A friend of mine, who knows I love birds, gave this cute bird sign to me for my birthday this year.  Of course, as an English teacher, the first thing I saw was the misspelled word.

I didn’t say anything because I knew she had lovingly picked it out for me and I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.  It lay on the kitchen table for a few days as I pondered just what to do with it. It’s so cute, but since it contains one of my pet peeve grammatical errors, I wasn’t sure I wanted to hang it in my beautiful garden and let it bug me everyday.  But I had to at least give it a try, so I placed it next to the garden gate.

This morning, during my talk with Jesus out on the patio, He gave me the meaning behind the sign.  Just like this birdie sign,  even in all of our cuteness and put-togetherness, we have faults. We may have some that are quite noticeable and irritating to others and we might have some that can only be seen with a closer look.  Sometimes we grow to love the birdies around us despite them having the very fault that drives us crazy and sometimes we choose not to pursue a friendship because that one thing bugs us so much, we can’t get passed it.

But the sign says, All Birdy’s Welcome.  In Matthew 11:28, Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  And in Matthew 19:14 when the disciples tried to keep the little children away, Jesus said, “Let [all] the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”  Jesus includes everyone, faults and all.

I don’t think Jesus expects us to be friends with all ‘birdies’ but I do believe He expects us to not be so busy judging what we see as faults in others that we can’t or won’t see our own.  (Matt 7:3). Another huge message from the birdie sign is just how much Christ loves us though we are riddled with blatant ‘grammatical errors’! Romans 5:8 “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

I think I’ll be keeping my birdie sign in the garden, right by the gate so I’m reminded each day of who I am and who He is.

Anyone else need a sign?

Thank you sweet friend for such a surprisingly wonderful gift.