Wood Duck / Aix sponsa

I helped place this nesting box in a Michigan marsh last spring. It's the perfect place for a pair of Wood Ducks to build their nest and raise a brood of adorable little ducklings. Predators can't get to it. Storms can't penetrate it. It's a safe place for their babies to grow and develop as God intended.

I was hiding in the weeds (with camera in hand) when this pair of Wood Ducks, looking for the perfect place to build their nest, landed on the roof of the box and claimed it as their own. So I took their picture.

A lot of parents are looking for the perfect place for their little children. They want a safe place, where predators can't get in. They want their babies sheltered from the storms of life. They want a great environment for growth and development so their kids can live God's way.

Let me tell you about just such a place.

Tomorrow at Noon registration opens for GCC's Early Learning Center. It's everything the parents of young children could want....and more. Enrollment is "first come, first served," so if you've got a preschool age child you want in the ELC next fall, don't delay. Space is limited. (It's not as limited as this little Wood Duck box, but hey, you get the point.)

Galatians 5:22-23  -  But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.