It is Fall! Granted, the leaves stay green here and the students still wear their cute uniforms with short sleeves, but there are changes happening all around St. Mary and ACE if one takes the time to look and listen.

If you have been reading our newsletters for the past few decades, you might have found a prayer request that seemed funny. I had asked God to restore the beautiful birds that once lived on the property, around the farm and hotel, that so many of the “old timers” speak about. 

This morning, I noticed that my prayer had been answered. Birds I have never seen sang in the trees eating the sea grapes right outside the veranda. Parakeets flew through the pastures by the dozen yesterday as staff was finishing up their day. It seemed surreal to be enjoying all these simple gifts. It was then I was made keenly aware of God’s presence, even in time of turmoil. Like that old church hymn “His Eye is on the Sparrow”, God never takes his eye off me, and He is with all of us in especially in the smallest moments. And now, just last week, a member of the Bird Watcher Club in the UK contacted us and asked if they could come out and identify birds on our property with the hope of sending members of their club to enjoy the many species in Jamaica, some of which cannot be found anywhere else in the Caribbean.

Maybe I’m getting soft in my maturing age, but watching the children skip, jump and play in their crisp uniforms as they walk to school has me seeing all those simple beautiful things I tend to miss because my eye isn’t on the small things. I can get distracted like any other person and see the big disruptions happening in the world. All the while, the birds sing, the flowers bloom, the children laugh, and unless I am intentional, I can miss it all, worrying about what is going to happen next in the news around the globe that I can’t do anything about.

That’s when I choose to allow a Big God to handle the big disruptions so I can enjoy the very things He has given me to watch after… it’s called “my life.” I can do the best I can in my own world with the people around me, enjoying the moments and even sharing them with others. His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

“And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.” Luke 12:7