September 20th, 2013
Hey, everyone!
What an awesome day! Sun's just comin' up and the farm chores are done! The goats and the chickens have goat and chicken food respectively…fresh water all around…eggs are gathered…This can only mean one thing!…
Tina's in Africa again!
After thirty moves in our life together, she is sooo content with our little ol' farm house down in the "Springs"! She is crazy about this country living! And I'm crazy about her so…it all works out perfectly! But normally, I'm not that involved in what goes on out there in the barnyard. So when she leaves the USA, she has to teach me the morning and evening routine all over again…"Let's see if I can remember this…Goats get a cup of this each…check their hay, too!…Dog (and what's our dog's name again?) gets three cups of that…and chickens need me to check their chicken feed every other day…" But after about four or five days, as Loretta Lynn used to sing, "When you're lookin' at me, you're lookin' at country!"
I do learn a lot every time I'm running' the farm. Take my chickens…(please!)…
Did you know chickens, when they're "on a roll", lay an egg per day? The world record is seven in one day! And chickens have a certain little cheerful specific "cluck" just for the egg-layin' occasion! Altho' I bet when that one hen was on her fourth or fifth of her seven-eggs streak, she sound more like Maria Sharapova hitting a baseline forehand!
Some chickens lay their eggs in little groups and some like to be alone and do it privately. I totally understand. I couldn't imagine doing that in front of anyone. I'd probably ask for anesthesia…
Different kinds of chickens lay different colored eggs. For example, Buff Orpingtons lay brown eggs, Leghorns lay white eggs and Ameraucanas, green or blue eggs.Experts say that as a general rule, the egg color matches the color of the chickens earlobe. And good luck finding that!
And chickens can lay eggs that are different sizes. Some days, they give one that looks like it came out of a sparrow. Other days it looks like it's straight out of the goose! And some times the egg can slip out before the shell is fully cooked. It's the weirdest thing! Once one of ours was just walking around, gave a little shutter, and the egg popped out! But the shell was like jello. All wobbly and wiggly! And it can happen periodically in the life of a chicken. First time I saw it I thought, "How did I get this far in my life and not know this could happen?"
Here's another fact.There are more chickens in the world than humans.
Here's one fact that you know, but 'til you're hang ing around with them, you probably don't think about…Chickens don't have arms. They have wings but they don't work well. The world record is only thirteen seconds for a chicken flight! And even tho' you can order "chicken fingers" for lunch, chickens don't have hands either. I also have noticed this about bass, trout, and other fish. Fish don't have hands or arms either. Think of all the things chickens can't do! They can't reach up and pick bugs off of leaves. They can't punch a menacing cat in the face. They can't hold and cuddle a new-born or sick chick.
They can't defend themselves or feed themselves or care for themselves, really. These days, they wouldn't make it without me.
That's a scary thought!
You'd think they'd like me better than they do. Chickens are about the grumpiest birds of all. They never say, "Thanks!" They never seem happy to see me or be with me. And yet, they couldn't make it without me! It hurts my feelings a little bit.
I'm not like a chicken in many ways. I don't eat bugs. I don't lay eggs. I do have arms and hands.
But I am like them in this. Tho' I have arms and not almost-useless wings, I can't really protect myself. Or provide for myself. I need my Dad in Heaven every moment of every day! I need Him to care for me…to give me the things I can't live without…to get me through the day!
I need God desperately!
To hear me!
To answer me!
To give me things!
To have mercy on me!
I love His promise to me, His little chick…"Open wide your mouth and I will fill it!" (Psalm 80)
I know I have arms and hands, but the best thing I do with them is to hold them up to Him like a little child and say, "Help me! Catch me! Hold me!"
I'm finding I'm not like chickens in some ways. I'm like them in other ways, like my neediness and helplessness.
Chickens are grumpy and ungrateful. Whether or not I'll be like them in this, I guess is up to me.
Y'know that old question about the chicken or the egg? I don't know the answer to that one but every day how I answer the question, "Which comes first, the chicken or the child?" is up to me!