Six Simple Lessons In Parenting

In April a Morning Dove decided that she wanted to lay her nest in the window box near our front door. Having a bird make her home within our view was amazing to watch. She was unphased by our entering and exiting, thank the Lord, so we could come and go without her flying off each time. Since she was going to be our guest, I looked up the nesting habits of Morning Doves and learned some incredible things that teach Incredible lessons about parenting!

1. The Morning Dove didn’t build any fancy kind of nest – she just found a cozy spot and laid her eggs right there.
   Lesson – Fancy homes don’t make better places to raise a family. The most important part is the presence of the parents.
2. There wasn’t just one dove who sat on those eggs! I learned that the male and female take turns sitting on them! The male sits during the day and female at night! I even watched them switch places one day!
   Lesson – Both parents are needed in raising a child. Working in tandem keeps them both strong, shares the load, and gives the child exposure to a healthy marriage where both parents are involved.
3. I never saw the birds fighting or squawking at one another. Lesson – Our children need to be raised in an environment of parents who love each other and never argue in front of their children. Any disagreement should be handled lovingly and privately.
4. Any time I would step close to the window to observe the nest, the bird that was sitting would turn their eye towards me and kind of “puff “up in a protective mode.
   Lesson – It’s essential that parents know who is coming near their child at all times. Their protective eye safeguards their child from all kinds of abuse – from peers to adults and all kind of evil. They never left the nest unguarded. Wise parents will do the same!
5. Once the birds hatched, it was NO TIME before the babies were flying away!
   Lesson – A parent thinks their days of child training are lasting forever and that empty nest is a long way off. It will be here FAR QUICKER thank you can imagine! Treasure every moment you have with your children. Enjoy it. Play with them. Talk to them. Teach them. Spend time together. It’s going to be over before you know it.
6. After the birds flew away, they would revisit the nest for a little while after, but then they were gone for good.
   Lesson – When kids go off to college, it’s important they know they’re welcome home again, that it’s a safe place to return. But they should know that as young adults, its’ time to go out and do what God has called them to do outside of your nest. They need to fly away and enjoy the adulthood planned by their Creator.

All those habits were instinctively given to those Morning Doves by an amazing God. He also puts them right under our noses so we can get refresher courses on what our parenting should look like. Those are some pretty wise principles, don’t you think? Let’s take a cue from Mr. and Mrs. Morning Dove!