His Eye is on the Sparrow

I just love this song. For weeks it has been stuck in my head, and my first choice for singing in the shower, the car, while cooking, whatever. It's a beautiful melody and I like to pretend I could duet with Lauryn Hill (further proof that sometimes I'm delusional...) Here are the lyrics:

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.

Mostly, I just like to sing that song. It's beautiful, it's expressive and passionate, and I sound pretty good in the shower. But I was nearly knocked over by a "moment" a couple weeks ago during our gospel choir concert. A soloist started off with the first verse and no one knew this song was even on the list. As I stood on the top riser behind her, I was surprised that a song that has been so special to me in the past few months, though I didn't know why, was now being sung right in front of me.

It was then that I remembered a nearly 20 year old "nickname" of mine. When I was in early elementary school, my dad and I joined Indian Princesses. It's a father-daughter group through the YMCA that meets weekly and offers some weekly togetherness time, doing crafts, playing games, and, if I remember correctly, taking a yearly weekend retreat. Your group is a "tribe" and you and your dad choose an "indian name" to be known by when everyone gets together. I remember that some of the girls in our "tribe" had names like "purple moon" or "pink star" and I was always slightly jealous of their girly, galactic names. Why would I be jealous? Well, mine was plain and small. My dad was called "big owl", which seemed pretty fitting to me, but I was just "little sparrow".

Little did I know that this meaningless nickname that never stuck and that I had never called to mind once in the last however many years would nearly knock me off my riser on February 26th, 2010. As I listened to a beautiful song, I felt the Lord remind me of this name, and it was as if He was saying, "This is for you. I see you and I am taking care of you." Just as my dad was "big owl" and was tall and wise, my Heavenly Father is HUGE and POWERFUL and ALL KNOWING. And to Him, I am still just a little sparrow, and it is He who provides for me.