Gift of the Red Bird

"Gift of the Red Bird" by Paula D'Arcy

This book was amazing!  It got handed to me by a friend and was a pure God thing.  I could have written it.  My mouth kept hanging open as I read it in disbelief that it could be so perfect at a time I so needed to read it.  It is the authors story of loss and spiritual renewal.  It is her story of a divine encounter.  It is a story of finding God in the world around us, taking the time to find Him.  "But all of our stories, as spiritual journeys, matter.  We affect one another.  We are all reflections of a great Mystery."  "A God so personal and loving that He is in this pit with me."  We are not alone, not ever.  "She is mine to hold, but not to possess.  It makes all the difference.  You treat a gift differently than you do a possession."  She says this about her daughter.  Our children are gifts and we should treat them as such.  "To be out from under the pressure of trying to be so many things that I can't remember what it means to just be myself.  Some sane part of me reasons that you can't know anyone without spending time with that person.  So doesn't that go for me, too?  How can I know myself if I am constantly busy and never alone?"  We are all so busy and in that I think we loose ourselves.  "I consider that fact that God might have created me with special purpose.  Maybe I need to think about what I am here on earth to do.  But to find that I need to be able to recognize my own preferences and my own needs.  That's the hard part.  I am so programed to respond to others, I don't know me at all."  Hello, any moms out there feeling like this is so profound?  That hit me like a ton of bricks!  Now I'm not saying go out and leave your kids behind, our place is in the home serving our kids and husbands but we can't forget that He made us special and we have gifts beyond our home.  "I couldn't help but think what a gift it must be to know so truly the purpose for which you exist."  "Except that God is found in abandonment, and not in fear."  We all live in some sort of fear and that is not what God has for us.  He finds us when we are willing to let go, fear and all.  "How can our lives become so full that God calls, and we do not even hear?  How can we miss that we are in the presence of extravagant Love?"  This book is so, so good.  It is a very short book, an easy read but gets you thinking.  If you are struggling with who you are or where God is, read this book.