Blue First Time Outside 
Blue the Rescue Bird 
Blue Stops by for a Visit months later
Never discount an opportunity to help and always look for the lesson to learn. ~ Donna Pool
The pink, frail, and still blind baby bird barely struggled in the dirt. The tiny movement caught my eye and I walked over to investigate. No nest nearby and freshly hatched, it was obvious a predator had either dropped it or momma bird decided to move her brood and lost this one. My granddaughter was riding her horse at the time and as she approached this scenario, with firm confidence, she said, “RyRy we must rescue it.” I picked up it’s limp little body with no feathers. It was weak. No telling how long it had been there. I agreed that we needed to give it a chance. However, I really thought this helpless baby bird we named Blue would not survive. But I was immediately reminded that all who cross our paths do so for a reason and are worthy of help, even rescuing, and usually teach us a thing or two about ourselves. So, home we went with this pitiful little bird less than the size of my hand to prepare a safe, heated place to sleep eat, heal, and grow.
The mixing, heating chopped mealworms into a gruel (smell was awful) feeding, cleaning, every 3 hours around the clock got old and tiresome, but the relationship that blossomed was incredibly sweet. During the middle of the night hours I was often reminded that our sacrifice is not always easy, like giving to charity or writing a check to the homeless shelter or church. Many times we are called out of our comfort zones so that someone else can make it. Months into this routine, which got easier and better as Blue grew, the need for freedom called and one day on an outside trip to the yard Blue took flight and never looked back. My eyes teared up. I wasn’t ready to let go. Blue wasn’t completely ready to survive in the real world, or so I thought. God whispered that this moment was the whole point of Blue’s rescue: To Set the Bird Free. But, I wanted the control over when that would happen, to give my granddaughter a chance to say goodbye, to prepare hunting trips for the bird and teach nest building. Again, God whispered I needed to relinquish control in order to trust. Feelings of failure of not having prepared Blue well enough to survive, I realized I was just going to have to trust God to take care of Blue and show him/her the ropes of bird survival.
After awhile, Blue began to visit me. Lighting on the window seals, I would look up and there he/she was in the window looking at me. Sometimes Blue would show up on my porch, and even at my front door like one of the pictures. Blue was fine. Blue appreciated the rescue. Blue was thankful for the freedom. And, I, praised God for his teaching me about rescue and release, relinquishing control of things when I’m not ready to, and blessing me with the knowledge of His Diving love and care for all that lives and breathes. Blue is not the only animal that has crossed my path to be rescued in my lifetime. Seems like they find me. I have come to realize this is one of my purposes on earth, to help, to rescue, to seek opportunities for good, to be ready at a moments notice, drop everything and Go. God uses me but He does the healing and the teaching. I am held in awe most all the time. We all have been rescued in order to be set free.
“A good Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where the man was (beaten, robbed, and left to die in a ditch), and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him, bound up his wounds, set him on his own animal, and took him to an inn to take care of him. The next day the Samaritan took some of his own money and gave to the innkeeper saying, “Take care of him and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back…” Luke 10:33-35