Blogs: Lessons from a Blue Tit: Blogs: Lessons from a Blue Tit

Blogs: Lessons from a Blue Tit

Date Added: 20/02/2026 @ 10:06am

For my birthday last year, my son and his wife bought me a bird feeder. I’ve tried to have a bird table before, but Withleigh is where the wind blows cold, and the wild Withleigh winds kept blowing the table over.

But my birthday bird feeder is different. It sticks onto the window, and so far hasn’t blown away. I love it!

The only trouble is – and I know it is a contradiction – much as I love watching birds, through my window, I really, really, really dislike being near them. You know, close up. In a confined space. With all that flapping and feathers. I really don’t like it at all.

So now you will understand why I found what happened the other day, so difficult. I was just about to leave the house, when I realized that there was a bird stuck in my woodburner. It was a beautiful blue tit. It was flapping around, trying to get out, and I desperately wanted to open the door and let it escape. But I couldn’t. Pathetic, I know. So, I phoned for the cavalry, and spent a few minutes apologizing to the bird, through the glass, before I left to take a funeral.

The cavalry (in the shape of my son and daughter-in-law) arrived later in the day. I shut the sitting room door and left them to it. Of course, they opened the door of the woodburner and the bird wouldn’t come out. He was hiding in the back, covered in soot and ashes. With the help of a box, they caught the bird and set him free. He flew up into the air, and was gone. My daughter-in-law filmed it to show me. The colours of the bird hit the sunlight (yes, there was sun! It wasn’t chucking it down!) and looked beautiful, despite being covered in soot and ash.

So why am I telling you this? I learnt a lesson from that blue tit!

Next week is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. It’s a time when we remind ourselves of the things we have got wrong, which is never a bad thing. We will have marked ourselves with ashes and said sorry to God. Just like that little blue tit, when I know I have done something wrong, I feel like hiding at the back of the woodburner. Actually, even when I haven’t done something wrong, I feel like hiding at the back of the woodburner! But Lent reminds us that God delights in forgiving us. He doesn’t want us to be in hiding. He wants us to be Easter people – with Spring in our step, not cowering out of sight. Easter reminds us how much God loves us. He wants us to be free, to experience resurrection life, to be able to live life in all its fullness, rich in colour, rich in beauty, rich in joy.

As winter, wind and rain give way to Spring and our Easter celebrations, may you experience the liberating joy of God’s love for you and those whom you love.

With my love and prayers,

Steph