Faith, Woman2Woman

The Righteous Nest

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With the experience of Easter 2011 fresh in my mind, I decided it was fitting to share a story about my daughter’s ability to inspire those around her with her insight into God’s word.  I originally documented this story back in 2009, so she would have been 4 years old.  Enjoy!
Bailey has always had big thoughts and a big attitude.  These attributes serve her well in many situations, and contribute to her downfall in an equal number of others.  On the positive side, her big thoughts also apply to things of a spiritual nature.  From an early age, she was always asking questions, and regularly offered simple yet poignant interpretations of favorite Bible stories.  In fact, we loved to engage her in deep conversation about any and all things as, if nothing else, her theories provided a new perspective on “old” ideas.
Out of the blue one day, she came to her grandmother (my MIL Jeanne) and asked, “What is a righteous nest?” While questions were not uncommon, even ones that required a good deal of head scratching before a response could be summoned, this particular question seemed quite odd.

“What do you mean, a righteous nest? Where did you hear it?”

Bailey, as she was known to do, sighed with exasperation.

“It’s in that song. The one where God has a righteous nest.”

It was then that Jeanne (with some help from grandpa) realized that she was asking about the concept of righteousness. A few good laughs and several side consultations later, Bailey had her answer.

But the answer itself is not the point of the story.

Many of our family members and friends were aware of Bailey’s history with thought-provoking questions, and Jeanne added this latest anecdote to the stories she recounted to others. Jeanne’s sister from Washington D.C., Susan, often turned around and shared the stories with her church friends, commenting that Bailey’s ministry spanned many states and communities. This time was no different and laughs were exchanged over such a funny comment.

Months later, however, one of Susan’s long-time friends passed away.  As she prepared for her travels and sat down to write the comments she was asked to make at the service, she received a note from another friend. This note, surprisingly, referenced Bailey’s long-ago words as inspiration for Susan’s funeral task. In neat script, the note read:

“How wonderful and true it is for our friend. God DOES prepare a righteous nest for us in Heaven.” 

How often do we find that children teach us as much as we teach them about life, faith and love.  I hope my little girl continues to remind me that even a little mistake can lead to a greater understanding of God’s desire for my life.

May your day, your week, your year, and your life be lived in God’s righteousness….aka his righteous nest.

Matthew 6:33

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you.

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3 thoughts on “The Righteous Nest”

  1. I was so glad when Kendy wrote about Bailey’s righteous nest episode, as the Easter season had brought it to mind, but could not find the copy so I could reconnect with it. During our family gathering on Easter, as with alot of families a discussion arose about faith and religion. Upon leaving and then reconnecting with the writing, I feel like God places children in our lives to take us back to our child like faith. We tend to start out with it, then enter a period of seeking and wanting more. As we grow older, I think we tend to return to that peaceful place of a simple faith of a child.

  2. Kendy,
    Special and grateful thanks for the beautiful re-telling of this happening.
    For a variety of reasons, I so appreciated hearing the ‘fundamentals’ of the
    story again…after-all, it is the Easter story! I’m certain it will touch more
    hearts, as it should….bless Bailey for putting this core belief in our being!
    God bless,
    Susan

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