We have had quite a few weeks with our"pets" this month. I know it is silly for us to devote so much time and emotion into something that we eat all the time BUT these silly birds have brought so much joy for my kids this summer. So about 10 days ago we came home from a short parade here in town to find that a neighbor's dogs had come over, broke into the chicken coop and slaughtered our chickens. The girls were screaming and sobbing while we cleaned up the mess and we praised God that evening when one hen appeared out of nowhere at bedtime. Apparently she had escaped and hid out for the entire day. It was a small consolation but that one survivor gave the kids a ray of hope (and kept me from throwing in the towel on this whole thing). As Goose was unwilling to let "Grandma Cluck" move in with a friend's chickens, we set about to locate a companion for her. God provided us a rooster through a kind home schooling family and the kids spirits started to rebound again.
Here is Goose with "Lester". Whether it is because he is still young or because the previous family handled him alot, he is very tame and the kids love to hold and pet him. (Our old hens never let us touch them). God didn't stop the blessings there though. This family located a lady willing to sell us six laying hens, for a good price, and only 3 days after the massacre we now had 8 chickens. Here are four of them (though I think they all look the same so I just have to call them "the ladies" even though the kids have names for them).
We had some interesting talks during this time as we prayed about one chicken that was suffering, thanked God for the chance to have the chickens in the first place, and discussed the hard facts of life (chickens are food, they don't live forever, etc.). We also thought about Job who lost everything he had in one day and still praised God. Now, I realize that our chicken loss doesn't truly compare with that but for kids with big hearts, they did feel that way. Just as God replenished Job, we too received more than was taken from us. The kids are enjoying the new flock and we are reminded that nothing in life is guaranteed. We have to enjoy our blessings while we have them. I have no doubt that this won't be the last lesson we learn from these silly birds.
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2 comments:
Lots of lessons learned it seems Sharon! Sounds like you are handling it really well and using all of life's opportunities to bring everything back to God. I think I would be crying and screaming too.
I love that picture of Spiderman and gramma...it's a picture worth a thousand words.
lv,
jen
I can't tell them apart, either. But hey, as long as the kids have names for them and can tell which is which.
It sounds like they are coping well. Let's hope the chickens keep the drama to a minimum for a while!
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