A snake is a snake, period!

Good Morning Friends!  Forever HIS, Friday!!!  A couple of nights ago, Kathyrn and the kids came over looking for Box Tops for Cooper.  I went to the pantry and began a mad search, the kids were going bonkers, so I suggested they get the egg bucket and go out and get eggs!  Didn’t have to say it twice, they grabbed the bucket and flew out the door.  Almost before I could get back to the pantry, I heard them screaming and flying back into the house.  “Nana, Nana”  they both screamed.  “There’s a great big snake in the chicken coop!  It’s really big” Cooper excitedly reported.  “Do you have a gun Nana?  Hurry Nana we have to get it!”  Papa was gone to a meeting, so Kathyrn and I had to jump into action.  “Get a shovel or a hoe!” she said as she headed out to the coop with the kids!  I grabbed a couple different shovels and by the time I got to the coop, Kathyrn had the snake spotted.  It was big, just like Cooper said and had obviously eaten several eggs which was, in the end, its demise!  When the kids first spotted the snake, it was on the floor of the coop by the nests, by the time Kathyrn got there, it had attempted to get out through the wire on the back.  However, so fat from the eggs it had stolen, it got stuck and was just hanging there on the back wire wall.  Kathyrn and I were a bit intimidated by the size of it, so we called Charley to come on his way from work!  He killed the snake and got it out of the coop, egg yolk oozing out, what a gross site.  You could see the shape of several eggs in the very big snake; Charley figured it to be about 5.5 feet!  Gosh I was so mad at the creature, getting into my coop, scaring my chickens and eating their eggs!  UGH!  Even though it was just a chicken snake, it had to go!  We were all still hipped up when the kids left and when Kim got home I relayed the whole story in exact detail stressing, I hate that snake for eating my eggs!  And that was that!  Until I came into work the next morning and read the bible verse on my daily calendar from Genesis 1:25……”God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds.  And God saw that it was good.”  Oh my gosh, I killed one of the creatures that God created and deemed good!  What have I done!  My mind went crazy…..should we have let the snake live?  After all, it wasn’t a poisonous snake….but it ate the eggs that belonged to us and scared the chickens….is that ok….My mind was going crazy, I just couldn’t get over the thought that I had offended our Heavenly Father.  I got out my bible and did some researching, still confused I called my Pastor…I am sure he thought I was crazy, but this was really bugging me.  After a good conversation with him, what should have been obvious to me, but somehow wasn’t….duh, think HE was giving me a gentle reminder….Yes, when HE created the snakes they were good…..Yep, HE created us in HIS IMAGE, Genesis 1:26 ‘God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness….” Wow….What the heck happened??!!   I sure do not imitate God all the time….shame on me….Sin happened….the devil showed up in a serpent…tempted Eve….and that’s how it all got out of whack!  So, does that make it ok for us to “steal eggs” ?  Are we doomed because we do?  No, to both….God’s plan was not over, thank goodness, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16.  Wow!  That’s the good news…yes we sin, no we don’t want to, we need to try harder, but we are forgiven.  And as verse 26 of Genesis 1 continues…”and let them (man) rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”  God wants us to take care of HIS earth, that’s quite a responsibility, but with HIS guidance we can do it….and if a snake is stealing your eggs…well.  Thank you Father, so very much for the reminders from You that we are all sinners, but that through the death of YOUR SON, we have forgiveness and the hope of eternal life.

 

But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved….For it is grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of god—not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  Ephesians 2:4-10.

Here a chick, there a chick, everywhere a chick, chick...

Good Morning Friends!!!!  Thankfully His Thursday!  Last spring my husband decided to start up the old incubator and hatch eggs….the eggs of course came from my chickens, but oh he was going to make lots of money selling chickens…..OK…..to get lots of money you have to have lots of chickens right….Oh my, I will spare you the gory details of what happens when you end up with a whole bunch of growing chicks and run out of room in the “hatchery.”  Let’s just say it was never the same for my old chickens again….for several weeks he brought the growing chicks down to the house and put them with my chickens…..I never got another egg from my girls….turned out that most of the new chickens were roosters.  Poor hens never had a chance to sit and lay eggs!  Needless to say I was not too quiet about the situation in my chicken coop….so Kim, to save his sanity, caught up the roosters, hauled them to his favorite trader and traded them for a few hens.  However, we did keep one handsome little rooster.  Things were finally settling down in the coop when one day I went out to feed and my handsome little rooster had laid down and died…broke my heart.  Now I know you don’t need a rooster to have eggs, but what’s a chicken coop without one rooster to protect his girls, right?  Well, it just so happened during all the transporting of chicks that one hen decided to live outside the coop.  Never ever would she go in at night with the others, it was the craziest thing; try as I might I could not get her to go, so finally I gave up and let her have her way.  She was always out in the yard during day, but I had no idea where she went at night….one day she showed up with two precious little chicks at her side.  We were pretty proud of her, but figured her little ones would never survive outside the coop.  Well were we ever wrong!  Every day they would come out and hunt and peck with mom and then disappear at night.  When they got just a little bigger she started roosting with them on the pool deck (nice indeed), outside our bedroom window, opposite side of the house from the coop.  One morning a couple of weeks ago, quite early, we heard something odd outside our bedroom…..there it is a again….what is that….Well, for goodness sake it was one of the little chicks trying to crow….too funny!  From then on we have heard him every morning….and Kim finally caught him and put him in the coop so my girls have their….soon to be man again!  Each morning we hear him and make fun of him….his crow is weak and wobbly, so Kim and I have been having a good laugh about his rather pathetic morning wake- up call!  That is until this morning….a light went on in my head…shame on me….that little guy is doing the very best he can!  He is giving it all he has right now and will improve as he matures….Master Rooster is a work in progress.  Wow!  How often do we criticize people, judging the way they do things, maybe even talk about them behind their backs, when in fact they are doing the best they can at the time…..good lesson Master Rooster…..judge not lest you be judged, right?  Isn’t that what our Heavenly Father teaches us!  So from now on, when I am tempted to judge someone, I am going to think of Master Rooster and do my best, to let my thoughts and actions give glory to our Father.  Father, forgive us when we look at others and judge without looking at ourselves.  Help us to always do the very best we can to your glory.

 

Jesus said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.  Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye, ‘l when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.  Matthew 7:1-6.  Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.  Honor one another above yourselves. Romans 12:10.

Love you all!

 

June 7, 2013

Good Morning Friends!  Wonderfully wrapped in His loving arms, Wednesday!!  I have a couple of hens that have been quite persistent in “sitting.”  Sometimes they get that “need to nurture” attitude and sit on the eggs that someone else has helped to lay!  Every night when I go in to gather eggs, I have to pull them out of the nests to get my eggs!  I would much rather eat the eggs than have baby chicks!  Well, the other evening as I went in, my two “wanna- be” mother hens let out a couple of clucks and jumped out of nests.  I thought well good, they finally got over that sitting stuff…about time….such a pain!  I stepped into the nest area and immediately realized why my hens had exited the nests so quickly!  Woven between the nests and slightly draped over the edge was a big ol gross, slimy, yucky, big nasty snake!!! And he had an egg…..my egg….bulging from his body!  I hate snakes….terrified of them…..but there I was home alone and it was eating my eggs!  I knew what I had to do…..as I rushed out of the coop to get a shovel….I asked our Heavenly Father to help me meet my fear head on…..I ran to the carport, grabbed a shovel, and headed courageously back to the coop…..I felt positive… I could handle the mission in front of me…..boldly, I entered the coop making my way to the nests….he was still there, lurking….who knows how long he would have stayed, terrorizing my hens and devouring my eggs, if I had not meet the situation head on….bravely…..I got him on the shovel threw him down and immediately began chopping at his head….egg yolk was flying everywhere….my conquest was not easy….but I did not give up…..How many times have we each been confronted with our “snakes”……a situation seems so dire….we feel so helpless…..depression consumes us.....finances are out of control…..sickness…stress at work…..broken relationships…..How was I able to conquer my fear head on???  Only because I let go and let God have my fear….HE and HE alone can see us through anything…..HE can lift the gloom, heal the sick….see us through…..fill us with confidence and a peace that passes all human understanding….joy when you think there is none…..love that holds us up, fills the empty gaps…refreshes…renews…..gives us strength to keep on keeping on…TRUSTING AND BELIEVING…that with HIM anything is possible!  Father, we come to You sad, hurting, empty….we give all our pain to You….Thank You for carrying our burdens and seeing us through!

 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5.  Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  Matthew 19:26.Fear of man will prove t be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.  Proverbs 29:25.  Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him.  He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.  It does not fear when heat comes; its leave are always green.  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.  Jeremiah 17:7-8.When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.  Isaiah 443:2..The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble.  He cares for those who trust in Him.  Nahum 1:7.

Love you all!

 

April 1, 2013

Good Morning Friends!  Mighty and Miraculous is our God, Monday!  Christ is Risen!  He is Risen Indeed!  Alleluia!  Praying that your Easter celebrations were as blessed as ours were!  We headed to church early for our annual Easter breakfast before Sunday School; what a wonderful array of breakfast casseroles, muffins, delicious monkey bread and luscious fresh fruit!  The kids had the tables decorated with baskets they had made from empty plastic containers and several different styles of decorated eggs, and of course let’s not forget the lovely green Easter grass and candy!!!!  Spirits were high as we joined in celebrating the resurrection of our Jesus, our Lord and Savior!  The kids, well me too….had a blast in our egg rolling contest…you know roll the egg, like the stone was rolled from Jesus’ tomb!  And then we headed over to Sterling House with a box full of beautiful vases that the girls had made from empty glass jars, we filled them with beautiful silk flowers, and with special Easter greetings from the Sunday school kids, handed them out to residents.  Really not sure who enjoyed it more the residents or the kids….my heart was warm with the love of Easter as I watched the kids shining brightly with the love of Jesus!  After a nice nap, Kim and I headed out on the four-wheeler to check for new calves and check a lease pasture that’s been empty for a while to see if there was any grass growing.  The sun shining so warmly, I climbed on behind Kim and thanked God for the beauty of His creation.  As we approached the lease from the road we were not encouraged; the pasture was thick with dry, brown grass…..from the road, no sign of any green….new life….food for the cows….we continued down the road, opened the gate and headed in for a closer look.  We hadn’t been in long when we could indeed see green peeking through the dead grass…..even where the dead grass was very thick, looking close you could see the tender, green, grass….hope…..the green of life coming through the dead, dry, brown.  As we covered the pasture we felt quite hopeful that in a couple of weeks there would be sufficient grass for the cows.  As Kim and I headed home, the thought occurred to me that our lives, at times, are thick with the dead, dry, grass of the world…..dry grass that wants to choke out the hope of new, green, life…..I thought of earlier in the weekend when something that happened wanted to choke us with stress and worry….and then my thoughts turned to our church service…..the joy of Easter consumed my thoughts…..Jesus died….but the world did not choke HIM out, no HE rose on the third day……Alive, like the green grass….Jesus is our hope for LIFE everlasting…..no matter how dry the world might get, as HIS children, we are never ever without HOPE….without LOVE….without LIFE.  Father, thank you for YOUR SON, our HOPE…..for life everlasting with YOU.

May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.  2 Thessalonians 2:16-17.  Why are you downcast, O my soul?  Why so disturbed within me?  Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.  Psalm 42:11. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In His great mercy He has given us new Birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  1 Peter 1:3. 

Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!  Alleluia!

Love you all!