About The Hymn: His Eye Is On The Sparrow

As I was going about my laundry duties this morning, I was thinking of the song I wrote about last night...."His Eye Is On The Sparrow".

A quick search on Wikipedia comes up with the inspiration behind this beloved song:

The theme of the song is inspired by the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew in the Bible: "Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (Matthew 6:26) and "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows" (Matthew 10:29-31).

Civilla Martin, who wrote the lyrics, said this about her inspiration to write the song based in the scriptures outlined above,

Early in the spring of 1905, my husband and I were sojourning in Elmira, New York. We contracted a deep friendship for a couple by the name of Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle—true saints of God. Mrs. Doolittle had been bedridden for nigh twenty years. Her husband was an incurable cripple who had to propel himself to and from his business in a wheel chair. Despite their afflictions, they lived happy Christian lives, bringing inspiration and comfort to all who knew them. One day while we were visiting with the Doolittles, my husband commented on their bright hopefulness and asked them for the secret of it. Mrs. Doolittle's reply was simple: "His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me." The beauty of this simple expression of boundless faith gripped the hearts and fired the imagination of Dr. Martin and me. The hymn "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" was the outcome of that experience.

—Civilla Martin

And the lyrics to this lovely hymn:

1. Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,
   Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heav’n and home,
   When Jesus is my portion? My constant Friend is He:
   His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
   His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
   • Refrain:
     I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free,
     For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
2. “Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,
   And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
   Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
   His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
   His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
3. Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,
   When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,
   I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;
   His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
   His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

From the Timeless Truths website

Isn't it wonderful how God sees us in our times of happiness and trials, how He cares for us always, when we're lovable and not quite so lovable in His eyes?  

He sees us as we are, He sees our hearts, our feelings, and He loves us always!

Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled

"His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me."

Those words from the hymn give me such peace.

God watches, He sees me, no matter how alone I feel, no matter how small I feel in this old world.  He knows my heart's ache, the pain that comes in the midst of our special needs world.

His eye is on me.

Today, I learned of a plan from my son's biological, noncustodial father and stepmom to hospitalize in a psychiatric unit my biological son.  Fortunately for the parties involved, it did not occur, especially because as the biological parent, I was not notified.  Of course I did fax and email all those who are in my son's psychiatric team, as they were not notified either.

Such is the life when there are two separate homes for a child.  One home where the child lives full time, goes to school, church, has activities, special services per the local organizations that specialize in working with Autism, MR, and Special Needs children in general; one home where he has all attention to himself and doesn't have to share with a stepbrother or sister, where he has full access to video games and multiple tv's, where he has much say over things, doesn't have to follow a stringent school/activity/etc routine.  Transitions are hard for the child caught between the two.  Rules are different, expectations are different, parenting styles are different.

Here, in our home, we have a fairly structured system.  Even though not all the rules and routines are written out, we've practiced them over and over, and with prompts, we try to maintain them.  Sure, there's deviations when necessary, but we have a pretty overall decent schedule.  We are predictable.  Beginning soon, we add more people to our schedule, with in home attendants who work to help my son in social skills, how to behave in public, how to work on expressing feelings with words instead of hitting someone, and so on.  More added to our schedule.  More activities.

Of course with the addition of more people in our home, more pressure comes with.  I'm grateful for the organizations who are able to help in the ways they are.  It is not easy to find help for an 11 year old, especially in the days of short funds and those funds growing shorter.  Not so many people understand the world of autism and MR and related disorders and can handle working with a child like ours.  Even less understand trying to raise three with autism disorders in the same home.

With the pressures of each child acting in ways according to their diagnosis, with the oncoming puberty in all three of them (hide me!), and every day life in general, sometimes the pressure cooker nears it's overflow.  It gets tough, the pressure increases, with finances tightening more and more, with behaviors, quirks, needs that must be prioritized, personalities that conflict, and so on.  That's just the kids and us, not including yet any of the people who are to come to our home up to six days a week.

What do you do with mounting pressure?  What happens when the spout opens and the steam rushes out the top of the lid?  What happens when you think the cooker just can't handle any more pressure?

You stop, you pray, you ask for guidance.

You ask the One who created you to guide you, to relieve the mounting pressure, to give you peace, even in the midst of a pressure cooker storm.

You sing, "His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me," like I do. :)

Then you breathe, and go back to the cooker and watch what God does. :)

He cares for the sparrow, and He cares for you!

A Little One's First Meeting With Death

These past two weeks have been a hard one for my son.

He has loved spending time with his biological dad, going to ball games with him, going fishing at a family member's farm pond, doing fun things with cousins he's grown up with, etc.  Each summer I make sure he gets to spend extended time with dad and stepmom and enjoy activities with them that he normally doesn't get to do during the school season simply due to time.

This time, he has experienced death.

While he and his dad, stepmom, cousin, aunt, uncle, and adoptive grandparents (technically uncle's parents, but they've adopted Mr. Kevin as their grandson), were at his cousin's (same age, grown up together) baseball game, Grandpa had a massive heart attack in the stands.  He did not survive the 10 minute trip to the hospital, and passed while enroute.  The family there took it hard, naturally.

Mr. Kevin has as well.

At 11, this is the first person Mr. Kevin remembers losing.  He has lost pets due to age or oncoming traffic, and he mourns for them years after their passing.  There are days he'll start crying and tell me he misses his Pepper (beagle that passed away 3 years ago) or his Sissy (dad and stepmom's little poodle mix that lived 16 years) or Fuzz (the neighborhood cat that adopted us, moved in with us during the blizzard of '10 and took over the bed and a few laps, and went missing a year ago).  His different diagnosis affect how he responds to grief.  The autism and MR limit how he is able to communicate his grief, frustration, feelings.  Instead of crying, he may lash out and hit.  Instead of saying "I'm sad", he may melt down.

During the time between the death and funeral, he repeatedly asked "what happened".  Both sides of the family lines have tried to answer as best as we can, at the level where he would comprehend the best.  He seems comforted most with hearing that Grandpa is taking care of his Pepper in heaven.  We all know that is not true bible doctrine, but for a grieving 11 year old boy who is functioning around 7 to 8 years old or so, it helps.  He is comforted with thoughts of heaven, with Jesus being there.  As far as he's concerned, Jesus has his dogs and cats and is taking care of them for him until he gets to go to heaven too.

Seriously, what do you say to a child like Kevin?

He is still grieving, he misses Grandpa.  He has shown it through tears, through meltdowns, through silence.  Where words fail, hugs make up the difference.

His heart hurts, but we remind him Jesus is there.  Jesus loves hin and  heals hurting hearts like his.

And like yours.


 

Praising Through Pain

Pain...  Oh how we are all familiar with pain...  Physical pain besets us from a task, emotional pain that wreaks havoc on our thought and prayer life.

I personally have daily pain, physically, from beginnings of diabetic neuropathy.  We don't know just how long I've been amongst the diabetic population, but we caught it 4 years ago or so at a level of 498 on the meter.  It could have been much longer than 4 years, for as often as I voluntarily see a physician (due to finances mainly).  In any event, at 35, the neuropathy has started.

For now, it is minor,  managed mostly with over the counter medications, but in time will need prescription medications if they are available.  It is nerve damage, irrepairable, but can be slowed to a crawl.  For me, it consists of lessening use of my hands, due to the nerves in the carpal tunnel regularly swelling and reducing, leaving my fingers sometimes near useless.  Both feet grow painful and as if on pins and needles with no stimuli to cause it (not sitting funny, not cutting off circulation, simply standing or sitting doing everyday tasks).  My eyes grow more blurred as the diabetes works its way to the optic nerves.  We believe it has also started affecting the otic (ear) area, with lessened hearing (just ask anyone in the family, I must turn up radios and television quite high in order to hear at what was once a quiet level).  I ask my family often to repeat things, to "stop mumbling", to speak up.  It drives them nuts.

For now, I try to keep it from progressing much.  In time, it will grow more degenerating, but for now, it is manageable.  It is nothing much, despite the annoyance it causes.  I still continue to use my hands, to sew, to cook and clean, to tend what needs tending.  Life continues on.

Jesus Himself knew pain well.  He came down to earth, took on a body like ours, in order that He would be able to feel how we felt, know pain, hurt, hunger, anger.  He became as one of us, and in doing so He understands our pain.  He went above and beyond, taking a beating no mere human could survive.  He hung on a wooden cross suspended by nails, with a crown in inches long thorns gouged into His head.  He had the ultimate of pain, both physical, and emotional, when the Father had to turn His back away from Jesus, when He took our punishment.

So, when I pray, asking for reprieve from the daily annoyance I call pain, He knows.  My own is nothing compared to what He willingly took for me, for you, for all man.  But He cares anyway.  Whether He takes it away for the moment, the hour, the day, is up to Him.  Either way, I rejoice that I can call upon the One who understands.

When you have pain, do you ask the One who knows what it feels like to hurt, to come to your aid?  Don't be ashamed, as Jesus Himself said: "Come to me, all ye who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."  It may not be immediate pain relief, but He will provide a balm to your soul.  He will give you rest.

Praise Him, through pain, through healing....

Praise Him!