We all imagine that we should strive to achieve great things, and many would have wondered why one would get up all night long, every two hours to hand-feed a tiny little parrot who had little hope of making it. Well, that is at the heart of my ministry, to love and heal the small and unwanted, those thought "lesser than" and not worth the while.

This tiny baby, after a few months of hand-feeding, grew into a healthy little parrot who, for some years, has been a loving companion to a young disabled man. They are inseparable. They know a love that few will ever know. It is one of God's greatest blessings to me to give me the gift to handraise and care for these tiny birds. Five of my six parrots here I hand-fed and raised, and only the cockatoo, a rescue that came here a year ago, and was several years old, came to me as an adult. And she came with her own challenges and special gifts, and today is a great love to me...




Blossom came to me terrified and plucking badly.
Here she had just begun to feather in. This is almost
an impossible task. Once a cockatoo begins to pluck
it is nearly impossible to get them to stop. It is
amazing what love can do...


But today she is fully feathered, happy, out all day long with me, and is a tremendous love and great joy. The people that she was rescued from had kept this beautiful bird in a small dog crate and fed her dog food. This is beyond unimaginable to me. No creature too small. No love too big...




Fully feathered and my loving companion...


Consider no person, no task, no creature too small to deserve your loving help and companionship. Mother Teresa was so right. While others are building ships to go to the moon, I will be here saving, sheltering, and loving the little ones who need me. Sometimes our God given gifts are not what we imagine. Sometimes nurturing a tiny creature that fits in the palm of your hand is a larger grace than we can imagine.

Look down, not up. Jesus said, "Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do to me." I have helped a wee little turtle cross the road, or moved a snail to a safer place. Walk gently on this earth. When you look down as you walk you see a whole miraculous microcosm you have missed before. The miracle of a tiny bright wildflower growing up through a crack in the cement in the sidewalk, wee little tadpoles who burst into being in a rain puddle. A small child who takes time when we walk with them so that we cannot hurry can teach us much about the natural world, seeing miraculous things like a ladybug, a dandelion that simply must be picked for a tiny little vase at home because to the child (and to me) it is one of the most beautiful flowers on earth. An acorn cap that makes a perfect hat for a tiny handmade doll. The earth is so full of riches, if we only take the time to look.

Take time to treasure the fragile little things in life, and then give them all the love you've got. They are treasures beyond measure...

With tender love,