Hawklets in the Backyard

We had hawks and hawklets when we lived up on Longleaf Court. When we took a look at this home backed up to acres of green space on the flood plain dotted with oaks and willows, I spotted another pair of hawks. Woohoo!! The neighbors on the other side of the county culvert have a forest of redwoods and pines, and the nest is there. We hear the two call out to one another, watch them dip and soar overhead. Hawks are very quiet, stealth hunters in the wild, and will keep the rodent and snake population down.
Much to my delight, the pair hatched two hawklets. We’d hear them crying out from the tree across the way. When they learned to fly, they followed mom or dad from tree to tree. They are noisy! As adolescents learning to hunt, they still make their needs and wants known. “I’m hungry!” “Where’s lunch!?” Mom flies off. They follow. She moves again. They shriek. “Hey! Don’t leave me!” Mom and Dad disappear. The hawklets find a perch and cry out incessantly. They stand before a vast grocery store of food and can’t spot anything. The prey hears them and flees down holes or into tall grasses. The hawklets shriek. “Help!” Back and forth, each one trying to be heard over the other. “Help! Help!”
Reminds me of my prayer life at times. God, help me. God, I can’t hear You. God, show me the way in neon. God, what do I do about this situation. What do I do? What do I do? Help, help, help! Good grief. I sound just like those hawklets.
They have to learn to BE QUIET! They have to learn to look carefully and listen intently.
A lesson I need to learn over and over again.
God says, “Be still and know I AM God.” Shhhhh. Don’t panic. He reassures us. “I AM with you to the end of time.”
The last few days have been quiet. I spotted one of the adolescent hawks perched on a post beyond our back fence. A good reminder for me to sit at the nook table, open my Bible and spend time listening carefully to what God has to say.