STAY ON YOUR NEST

I am often amazed as to our desire to nurture, the desire that God has placed in our hearts to nurture others , for some of us is very strong, To some degree it is a gifting that we can use to help others and direct them to God the true and perfect nurturer.
Proverbs 22:6 Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.
I have always had a very strong desire to nurture... I have always had a strong desire to rescue things, both human and not so human.. I remember many times as a child I would bring home some poor animal that would need my help. One occasion when I was very young I rescued a bird from our pool, my mum put it in a bird cage for me to dry out overnight. It was a bit weak and was not able to sit on its perch, so she sat on the floor of the cage in a bed of straw that I put there for her. During the night I was worried that she may be cold, so I got out of bed and put her cage on top of the stove and turned on the element. To my surprise and horror we awoke the following morning to a very hot dead bird.... We were so lucky that I did not burn the whole hose down. I have many stories when my nurturing went wrong when I was a child, just as well I got better at it as I grew older.
Even in the animal kingdom, some have an incredible instinct to nurture. We have a very broody chicken at the moment, she just sits all day on anybodies eggs in the hope that one day something will eventuate. Fortunately for her a neighbour today gave us 3 fertile eggs for her to sit on, she very warmly welcomed her new charges under her warm body where she will sit and dedicate her days to these eggs for 21 days in the hope that something will be birthed. She will keep a steady eye for foxes who come to steal her babies, Crows will fly in and take her eggs clean out from under her if she looses her focus. Job 11:18 And you will be secure, because there is hope; you will be protected and will take your rest in safety.
God promises us with our children that if we nurture their tender heats and sow his truth into them that he will never leave them or forsake them. Oh but if we as parents had the faith of a mother hen, to sit there diligently for no matter how long it takes to nurture what God has given us to sit on.
Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but raise them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

How easily do we give up and loose our patience or wish that some other mother hen will sit on our kids for a while and take over the nurturing. We can only rely on God to be our everlasting strength for the most important nurturing job of our lives . Psalm 100:2 Worship the Lord with joy! Enter his presence with joyful singing!
Sow seeds of character, sow seeds of integrity, sow seeds of honor, sow seeds of love, sow seeds of persistence Proverbs 29;17 Correct your son, and he will give you comfort, He will also delight your soul.
Proverbs 19;18 Discipline your son while there is hope, And do not desire his death.
I encourage you mums to stay on your nest, stay alert and vigilant to the enemy who lies in wait for his opportunity to pounce. Nurture your babies , even when they are big and seem all grown up, then they will come home to the mother who has walked by their side with them and nurtured them and then, only then will you have earnt the right to direct them to God who has walked every step of that journey alongside you and your baby chickens.