A Mother's Love

Who can forget Julie Andrews singing the following in The Sound of Music?:

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

The Zac Brown Band sings a country song called "Chicken Fried," that in my mind is a decidedly Southern version of the same song.  Part of the lyrics go like this:

You know I like my chicken fried
Cold beer on a Friday night
A pair of jeans that fit just right
And the radio on
I like to see the sunrise
See the love in my woman's eyes
Feel the touch of a precious child
And know a mother's love.

You can click here to hear the song:  Chicken Fried by the Zac Brown Band

Now, we could probably debate about the health benefits of over-indulging in a few of the things on Zac's list of his favorite things, but there's no debating about the benefits of knowing a mother's love.  Zac probably should've put the Mother's love a little higher up on his list!  Stick with me for a moment while I tell you a brief story about an event I witnessed in the pasture the other day and I'll get around to my point in the end.

Last week when Tricia and Benjamin were watching Daisy give birth to little Bully, Tricia told me that a bird was squawking at them and thought she must have a nest in a tree nearby.  When I walked out there to see little bully, this is the bird that was squawking and carrying on:
 

A mother Killdee

I think the real name for this bird is killdeer, but for some reason we've always called them killdee.  Here she is now and she is not happy at all!  I told Tricia that she does have a nest, but it is not up in a tree.

She is very upset because she does has a nest of eggs, but Killdee lay their eggs right on the ground.  For some reason, they don't make a nest in a tree.  As a result their eggs (and the mama bird herself) are in a very vulnerable situation.

Stay away from my eggs!

I've zoomed in on the nest of four eggs that the killdee layed.  They are big eggs for such a small bird and they are well-camouflaged.  I almost did not see them.
 

The killdee's four eggs

The Good Lord has given them a good mechanism to offset this vulnerability.  When this mama has a nest of eggs on the ground and she senses danger from a predator, she'll carry on and act injured to draw the predator away from her nest.  She'll do anything to protect her young.  See below, she's acting like she has injured wings.  She holds them funny and makes lots of noise and moves away from her nest, making high-pitched shrieks and running on her long legs.  She's creating a diversion to distract you and lead you away from her nest.

Two injured wings?

The mama killdee is a great actress, flopping her supposedly injured wings...

And then fluffing up her feathers to make you think she's on death's door once she's led you far away from her nest, hoping you'll forget the its vicinity.  Since last week, I've gone out there everyday to check on her eggs and every day, she gives me the same routine. 

So why does she do this?  She does this because she loves her babies and will do anything, even if it means sacrificing her own life, to save her young from predators.  God has given her an instinct to preserve the lives of her babies.  It rained 3 inches night before last and 1 inch more last night.  Guess what?  She's still out there sitting on those 4 eggs, protecting her young.  What a great mom!

It is Mother's Day today and I began to think about the great mom I have and the great mom my kids have.  Similar to the the bird in the pasture, my Mom and my wife are very protective of their kids.  They want the best for them.  They nurture them, protect them and will "shriek and carry-on" if anyone tries to harm their babies.  They are self-sacrificing mothers who will do anything for their little ones.

God has truly blessed me to know a Mother's love!  Happy Mother's Day, Mom.  I love you!  Thanks for all you've done for me!