I had the next post about summer learning plans all planned out…in my head…and ready to be typed up last night. Football practice was even cancelled by the rain, so I had extra time to get the kiddos in bed on time! Then the homework war commenced with the Ladybug. Tears, tantrums, torn papers, broken pencils…40 minutes into a 20 minute assignment she walks up to me and says, “I need to talk to you about something in your bedroom.”

Um…ok. How about we talk about it here, in the kitchen? (The boys were already in bed.)

Nope. Alone.

Ok…

So we head to the privacy of my bedroom (which pretty much has no privacy whatsoever as long as the crew is actually awake!) and she bursts into tears, again, saying “I’m going to be in so much trouble!”

Good grief, how bad can it be? We didn’t get a call from the school (and believe me, we are quite familiar with their phone number on the caller id!). The boys hadn’t tattled anything. Schools almost over for the year–what could possibly be that bad?

She proceeds to tell me that she had found “a couple baby birds on the ground”…

…And I started thinking that maybe the cat ate them and she hadn’t fed the cat in two days or something. She’s pretty soft-hearted, so that kind of guilt would definitely get to her.

Nope.

She “found these baby birds on the ground, and put them in a box, and took them to her room…” Oh the sobbing. And she had been “feeding them, and giving them water, and they just kept crying and crying, and she couldn’t sleep, and she didn’t know what to do, and she didn’t know who was going to feed them while she was at school, and then I wanted her to do her homework, and she needed to find more worms, and she didn’t know what to do, and she was going to be in so much trouble and…”

You get the picture.

Sure enough, Mr. Fix-It and I walked upstairs and found two baby blue birds in a box with a couple of towels in the little nook beside her dresser.

It’s beyond me how she managed to keep them up there with no one the wiser. Not us, not the dog, not even the boys. She even managed to have the Cowboy helping her hunt worms, but swears he didn’t know anything about the birds. I’m not sure about that, but I don’t care to pursue it right now.

Mr. Fix-It was astonished to find that she’d been keeping them alive feeding them whole worms. I was astonished to find that she’d smuggled live animals up to her room and none of us found out about it!

We had her take us outside and show us where she found them and Mr. Fix-It put them back in the nest. The momma Bluebird was pretty upset about being disturbed and there were several other babies in the nest already. I have a suspicion that those two might have gotten kicked out because there wasn’t room–but they were all in there this morning, right as rain, when we checked before the Ladybug got up.

I’ve found myself a bit speechless over the whole situation. I can’t imagine ever trying such a thing when I was growing up. I might have tried to convince my parents to let me, but I wouldn’t have just done it on my own. I asked her why she didn’t ask for help and she said “I just wasn’t thinking. I just wanted to make sure the boys didn’t mess with them. And then I thought I would get in trouble.”

I actually believe her on that one. She really is that impulsive sometimes, and has a heart for life. Mr. Fix-It also pointed out that we’ve brought just about everything she can imagine into the house, from sheep to chickens to barn kittens, at one point or another. We had a brief conversation with her about getting in over her head and just asking for help next time, and so far have let it go at that. She came back inside and finished up her homework in about 8.2 minutes and went to bed. (Mr. Fix-It pointed out that she probably hasn’t slept in two days and the tears and temper tantrums were probably exhaustion.)

I’ve been speechless over the situation most of the day now.

These little daily adventures are like a tiny glimpse into the plan God has for her. Just a little peek at where she’s headed. He has his own purpose He created her for and His own work He’s preparing her for and we’re just along for the ride. {smile} This one certainly surpassed the cricket incident two years ago, or the frog incident last summer, or the lizard incident a few weeks ago…kinda makes me wonder what’s next!

How’s your week going?

I will be finishing the series on summer learning plans this week {smile} and also have a little family learning giveaway for ya.

Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Facebook so you don’t miss a single post–who knows what these #farmkids will be up to next?

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:11-13)

See where I’m sharing…