I’m in a challenging time of life.

A lot of my time is spent trying to get adequate sleep.

My nights are filled with troubling dreams, interrupted sleep, tormenting thoughts.

I’m exhausted – mentally and physically. It’s exhausting to focus on breathing. Eating. Living.

I know my current transition is the healing I have needed…for decades.

Yesterday I noticed as I lay in bed, fitfully trying to rest, a tiny chirping noise.

Every day, behind me, beyond the windows, the peeping noise gets a little louder, and and a little more frequent.

I curled up in my bed, reading, watching TV.

Praying.

Pleading.

Each day, that cute little noise.

Yesterday, I had to go and look for the source.

One by one, I peered into the azalea bushes, being careful not to disrupt the leaves.

In the second bush, I found them.

Three lay there, silent with my interfering. One seemed to be looking at me, a tiny dark eye observing.

A nest of cardinal chicks.

I know it’s a cardinal nest, because I’ve seen the red birds frequently in the yard, and around the azalea bush.

I took a quick picture, and withdrew as suddenly as I arrived.

This morning, they have begun their high pitched peeps.

When I moved to the living room, after a couple of minutes doing my devotions, a movement caught my eye outside, and I noticed a golden crowned sparrow fluttering around the vibrant blooming red geraniums.

Life is all around me.

Life…keeps me moving forward.