It was about this time last year that I saw my first bald eagle in the wild while driving Coleman out to his horseback riding session at American Therapeutic Riding Center between Sand Springs and Keystone Lake.  I was ecstatic!  Since then, just in the past year, I have seen seven.  About six weeks ago, Kim, Coleman, and I took a scenic drive one Saturday afternoon.  We drove nearly to the Arkansas line and then wound our way down Highway 10 to Tahlequah.  Between Tahlequah and Fort Gibson, we pulled off on the roadside for about 30 minutes and watched three bald eagles as they fed on something in a pasture.  A three-fer!!!

However, my most incredible eagle sighting came just last week as, once again, Coleman and I were traveling along Highway 412, this time on the return trip from his riding session.  In the distance, I saw something that at first I thought must have been a kite (the man-made recreational kind, not the bird of prey) with a long tail extending below it.  As we drove closer, it became apparent that it was an eagle, but I still could not identify what was dangling from its clutched talons.  A huge, writhing snake, maybe?  As the eagle soared over the highway just ahead of us, I could clearly see that it was carrying a tree branch, probably four to five feet in length, with several smaller branches and twigs protruding from it.  It was truly an amazing sight, almost a “run-off-the-road-watching-it” kind of amazing!  The eagle was taking the branch to its nest, perhaps the one that is easily visible on Wekiwa Road that runs close to the Arkansas River.

Eagles’ nests are huge, ranging from five to nine feet in diameter.  Eagles were created with the divinely programmed instincts and abilities necessary to build these homes, but it still takes a massive amount time and effort on their part to construct such sturdy and durable aeries.

We humans, also, have been known to expend substantial amounts of time, effort, and resources on our “nests,” the homes in which we are blessed to live while on this earth.  That is all well, fine, and good (as long we keep it in perspective and within our means), but it would be wise for us to periodically assess how much we are investing, comparatively speaking, in preparation for our eternal home.

Like Abraham, we are “looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God,” (Hebrews 11:10).  We are booking eternal accommodations in rooms prepared by Christ Himself in the Father’s house (John 14:2-3).  Our earthly houses can be destroyed by fire, flood, or wind; thieves can break in and steal our worldly possessions.  That is why we store up our treasures and invest our hearts in heaven, beyond the reach of thugs and thieves (Matthew 6:19-21), in a “building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens,” (II Corinthians 5:1).

“Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.  Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed,” (I Timothy 6:17-19).

Some glad morning I’ll fly away, just like that eagle, to be at home with the Lord.