The Purple Bird

I am in the midst of a very difficult season in my life. I’m choosing those words carefully, knowing that they do not fully capture the gravity of the situation I’m in. But we will save those details for another time. A few weeks ago, in a particularly distant moment, I asked God, once again, was He hearing me?! Was He seeing what was happening?! I was pouring out my prayers to Him, pleading in sorrow, and no answers were coming. I truly felt that the only time one of my prayers was being heard was when a dear friend offered up it up on my behalf. What gives?! So I asked for a simple gesture of love. A sweet token of affection to rekindle intimacy and restore my heart. I had to be something obscure. Something almost random, that had not yet held any particular importance to me… what would it be? The very first thing that very clearly came to my mind was this: “God, please just show me a purple bird.” A purple bird? What? I don’t even like birds. And I don’t count purple as my absolute favorite color. And I’m sure that I’ll be seeing purple birds everywhere—on t-shirts, old lady sweaters, cartoons, in coloring books. So, as odd as it felt, I went with that determination. Just as soon as I saw a purple bird, I would feel restored in spirit. So, I watched. Waited. Looked. And no purple bird was seen. Days passed. Weeks. I was growing very disheartened. I even shared this slightly embarrassing thing with some friends that I had been doing an in-depth bible study with. I did not want to tell anyone, knowing that surely someone would just march out and get me a dumb purple bird and it wouldn’t really “count” and I’d have to start all over with something else or just scrap this whole crazy idea. But none of my friends did this. One simply stated “I hope you see your purple bird soon.” And one asked “Have you seen the purple bird yet??” I searched for that purple bird, even researching types of birds. I learned of a purple finch, almost getting excited, only to learn that the purple finch is not actually purple! WHAT? A non-purple, purple bird?!

And then it happened. I was driving down the interstate and noticed that a car in the next lane had a conservationist–type license plate. With a bird on it!... As I slowly approached, I was making out the colors and I could not believe my eyes! The Missouri state bluebird on the MO conservationist license plate looks purple!! I thought perhaps my eyes had deceived me, but when I got home, I googled it and YES! The bird in certain lighting indeed is purple!!!! And I have now realized that every MO license plate has a small purple bird on it. So, yes, the very car that I drive has a purple bird in front and one in behind. Everytime I open the trunk, I smile. God is pouring out his purple bird reminders to me often now. I have even started to smile at all birds that He shows me. And the color purple catches my eye more than it ever has in my life. God even mailed me a children’s bedding catalog and one of the patterns has, yes, you guessed it, PURPLE BIRDS on it!!!! Oh sweet Beloved, I adore the love letter you sent. I reread it often.
God has still not answered those prayers like I wish He would. He has still not delivered me. But I am reminded that He is here with me. Fluttering all around me.

“What's the price of a pet canary? Some loose change, right? And God cares what happens to it even more than you do. He pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head! So don't be intimidated by all this bully talk. You're worth more than a million canaries.”

”Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

Back to that moment when I first asked God to show me His love… I cannot remember exactly where I was, but I now think I might have been---in my car! With purple birds all around me, unbeknownst to me!

This purple bird adventure will be a life-long romance between my Beloved and I. And I am enjoying the sweet, intimate details.