Welcome! My name is Lara Mather and I’m writing to you from a little cabin in the New Hampshire woods. I’m starting to think of it as my “Sparrow’s Nest.” There’s history for me here and it’s a place to pray, write, remember and to seek intimacy with God. I have a degree in Sociology from the University of Maine and a Master’s in Counseling from Westminster Theological Seminary. My husband, Jonathan, and I are getting close to the three decade mark of married life. We have three daughters and four sons, who grew up and out of their tree forts and fairy houses faster than I liked, but are a deep joy to know as young adults and teenagers.

What does it mean to be “Small Like a Sparrow”?

There’s a type of smallness we feel when we are shrinking in shame. When we feel like we are too much, or not enough. Like it would be better if we just disappeared and no one remembered we had taken up any space at all. I’ve tasted this despairing place (enough to know it well) and this is not what I mean when I say “small like a sparrow.”

Sparrows sing their hearts out. They fly free and they ferociously protect their young. They live fully alive.

But they are small. Just like me. I exhaust myself sometimes trying to be big. Trying to be omnipresent and wise and to not disappoint anyone. My felt bigness brings me deep into anxiety as I imagine I could keep my loved ones safe and make the road ahead easier for them if I just tried hard enough. If I knew enough. If I were just… something… more… I could make everything better somehow. But I’m just not that big. I wasn’t made to be.

There’s rest in remembering that I’m “small like a sparrow” and that this is good.

Did you know that the Bible highlights little sparrows? Not one of them is forgotten by God (Luke 12:6). Not one of them will fall to the ground outside of God’s care (Matthew 10:29). And “even the sparrow has found a home” -right by God’s altar- (Psalm 84:3). He welcomes these common little songbirds, giving them a place and a home. They don’t have to earn their way, or sing just right, or get big. They just get to be, and to be close to Him.

This closeness is what I am longing for, too.

Thankfully, these little birds teach us something about the heart of God. In all His perfect bigness, He wants that closeness with us, too.

Jesus comforted a fearful people with the truth that God doesn’t forget a single sparrow, and, “Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Luke 12:7).

Sparrows matter to him, and we matter even more. God’s big love for his people brings deep meaning to our smallness. It lets us rest, and grow, and sometimes even to be brave and to make words like a little sparrow singing without fear.

I’d love to know how I can be praying for you from the Sparrow’s Nest.

Blessings,

Lara Mather

July 21, 2026