter the baby birds had hatched, grown and flown away. I was surprised to see the nest empty so quickly and sad I missed the young robins learning to fly.

     I thought about taking the nest down just so we wouldn’t have that mess in our tree, I’m glad I didn’t.

    A week or so after the first birds flew off, Cheryl noticed a robin in the nest again. I was surprised and figured it was a new robin taking advantage of the nest. But after doing a bit of research on the Internet, I found out robins can lay two sets of eggs (clutches) in a season if the first clutch is laid early – as in this year.

     As we enjoy round two of watching the cycle of a robin’s life, you can’t help but be in awe of the One who designed and created that cycle. God is in the clutch.

     You can’t help but be in awe of how a robin knows exactly how to build a nest; she knows when to lay her egg – mid-morning after she’s filled her belly with worms. She knows not to incubate the eggs till all four eggs are laid – one each day. Till all four eggs are laid, she keeps the eggs a bit cool so the birds don’t start to develop. This way all the birds develop together and are born the same day.

    The mother robin knows to carefully use her beak to turn her eggs each day so the babies stay warm and don’t stick to the sides of the shell. She also knows when the eggs are getting too warm and she moves around to keep them the same temperature. When the babies are born, she shelters them and she and the father feed them several times a day.  The father also often feeds the mother when she is incubating the eggs.

     When the small robins leave the nest the father stays close to them for a few days to keep them safe. All this knowledge we call instinct. If God takes such good care of robins, imagine his love for you.