Not long ago, I purchased a couple bird houses from a friend at church who makes them as a hobby. I brought them home, and after awhile prepared them for hanging. First, I lightly sanded down the rough areas and then proceeded to seal them with polyurethane – a couple coats did it.
After that, I handed the project over to my husband, who is better at securing them to their final resting place. He worked at choosing just the right place to hang each one. Upon my suggestion, he placed the smaller one on a fence rail at the back of our lot. Then for the larger ‘log cabin’ styled birdhouse, he placed it on a mature oak at the back of our yard – just above the fence railing. But, of course, that was no simple job! It had to be just right. The trunk of the tree was not flat, so my husband leveled it so the birdhouse was flush against the tree. But first, to keep the tree from getting diseased, he sealed the bare wood with sealer. Now, what would be the best way to bracket these ‘little birdie homes’ securely in place. After much a-do, trying different ways to adhere them to the fence and tree, he went to the hardware store several times, and a final decision was made. The hardware was selected, and the work began to mount these ‘little jewels’ to their designated places.
The story doesn’t end here – once all was said and done . . . one morn I looked out in our screened-in mud room and saw a little tan wren fly out from there. I continued to watch and noticed the wren bring a leaf, then a piece of moss into the mud room by way of space beneath the screen door. Hmmm?! Was she building a nest in our mudroom? Low and behold, she was making her nest in between the ropes of my scrub mop that I had left out there to dry.
How could it be, after working so diligently on these lovely little homes for our ‘birdie friends’ to enjoy, this little feathered creature would choose a mop instead!!
The moral to this story: Man’s efforts are not better than God’s ordained natural ways. By the way, presently the two purchased bird homes remain on the market and are unoccupied. 🙂