Mother Turkey

We were living in a log house on twelve acres of land that was mostly wooded. There were another 16 acres of woods that surrounded us and because of our protected location the wildlife enjoyed dwelling all around us. This gave us time to observe their habits and even to (Do- Doo - Do - Doo - Twilight Zone Music) "contact" them. After many months of feeding a wild turkey I was able to coax him closer and closer with my rattling can of cracked corn and actually touched him once when he finally was feeding right at my feet.
We observed the wild turkeys that wandered through our woods and had picnics on our front yard. One even liked us so much he would jump in the back of Dave's pick up and on top of our van - both Fords- so we called him Thomas Edison because of the Ford/Edison connection. This turkey even was our watch dog after the fact. He would chase cars for a quarter mile down our lane until they had left our (his?) territory.
In the Spring we were treated to fashion shows as the males would puff up and fan out their feathers on the deck outside our basement door wall. They could not see us watching from the basement and we got very close to watch this ritual. Later mother turkeys and their young would "hang out" on the same deck eating stuff that blew in from the woods.
Mother turkeys are great examples of good parents. Their nests are well hidden in the woods while their eggs incubate. Several weeks later they "show up" with all the little chicks -usually about a dozen-following them on their daily route through the woods. When their babies are about three weeks old they teach them to orderly follow Mother to the nesting tree. She flys up to a huge tree that she chooses and then calls them up. The babies fly up - in order - one or two at a time. It is almost like planes taking off from the carrier deck of the USS Something or Other. They are safe at night in their tree.
Before they can fly the babies are vulnerable to many dangers on the ground. Mother watches them closely and calls them with her special gobble. Apparently babies turkeys learn to listen to mother. (Actually I find this to be awesome that God designed these little things to know and obey their mother so young and these uneducated turkeys to know how to care for their babies without the help of Spock or Sears.) It is easy to understand though without the shelter of a tree how these tiny little birds can meet their dimise quite easily unless mother intervenes. At this point they are weak and unable to protect themselves.
I was stumped late one night in my search for an example or story regarding the love of God to include in my talk to the Mother Daughter Weekend group at Dayspring Bible Camp. I had racked my brain and it seemed like trying to get water out of a rock. So I did what I should have done earlier - I just stopped - prayed for God to bring the water from the rock so to speak - and went to bed.
It was very early in the morning and the sun was not out yet. I went into the sunroom to look out into the dark woods. Because I was not wearing my glasses things appeared quite blury. It had been raining quite a bit that night so it would not be unusual for things to have blown in from the woods. There was enough light out to see shadows and dark shapes outside. As I gazed from my unfocused vision I saw a large round object on the grass just outside at the edge of the woods.
After a short time I put on my glasses and since the sun was just coming up then I could see the lump was actually a very large round turkey just sitting out there in the rain. Stupid turkey - get out of the rain. But I judged in error because now that the rain had stopped the turkey slowly got up and little gray specks ran out from under her. The scene would make your heart jump. Mother turkey had sat all night in the rain to keep in tiny, weak, vulnerable little turkey babies warm, dry, safe and ALIVE.
God is wonderful in the way He speaks to our hearts. I saw then that that mother turkey was my example of God's love. I am like a weak, vulnerable little turkey. As a sinner I have no strength to endure the storm of punishment that I deserve from God. And like the little turkeys I can do nothing to protect myself. Only God can do what is neccesary out of His love to keep me from certain death. And He did. In His love He covered me with the blood of The Lord Jesus Christ and He endured the storm for all mankind. There is a verse that says "God commanded (demonstrated) His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." The connection I found with the mother turkey and this was from I Peter 2:24a that says, " Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, ... " Another connection to the turkey mother and God's love is that like the turkey mother who gobbles her warning call to her babies, God warns us in His Word and calls us to be saved. He wants us to have eternal life. He tells us in His Word that He "would not any should perish."
There are always bonuses to the blessings we receive from God. I find it comforting to know that even in scripture God uses a bird to show the example of His care. Psalm 91:4 states, "He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust." This verse was also a confirmation to me of God's covering protecting love. Just as mother turkey continued to care for her young until they were strong and grown (these birds followed mother for many weeks as they got larger) God continues to care for His children until we are safe in our home in heaven.
I thank God for this wonderful story of love that He showed me through a seemingly gaukey sometimes disrespected bird. People sometimes call each other turkeys in disrespect but after observing mother turkey I wouldn't mind being called a turkey at all.