The Praise of a Hum

This has been the summer of the hummingbirds for the Lucius family. Granted, this has also been our first full summer at a new location, since we bought a small, renovated farmhouse at the end of last summer. We love it out here in the country; it is peaceful and quiet, offering us a much-needed respite from the hustle and bustle of daily life.

Don’t get me wrong! We are not city folks. We never have been – except for a few years during the early years of our marriage when we lived in Tampa, Florida. But even then, we lived in the Port Tampa area, about as close to the southern end of Hillsborough Bay as possible. We also spent those years in a loving, small, tight-knit community of close friends and our church family. So, we have always been small-town, country people at heart.

And though we longed and prayed for our current home, we were not ready for all the furry and feathered guests we encountered out here in our rural corner of the world. Of course, I expected and hoped to see some of God’s amazing wildlife, but I don’t think I was quite prepared for all our animal visitors.

We have spotted countless deer, turkeys, foxes, possums, raccoons, squirrels, turtles, as well as a weasel and a couple of sly bobcats and coyotes. We have not encountered a black bear yet, but one was spotted a few miles from our home. It has truly been a year of watching and learning about nature.

But our feathered friends amazed me and taught me the most this past year.

We had birdfeeders and a state-of-the-art bird camera at our other home in town, so birdwatching was not a new endeavor for me. In fact, my sister warned me to beware, because my level of birdwatching instantly qualified me as an official old lady. I welcomed that title and looked forward to spotting and learning about even more birds in our new location. So much so that we put up the bird feeder as soon as we moved into our farmhouse, and my husband bought me a beautiful, stained-glass birdbath to welcome our new fowl friends.

Almost as an afterthought, he bought a hummingbird feeder when he purchased the birdbath. My husband and I also received an additional hummingbird feeder as a welcome gift from one of our new neighbors. But neither of us held out much hope of entertaining those tiny guests, since we had tried before and failed to entice hummingbirds to visit at our previous location.

God had a much different plan – involving dozens and dozens of hummingbirds.

Ironically, we have spent these past months diligently caring for this multitude of guest hummingbirds, planting flowers for them, guarding them, making nectar, washing feeders, and keeping the bird bath filled with fresh water. It has become an all-day, everyday undertaking. Yet, in these past six months, God has actually been using one of His tiniest and most beautiful creations to teach us and minister to so many needed things in our hearts. Our part in this animal-to-human relationship has been minuscule compared to what the hummingbirds have given us in return.

To be honest, I could write pages and pages about what we have witnessed and learned from our hummers, including the fact that their name aptly comes from the humming sound these small birds make by beating their wings at 70 beats per second. Plus, these tiny creatures have the largest brain-to-body ratio of all of God’s animals, even humans. We also read various research reports that say hummingbirds can and do remember places and faces from year to year.

My own accidental research taught me that these little hummers also love music, and I dare to believe they love worship music best. I came to this conclusion one morning as I sat on my porch reading my Bible, praying, and crying.

It had been a tough morning, confronting another onslaught of loss and grief, even though our son died three summers back. As I began to praise God and move my focus from my grief to the unbelievable reality of God’s faithfulness, I subconsciously began humming an old hymn from childhood, “Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus.” Then, without really thinking about it, I began adding long-cherished words to my pain-induced praise:

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!

How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er;

Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!

Oh, for grace to trust Him more!

Perhaps my own humming was a drawing card or a common denominator for the birds, because the empty feeder quickly filled with my beautiful humming guests. As more and more of them zoomed toward the porch, I wondered if my rendition of the hymn drew them in. So, I decided to try my humming and singing routine again the next day, even filming it for my husband and sister.

Once again, the hummingbirds quickly gathered near me for their own time of humming and praising God. I was amazed, until I remembered that the Bible specifically reminds us that if we fail to honor and praise Him, even the stones will cry out. Plus, Psalm 148 paints a vivid picture of all creatures praising God, with Verse 10 of this amazing chapter describing how “beasts and all cattle; creeping things and winged fowl” and all of creation “praise the name of the Lord.”

Now, I am not a scientist or an ornithologist, or even an ornithophile who takes bird watching to a professional level. But I am a blood-bought child of God, and I do have enough sense to know that God’s Word is truth. And I am so grateful that He allowed me to witness His Word in action, as His beautiful tiny creatures called hummingbirds joined in my worship of our Maker.

So, yes, this has definitely been the summer of the hummingbirds at our new farmhouse, but I pray it is not the last summer He uses hummingbirds to remind me of the amazing joy found in praising the God of all creation – with words or with hums.