A couple of months ago I bought a new bird feeder because the birds were making a mess underneath the old one. They were spilling (and wasting) more seed than they were eating. The new one promised to be “spill proof” and although it’s not 100% spill proof, I’d say it’s about 95% which is a big improvement. But it took the birds almost two weeks to  begin feeding from it. I think it was because of the different shape of it – it has a domed cover and a little ledge above the feeding tray, I guess to thwart squirrels. Finally one day the sparrows did come but I noticed over the course of the weeks that the bigger birds wouldn’t go to the feeder. I could only imagine it was because the distance between the ledge and the feeder tray was too small. That made me sad because I particularly like the cardinals and I’d been watching a pair since early spring.

Yesterday I saw the female cardinal at the feeder. I was so excited that she had found the courage after all these months to just try landing on the tray. She fit perfectly fine.

Isn’t that just like life, though? There are times and situations when we don’t think we’ll fit and so we sit back and watch. Often, we never gather the courage to step outside our little world and just try – it’s so comfortable and secure in our world. I’m all for comfort and security but once in a while it’s good to stretch. Mamma Cardinal reminded me of that.