Every month, our senior pastor hosts a children’s Bible study at his home. I love this tradition. It shows the children that they are an important part of our church family. This month, he asked me to lead the lesson. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to share God’s word with the kids. I spent hours preparing the lesson to make it engaging and age-appropriate.

The group has been studying the book of Judges. This month’s lesson was about Deborah. Pastor Jimmy asked me to link the lesson to the theme of nature. He wanted me to use link my ornithologist background to this theme. This was a fun challenge for me. There are no birds in Deborah’s story, but I was able to tie it all together.

Let’s get into the lesson. I started by telling the kids about Deborah. She was a prophetess, judge, and warrior. The only female judge in the Bible. Her epithet, “a woman of Lappidoth”, can be interpreted as a “fiery woman.” In hindsight, this was a total God wink.

Next, I zoomed in on the Song of Deborah. The song celebrates the victory of the Israelites over the Canaanites. It is a beautiful piece of poetry. We talked about other songs in the Bible. First, the Psalms, which are a literal hymnal in the middle of the Bible. Then, the Magnificat, Mary’s song of joy upon knowing she will carry Jesus. And finally, Job’s Lament, where he expresses his grief and questions God. We talked about all these reasons to sing and more.

Then, we moved to birds. I asked them to be quiet. There in Jimmy’s backyard, we listened. We heard cars driving by. A leaf blower far away. And then a Carolina Wren.

Why do birds sing? It’s costly to sing. They may be found by predators. But the benefits of singing must outweigh the costs. Birds sing to attract mates. “Here I am! Mate with me!” Birds sing to defend territory. “This is my home. Stay away!” Birds sing to communicate. “Food here! Danger there!” Why does birdsong sound good? We meditated on this mystery.

How do birds sing? They learn their songs, sometimes before hatching. Songbirds have a specialized voice box called a syrinx. A Northern Cardinal’s range is wider than a piano.

I asked the kids to sing. I got out the guitar, and we sang “Alleluia/Praise Ye the Lord”. It’s a cute call-and-response song that illustrates how birds do the same. We did playback with the Carolina Wren and watched how it responded. Finally, we made pinecone bird feeders to hang in the yard.

It was a really great time, and I’d love to do it again.