{"id":32405,"date":"2021-07-03T03:30:29","date_gmt":"2021-07-03T10:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/?p=32405"},"modified":"2021-07-03T16:18:52","modified_gmt":"2021-07-03T23:18:52","slug":"july-3-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2021\/07\/03\/july-3-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"July 3, 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cHe shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.\u201d<\/em> Psalm 91:4<\/p>\n

Quail<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Walk His Way Revisited<\/em><\/p>\n

The state bird of California lives in my yard.<\/p>\n

Okay, it\u2019s not all that unusual to see quail in the north state. I spend a lot of time watching them because I think they are rather funny birds. They are round-ish, and quite busy with everything. When alarmed, they seem to skim across the ground\u2019s surface until they make it safely into a thorn bush.<\/p>\n

I love to watch the daddy quail. He is easily identified by his floppy black topnotch that sprouts from the top of his head and dangles in front of him. The daddy is the lookout. He perches on a post or stump, and turns by jerky quarter-turns to watch for danger while his mate is searching the dry grasses for food. If danger is seen (and he always waits a tad longer than I think he should), he will begin to chirp out orders for movement. He is in charge; mate and babies run as if their lives depended on it.<\/p>\n

And what a protector he is! Last week I saw something I\u2019d never seen before: a daddy quail chased an annoying blue jay, who was, for once, minding his own business, right into a wild rosebush. And he didn\u2019t stop there: he dove at the jay again and again until I\u2019m sure the jay was stuck with thorns and couldn\u2019t wait to head for the skies.<\/p>\n

But quail nearly always run. They rarely fly away, unless something has scared them terribly, in which case there is a furious flurry of noisy, flapping wings. Most of their lives are spent right on the ground where all the danger is.<\/p>\n

Which brings me to yesterday. On Browning Street, driving by Kohl\u2019s, we saw a little movement on the road ahead of us. My husband slowed the car, and we saw a daddy and mommy quail with a brood of tiny day-old chicks crossing the road. And the daddy and mommy seemed to be sauntering along so that babies, who were rushing as fast as their little legs would carry them, could keep up. The drivers of cars behind us made sure we knew how annoyed they were, but the oncoming cars saw us stall there, and they also stopped for the babies.<\/p>\n

My first thought was, what does Kohl\u2019s parking lot have, that this big field of dried grass hiding places across the street doesn\u2019t have?<\/p>\n

But in that instant, I knew God\u2019s goodness. He provides for the least of these. He made us to see those tiny brown creatures against the black street just in time, and gave us a heart to care for them. He allowed others to see them and watch out for them, too. He knew how to save His creatures.<\/p>\n

How much more does He know how to save us? How much more does He care for us? For He declares our priceless value, decided by His own goodness. \u201cDo not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows\u201d<\/em> (Matthew 10:31).<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, watcher of all mankind, we pray You would let us see the ways You defend and save us through our days, that our faith would be built up, and we would glorify You. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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