I got an urgent text from my daughter “ MOM! A TINY BABY BIRD FELL OUT OF OUR TREE !”  She explained that while our friend was weed whacking our yard,  he had seen this tiny bird fall onto the ground.  I was at the hospital helping my mom get pre-op testing for a very soon shoulder replacement surgery.  I was distracted.   I told her “ OK, I’ll help you when I get home “. Then I got another text from her explaining that the bird wasn’t breathing very well so she “ googled” it.   The baby bird needed a procedure to open up its airway!  “ Oh my gosh !” I thought.  I wasn’t going to be home for at least a few more hours.  My son volunteered to do it!  I couldn’t help but smile. All my kids loved animals but my son has a special gift.  He will jump in to be my surrogate when I’m not home and he will do “ the hard things “ like bury an animal, deal with an animal’s injury, etc.  I soon got word that the “ procedure ” was successful. I was so thankful and I was so proud!   As I sat there in the waiting room I suddenly realized that I had no idea what I was going to do with this little bird.  I didn’t know what kind of bird it was, what to feed it, how to keep it warm, etc. 

 I finally made it home several hours later. I was so hoping that the little bird was still alive.  After I took my mom home I finally made my way to the little bird.  To my surprise, the little bird was still alive and well! My daughter found out that it was a baby  European Turtle Dove!  As I brought it into my room in its little box, I looked for my heat lamp ( that I had used with my baby chicks ).  She seemed cold and lonely.  “ How was I going to help her feel snuggly and safe and secure if she was all by herself.  Right at that moment, my son came running into my room holding something very small in his hands.  “ Guess what I just saved?”.  As he slowly opened his hands he explained that my son-in-law had been on the riding lawn mower and had seen this very tiny newborn chick in the fence with our very very large dog.  He had to yell to my son who then had raced to jump the fence and grab the baby chick “ just in the nick of time” right before the dog was about to eat it!  He smiled and handed me the newborn chick as he walked out of my room.  “ What am I going to do with this one, I haven’t even figured out what to do with the baby bird !”   Just then he came back into my room and said “ Hey  Mom, why don’t you just put them together ?”.  My analytical mind kicked in. I started thinking things like ….Can they be together? Will they hurt each other? , Can they give each other germs or sickness? Is it safe for both of them? , I needed to research this thoroughly before I tried such a thing.  I told myself that I  couldn’t just put them together.  It might be too risky.  I put that thought right out of my head.   I didn’t even know where the baby chick’s mother was at this point, because she was a wild chicken and she roamed all over our acreage and it had already become night by this time.  First I put the chick and the baby bird in two separate little boxes with a heat lamp.  They both started crying.  I petted on both and tried to hold and cuddle each one separately.  I tried this for quite a while but they kept on crying and crying and crying.  Right then I remembered what my son had suggested.  “ Oh well,” I thought.  “ I have to do something!”.  I picked them both up very gently and put both of them into my right hand.  They were so small that they both fit into my palm.  I couldn’t believe what I saw next.  They actually began to move close to each other.  Then the most amazing thing happened.  The baby chick actually placed its wing right over the tiny baby bird.  As I watched in amazement, they both slowly became quiet and then fell gently asleep.   I couldn’t believe my eyes.  They were so small and so precious but I was so touched to see how these two very different but tiny newborn creatures showed loving care to each other so quickly without hesitation.    I was sitting with these two babies sleeping so sweetly in the palm of my hand.  I called my son and he said “ I knew it! I knew it!”.   How did he know this?   What if no one had seen the baby bird fall out of the tree? What if no one had seen the baby chick?  I knew I could have so easily missed seeing this miraculous moment.  I was so thankful that everyone had listened to their” gut feeling “ or” a prompting “ to see things outside of their normal day-to-day happenings.  It was a lesson for me to remind me how important it is to not get too focused on just what “I’m doing “ and to try to stay aware and really “ look” and really listen” .  If we do this we will see many amazing and often little miracles .