As The Deer Loves Its Fawn – A Morning To Remember

This morning, after letting the dogs out and back in, I wanted to lie down in the family room and doze but no sooner had I done so than I realized that I needed to go outside and put the bird feeders up. For the past couple of weeks I’ve been taking the feeders in at night because of R.R. Raccoon. Roscoe Rocky was playing havoc with our feeders and the only solution was to bring them inside at night and put them out in the morning – he even went after a hummingbird feeder; he has a taste for the good life.

After putting the feeders back up, I poured coffee and stood in the sunroom looking at the birds breakfasting at the feeders, when I saw two deer exit the woods behind the feeders. One deer nosed around the feeders and then went down the hill in the back toward the creek, the other browsed in the grass and shrubs for a few minutes and then went back in the woods. Within a minute the deer came back out of the woods with a fawn so tiny that I could hardly see it at first in the dim early-morning light. The mother began to lick the fawn all over, and then mommy lay down and the fawn came over and snuggled against her. The mother continued to lick her baby.

I watched the two for a while and tried to get some photos with my phone, the distance and the light made this problematic. The batteries in my camera weren’t charged so I couldn’t use it – you’d think I’d learn by now, I’ve missed some good shots over the years.

Then I went upstairs to see if Vickie was awake, which she was. I motioned to her to come to a window overlooking the west side of our home and look in the direction of the feeders. At first she couldn’t tell what she was looking at – the baby was so small. Finally things came into focus and we shared the joy of creation together as we marveled at doe and fawn.

While our God is an awesome God, and while the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, He is also our Good Shepherd and the Creator of all that is tender and loving in life. Jesus is the One who goes after the lost sheep, He is the One who heals the brokenhearted.

After a while a jogger came down our street and at his approach mother and baby ran down the back hill toward the creek and the thickly-wooded enclaves surrounding it.

It was a moment of grace, a gift of reflection, a time of peace. It was a sweet way to begin the day with my wife and our Lord.