God In Goslings

Ephesians 6:4 – And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (NRSV)

Proverbs 22:6 – Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray. (NRSV)

We are blessed in our retirement years to wake up in the early morning and look out across a lovely yard, and gaze upon a small lake, glistening in the rising sunshine. No, it isn't Canada, but South Georgia. Nevertheless, we had a pair of Canadian geese that stayed here all winter. One morning before my wife and I got out of bed, we watched that pair of beautiful geese swimming along, ever so slowly, down our little lake. Swimming exactly between them in a straight line were four downy little goslings.

We had watched the parent birds care for the nest on a nearby island for weeks. This particular morning, the little ones hatched and swam away under the watchful eyes of "mama" and "daddy". Those parent birds knew that there was another definite stranger in our area which was a real threat to their babies. A golden eagle, more than a thousand miles out of its natural habitat, had broken a wing, and had fallen into our yard. We had carried it to a shelter for injured wildlife the day before.

Godly parents can help protect their children, and steer them away from danger. This is a huge step toward raising godly children and grandchildren. The writer of Proverbs said that, if a child is taught to choose the right path, he will remain with it as he grows old.

Prayer: O God, thank You that, even in the family of geese, we can see the care of a "mother" and "father" for their little ones, which serves to remind us of how precious is our privilege to care for our children and grandchildren. Amen.

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