My daughter, Amanda, had recently turned 21, and I was ready for her to leave home. Yes, I was! I know there are some mothers who say they never want their children to leave, but I am not one of them. As a matter of fact, I'm an advocate of the old saying: "Every hen needs her own nest!"

Amanda was a good girl. I trusted her. She and her college friends were involved in many church activities. The problem was that she was trying to be the top chicken of our nest. If you know anything about pecking order in the bird kingdom, you know what I mean. For those who don't, let me explain.

In bird flocks, there is a top bird that bosses and pecks on the second bird, and she bosses and pecks on the third bird, and so on. Amanda wanted to make her own decisions, which is a good thing. But many times those decisions conflicted with the "mother bird's" decisions. Basically, she didn't want to do what I said. To put it in bird lingo, she had outgrown the nest. Time to fly!

A not-so-empty nest
So, this mother bird began to talk with her chick about getting her own apartment, perhaps with a couple of girlfriends. This seemed like a good solution to me because I would be nearby if she needed help, but she could be independent and make her own decisions. At 21, I thought this reasonable. She worked as an assistant to our church youth pastor, and I felt confident she would be fine.

There was only one problem: Amanda didn't want to move out. No, she wanted to stay at home and do as she pleased. After all, she lived in a very nice nest, and if she had to pay for her own nest, her finances would not stretch far enough to do all the "fun" things she enjoyed.

	Amanda didn't want to move out. After all, if she had to pay for her own nest, she couldn't do all the "fun" things she enjoyed.

What to do? I began to imagine her at 40 years of age—still living at home—and became even more determined.

"Dear God," I prayed, "please help Amanda to find her own nest soon. I know we'd both be happier and …"

"Peep, peep!" I heard faint chirping. It sounded like a baby bird. I looked outside on the patio, but saw nothing. "Peep, peep, peep!" There it was again, and it seemed so close.

I looked out the dining room window and there, on the windowsill, just inches from my nose, perched a big, fluffy bird. It sat really still, but was "peeping" up a storm now.

The bird was quite large, with gray feathers. For some reason, despite my proximity, it didn't fly away. Then a mockingbird flew up to the windowsill, carrying a cricket in its beak. As I watched, it stuffed the insect into the first bird's gaping mouth.

Wow! I marveled. That must be its mate. Maybe the bird is wounded and can't fly, so its mate is feeding it. I watched them for a long time, amazed at the second bird's devotion and determination to help its mate.

The injured bird kept peeping, nonstop, more and more loudly in an increasingly annoying fashion. Perhaps I should take the poor thing to the vet, I mused. Perhaps it's dying!

Unfinished business
I called my friend, Pat, who is a bird expert. When I described the scene, she laughed and said, "Gail, those birds aren't mates. That's a baby bird and its mother!"

"No way, Pat," I argued. "That bird is big. As a matter of fact, it's bigger than the other."

"That's because it still has its downy baby feathers. When it's ready to fly, it will shed those. Evidently, it fell out of the nest too soon, and the mama bird is feeding it until it can fly on its own."

"Okay," I said, embarrassed. "Thanks for your help." I hung up, persuaded that Pat was right. After all, she is the expert.

As I sat to continue praying, I heard God speaking to me. "Gail, your daughter is like that baby bird. She's not ready to leave the nest, she needs to mature a little more. Your work isn't done yet."

"You're right, Lord," I sighed. "Please help me handle this."

God led me to sit with my daughter and discuss how we could best live together as adults. It was difficult to let go of my mother role and loosen the apron strings, but I tried my best. I did set a few boundaries, and she agreed to them.

The result was that we solved the conflict between us and greatly enjoyed her next few months "in the nest." Within the next year, my little bird did fly away on her own—but only when she was truly ready.

	What did you think of this story?
	Please to give us your feedback.

Read more from 'Laughing Matters'

Home  |  People of Faith  |  Stories of Hope  |  Today's Culture
Build Your Faith  |  Laughing Matters  |  Archives  |  Contact Us

				Try an Issue of Today's Christian Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. Click here for International orders. If you decide you want to keep Today's Christian coming, honor your invoice for just $17.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless. Give Today's Christian as a gift Buy 1 gift subscription, get 1 FREE!

FREE Newsletter Subscribe to the Today's Christian Newsletter    RSS Feed   RSS Help