faith – Gardens Eye View

Three Robin Fledglings

I joining in for Diana’s 12 Days of Christmas theme at Elephant’s Eye. Nothing could mean more to me than the Third Day of Christmas…as the song goes…

On the Third Day of Christmas my true love gave to me Three French Hens.

The interpretation of the song is that the Three French Hens represent the Three Theological Virtues: Faith, Hope, and Love (1 Corinthians 13:13).

Isn’t that a lovely thought to get Faith, Hope and Love all on Christmas. So in keeping with these sentiments, I am substituting robins for the hens. Three beautiful little robins whose parents never gave up to give me a special present this spring and summer. You can read the posts when they first came in April. How proud they were of their nest, the new home. Then four lovely eggs too soon lost by an unknown predator. Would they try again…yes and in in two weeks they were back primping the nest in hopes of success this time. And again 4 lovely blue eggs. The parents more vigilant and hardly leaving the nest. The babes soon emerged but the next day they were gone without a sign. The parents were dazed and we were devestated. How could this be…could we take another try…could they and would they try?

We decided the nest was just too vulnerable to attack from birds and snakes so we took it down. Weeks went by and we lamented the loss. No baby birds this year. Then a miracle, the parents were back. They had been staying in the garden and thought they would give it one more try. They had faith in their abilities. It was the hottest part of summer, but they toiled on and soon there were 3 blue perfect eggs of love. Momma never left and poppa stood guard. The eggs hatched and sweet babes with nary a feather emerged. And each day we watched them grow until they hardly fit into the nest. I knew any day they would fledge and be gone. I was lucky to be home when they decided to leave. I witnessed so much that day: the pain and heartache of leaving the nest, of giving their little ones the love needed to be strong and successful.

The lessons the robins taught us last spring are immeasurable. I am so thankful and blessed to have had the opportunity to share their lives and their story. You can read about their story, Gift and Leaving the Nest for more details.

On the Third Day of Christmas I leave you with this little poem I composed of faith, hope and love in their honor…