RIVER BIRDS Lesson #1

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God,

to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

"Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it." Genesis 2:15

After the last class ended, we told her we were going to serenade her with her favorite song down at the end of the dock. We even had a comfy chair with pillows all ready for her. She asked her driver and me if after the singing she could stay and pray quietly by herself out on the dock for a little while. Of course. 🙏🏻

Once she was settled in we gals began singing all the verses which had been printed out for everyone beforehand. As we sang, ducks paddled closer, but no quacks. The Great Horned Owl that frequently perched atop the tallest tree during many studies, attended Bible Study that day too. He remained in place as we sang. Thought I saw a flash of Hazel the mink slinking through a garden on the far side of the yard. Hazel was always curious about what we humans were up to, but a polite lady. As the last verse finished echoing across the river, we all filed silently off the dock, except our friend. She basked in the sunlight with a sweet river breeze flowing over her for a good 1/2 hour. The smile on her face the driver and I saw when we went back out to help her get safely to shore could only be described as beatific. Amazingly the Great Blue Heron, who always squawked when music ended, was sitting on his river perch and remained silent the entire time too.

What I felt and surely the others did as we walked off the dock that day was the presence of the Holy Spirit. After awhile the friend who had been helping her get to our study helped her up the little hill, into the car, the two went back home. It was the last time the rest of us saw our friend this side of heaven. At her funeral, her grown sons told me that experience on the dock was their mother's favorite memory.

"The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it,

but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.

So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." John 3:8

Thank You Holy Spirit for blowing on us that day.

Lesson #1: All things work together for good...

A Summation, of sorts.

The Number One life lesson here can be summed up in the above verse. All things, birds, the water and it's creatures therein, plus trees and bushes seem to work together for the good of all creatures along a river, including human beings. (A topic for another page, although there is a story, "We Went Down to the River to... Sing" with photos relating to it below.)

Until observing the full truth of Romans 8:28 being played out here, all I'd ever memorized was part of it to glibly recite to myself or someone else when feeling impatient or disappointed. But the verse's totality is very accurate in describing how perfectly God created environments to work together keeping all creatures within thriving bountifully. Below is a prime example of how both predator and prey live successfully here- thanks to the additions of God's creation of various trees and bushes which help sustain both along the river's shore.

Case in point: the synergistic relationship between teeny tiny Wood Duck ducklings and what is often considered an invasive problem, a clump of supposedly Buckthorn bushes in one corner of the yard (although others have called it Wild Cherry). While they may be a problem, our clump with its branches arching out and over the shallow water of the shoreline provides an ideal covering for mommas and new ducklings of various breeds. The clump's dense branches offer protection in two ways, visually and physically. Perhaps there are other over-hanging shoreline bushes that would work just as well, but when we moved in, this nice clump was here and it hasn't grown any faster or more aggressively than anything else. Why is protection from above or initially staying in shallow water so essential? Read on.

When a Wood Ducks begin to hatch, the mother Wood Duck goes down to the river below in most instances, or land below if up in a tree near the water, and makes an unmistakable call up to the ducklings. One at a time, they climb out of the nest and up to the exit hole then... jump! They're so lightweight they float down looking like feathers with two feet sticking out. The mother stays there calling up to the nest until all her ducklings join her below. Once the duckling is in water you can really see how very tiny they are. And vulnerable.

Immediately momma starts to swim and they closely follow behind, usually in a line. After swimming for awhile, eating something off the river, she leads the new ducklings to a safer spot where she can finally relax as they all eat in safety. In general when real little, we don't see them out in deeper water for any long period of time because bass and carp will get them when so small. However, shallower water near shore without some kind of protection overhead isn't safe either. Many birds will make a snack out of them as well.

The Mallards, although hardier in appearance are in greater danger when ducklings are very young as well and will often be found hugging the shore near one of their safer spots as well. If you're friends with the mother Mallard before she hatched her eggs, she'll let watch them nearby. Not so with the Wood Ducks. Even if near or in one of her safer areas, if she sees a human approaching odds are she'll lead them further away.

Lesson: Good hiding spots close to shore are essential for survival. This is also the case with Mallards to a degree although Mallard ducklings seem to start out a little larger and grow remarkably fast. Which is good because in general, in the water anyway, Mallard ducklings are not as well behaved as Wood Duck ducklings. Although Mama Mallard will keep her eye peeled and sharply quack to warn them to a safety zones until her ducklings are larger. But that does not exclude humans enjoying the shoreline and river too!

From what we've observed here, whether the safety area is an over-hanging bush where they can hide and be invisible from any threat above, or a structure such as a private dock doesn't matter. They do seem to prefer the shoreline under overhanging bushes for napping perhaps because it offers over-arching coverage. But for and cover, a more quiet dock is great. The mortality rate of each of ducklings is very high, one statistic I read was 80%. Safety zones don't have to be all along the shoreline either, just a stretched out so a momma and smallest ducklings can scurry from spot to spot. It's kind of like a child's game of hide and seek. The more "home" bases they have, the less likely one will be tagged out. Before too long, the ducklings to get large enough where bass and bigger fish are no longer a threat. We've observed heron and such prefer diving down for fish and such rather than larger ducklings. Without these over-hanging "safety zones" we've speculated less ducklings, so less ducks. Although that is only one of the many issues contributing to a decline in ducks that will be explored when I get to the Mallard page.

In my seven plus decades on this planet, this lesson has been demonstrated along our midwestern river's shore over and over again. It has given me hope for we humans. If God cared enough about them to create this environment where seemingly diverse creatures can live amongst each other utilizing the natural resources He created for coverage of them at key times, even with their little bird brains, how much more has He created systems and elements for the creatures He made in His image? Us? But first, lets look at what happens when a momma duck fails at protecting a duckling with well-timed quacks.

One of the saddest sounds I've heard on the river is when a duckling gets lost from it's family. You can hear its peep-peeping echoing across the river. At first it was so sad, we would both wish we could find and save it. Then one day we saw a bunch of geese let a lost duckling hook up with them. (We've seen different types of ducks "adopt" other types of duck too, but it was easily observed with the geese and duckling.) We watched that duckling grow into a male Mallard. Most ducks and geese often swim together. As he grew, he was friends with both. So whether the duckling was originally lost due to not paying attention to where his family was swimming, or his mom was immature and couldn't keep accurate count of her babies, it's nice to think no lone duckling is left to swim by itself. On the river, all are wanted- by someone.

Isn't it impressive how God's planning things with seemingly unrelated elements all seem to work together, and live in (mostly) peace- if we humans blessed to live with them just pay attention to the most basic elements needed for them to be able to live in peace together. We are part of their inter-connectedness too. God gave Adam the assignment to work His garden, and I take that to mean be good stewards of the beauty He leaves for us to honor, too.

Final Note: In all my years living and taking photos here, have never gotten close enough to a momma Wood Duck and her new ducklings for a picture. Below is a Mallard and ducklings.

When We Went "Down to the River to... Sing"

A note from gardener Lori from the "sitting down at the computer and writing" spot.

Below "Lesson #1: All things work together... A Summation of sorts", is a photo of a tent along the river. The accompanying story is a true river story circa the time-frame of photo. It's titled: "We Went Down to the River to... Sing" plus photos after story.

"'But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear;'" Matt.13:16 When one takes time to really pray, listen, then observe what's going on around you, you'll be amazed- more often than not- how all things do work together for His good. Just add some love.

RIVER BIRDS Lesson #1

For approximately 7 years, 10-12 women gathered in this tent for a Summer Bible Study of 6-8 weeks duration. We began these classes a few years before the Scripture Rocks Garden was established in 2007, but the women in this study plus some from another group, helped me choose the Scriptures engraved on the Rocks along the Garden's path.

To the left of this photo is the dock husband built by himself. The dock was the site of a favorite memory which after many years, I'm sharing with you. At the end of the last class of one year, we surprised one friend by singing all the verses of her favorite song "Amazing Grace" out on the dock. You see, our dear class mate was dying. She had missed attending classes the year before because she couldn't count on being able to drive, but didn't tell anyone. We found out so one very special class member volunteered to pick her up and take her home each morning all summer so she could be "down to the river to pray" with us too.