Unexpected Gifts from Unexpected Places

We have a small farm that we really enjoy.  The animals on our little farm are like our children.  We have mini goats, furry pigs and the most beautiful chickens.  For our chickens, we have two coops.  One is for the larger flock.  The second is the holding coop until the chickens get old enough and strong enough to be in the larger flock.  It turns out that all of them were able to integrate except one.  She was the smallest and of course, the lowest in the pecking order.  So we kept her in the smaller coop for a little while longer.  It seems, though, that the smaller coop was not as stable thanks to the deconstructive efforts of the goats and pigs (they just wanted to climb on it and to eat her feed).  Not too long ago, they managed to turn the entire coop on its side (I can’t even make this stuff up).  The little chicken was left to fend for her life.  She hid, was terrorized a bit, but survived.  Kelli brought her inside and we made a bed for her.  We put her in a dark, warm place for her to recuperate.  Her only movement was to breathe.  We knew she was in shock, but wasn’t sure if she was injured.  So we let her recover.  In a couple of days, she was talking to us and moving around.  She warmed up to us being around her, telling us all about her day (in chicken talk, of course).  A couple of days ago, I checked on her and noticed something different in her box.  She had laid an egg!  Now, that doesn’t sound like such a big feat for a chicken.  But you have to understand we have 11 chickens, all close to the same age.  Not one of them has yet to lay an egg – not one.  They are still young and it isn’t quite time for full production.  But the one who we thought might not make it is the one who was the first to ever provide an egg on our farm.  Unexpected gifts really do come from unexpected places.

This has taught me not to count anyone out and to love without excuse.  We don’t know the fight others are enduring.  We don’t have any idea the struggles many go through on a daily basis.  What we can do is love and care for others.  We can be kind.  We can be a safe place for people.  We can nurture and love when all else seems chaotic.  We can allow them to simply rest and breathe.  When we do, we never know how God might work in their lives and ours to provide just what is needed.  Surprises abound when we care for God’s creation.  

Ephesians 1

¹⁵ I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love^[e] toward all the saints, and for this reason ¹⁶ I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. ¹⁷ I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, ¹⁸ so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.