I think it's time to share "Houdini's Story". Because of him, there is a Skylend. And because of Skylend, there is a flock. And because of our Heavenly Father, we have this page. It is only what it is because of Him. Here is our story! Houdini was 7 years old the day he died... well, almost died. Houdini woke one morning very very sick. We knew with how quickly he was going downhill, that we were going to lose him that very day. The kids and I spent as much time with him as we could. We took turns watching him and holding him throughout the day, until those final moments where his little body was pretty much lifeless on my lap. That was for well over 30 minutes. Houdini was barely breathing as he lay there motionless under my hand, and a small blanket to keep him warm. Several times, I thought he had gone. I kept checking him, still breathing. He wasn't gone yet. But we knew the time was near. He lay flat on his tummy, eyes completely closed, his little body limp. I just told the kids to keep talking to him and telling him how much they love him. As we all spoke to him with tears running down our faces, my kids asked me to pray for him. They wanted for me to ask God to heal him for them. That was something I did not expect to be asked by them, at that point. "It is too late to pray", I told them. I did not want to give them false hope. I told them that Houdini was not going to come back to us. But because I love my kids, I prayed anyways. It was not more than two seconds after I said the words, "In Jesus name, amen", that Houdini squirmed out from under my hands that were laying loosely over his body, jumped up on my lap, looked around the room, and he flew to the floor. We pretty much could not believe our eyes, as you can imagine. Or at least I could not. In that moment, you see, my small children had faith to simply ask God for what they wanted, and they believed He would make it happen simply because they asked for it. Children do not have the doubt that we as adults have. They just simply expect their needs to be met. There is nothing quite like the faith of a child. I, as an adult with my eyes set on reality, did not have that same faith in this situation. But seeing Houdini healed grew faith in me like nothing ever could. I always believed God COULD heal, but I didn't expect Him TO heal. Not a bird. Houdini went on into the evening as he always did. He watched t.v nuzzled up against my little boys neck as he always did. Sat with my older son while he played games as he often did. Gave sweet Dini kisses to my daughter, whom he loved so much. I wish I had taken so many more pictures and videos of that day. I can only talk about most of it. But I do not have much to show. That's one reason that I take so many pictures now. I have regrets of not capturing more time with Dini. You can't bring back moments, but you can capture them forever thru a photograph. I will say Houdini was a miracle like nothing we had ever witnessed and that "childlike faith", the kind that prays just expecting for their requests to be heard and answered without question, is what saved that little bird, and it changed me forever. Houdini lived a healthy normal life for 7 more months. He died at the age of 8 years old from sickness that we didn't catch in time. He was my son's very best friend in the whole world, and had such a connection to our family, and to children of all ages that came into our home. We miss him still today! Because my 11 year old son went into a deep depression after his Houdini died, we didn't wait more than one week before bringing Skylend into our home. Sky chose us! He was the kind of bird that from the moment you met him, he wanted to be your very best friend. And he was. He was flying to our heads and to our shoulders already at the breeders home. He loved his people so much, and he was very easy to love back. Like Houdini, Sky was so smart and such a great talker already by 12 weeks old. The funny things he'd say and his quirky personality that was always shinning bright and making us smile, I felt, was something that the world needed to see. It was a way of bringing joy and light to the bird community and beyond. But I didn't know a lot of "bird people" at that time. So I started "Skylend's Friendly Flock" from a group of about 25 of my closest friends, and within 6 years the page has now grown to nearly 20,000 followers, and reaching so many more. I didn't do any of this on my own. When I first started up my page, I prayed. I told God that if He would help me to grow my page, I would allow Him to use my birds in any way He saw fit in order to reach people for Him. I told Him that the page would be used for bringing smiles, love, laughter and unity, but most importantly to bring awareness to a dieing world that there is a God out there who loves them. A God who hears our prayers, sees our tears, who came to give us eternal life, hope and peace here on earth. A God that if we walk with Him in faith, will never let us down. He isn't some geenie in a bottle who makes our every wish come true, but rather a God who hears our cries, takes us by the hand and walks with us thru every hill and every valley of our lives. He is a God of miracles! And He was going to use my little flock to show the world His love for them. No matter what it might cost me with my flock, I told Him I would trust Him. This page exists because of Him. Since starting this page, we have seen many many miracles. Miracles in Skylend himself, as he came very close to death at a very young age. He was miraculously healed. Yoki and Omlette were both miraculously healed. Spazboo received an unexplained physical healing to her choanal slit when it opened up overnight all on its own. Birth defect corrected! Doctors can't explain these things! We saw miracles in Meeko, Phoebe, and Coco. Our dear Perri has been one miracle after the next. Mind you that not every miracle is a complete and total healing. But a miracle is an unexplained blessing that doesn't just happen in the natural. Those miracles are all around us. God is good, God is here, and we are only here because of HIM. This page exists BECAUSE of Him. And that's our story!