May. 15, 2009 - ~You've GOT to be Kidding!
Sweet plans......beautiful plans.... . And then we hear the screech of the needle peeling across that old vinyl LP. Such is life and sometimes....... It just taint pretty!
If you've been reading lately you know I've been working on plans for an herb garden. I finally (after 2 years) settled on a simple design I really like and one that (we thought) should work well for the area we have available.
Last week our eldest son marked out the territory and began putting down the pretty colored squares. When that was complete I was set to buy my herbs. I had purchased a couple at Walmart, but the nearly 4.00 price tag was bugging me to no-end, so I set off to the herb man whose only available one day each week. I purchased my herbs and some yummy produce and check - check, things were moving nicely off my little To Do List.
That is until 2 days ago.
Two days ago the Lord gave us the rain we were praying for. It rained long, hard and consistent. So consistent the dry earth could not keep up with the downpour. The children and I sat in the house watching the rain, taking video, and praying for the storm to cease. The waters rose just shy of entering the house.
We watched as our container gardens floated away and as our precious Julia (the most favored chicken) was trapped by the rising waters and soon disappeared. My daughter and I stood by the window cheering Julia on, praying for the Lord to save her, and watching as the gardens made like an ark and were set afloat. It was all quite dramatic.....for sure.
Finally, the aluminum feed bowl that was supporting Julia took on water and capsized. Julia went under and we prayed and prayed that somehow that chicken would be able to swim. Three or four minutes went by, my daughter buried her head in my chest sobbing, and we prayed that the lightning would stop long enough so that we could save our precious pet. The lightning didn't stop. The floods continued to rise. Julia was nowhere in sight.
There are times in a mothers life that we can see the hand of God in the lives of our children. Times when we can see all things working together for their good. Times when the Lord shows himself mighty in the daily lives of these little ones. He strengthens them by weakening them. Such was this time, when all she/we could do was to pray.
I cannot believe how long time seemed to stand still. Those three or four minutes seemed like forever and honestly we truly thought Julia was gone. Then after lots of tears and prayers we saw something moving. It was Julia! The entire clan of children gathered around that tiny open window screaming at her through their tears (yes, I was screaming too!). "Come on Julia!" "Thank you Lord!", "Help her Lord".
Again, many minutes went by. We did not know if Julia would make it. She struggled and struggled taking on water the entire time. Finally she made it to the bottom of her chicken ladder that leads to the second story (the safe room) of her chicken house. She sat at the bottom of that ladder, half-way in the water and half-way out of the water, absolutely and totally exhausted. The other two chickens were at the top pacing back and forth looking down at Julia. No doubt praying for her too......
After a brief rest and a slight recession of storm waters, Julia laid at the bottom of her ladder exhausted and cold. We couldn't tell if her leg was broken, but she was certainly not moving. Finally, the lightning ceased and Big brother (who really can't stand all of these icky chickens) waded through the water to save Julia. He brought her inside and we put her in the tub of the bathroom with the heat lamp on. Long story short...... Julia is fine, fully recovered, and running around the yard with the other chickens.
~damage from the flood to our side garden area. Brother had to pull the pools back to the side before all the water receeded and the pools would be too heavy to budge.
Yesterday I was listening to the daily broadcast of Focus on the Family. At the beginning of the program Dobson gave a warning to parents that children should not hear this days broadcast. Some things had taken place, and as Dobson pointed out in the beginning of the show, 'There are no phone calls to be made....nothing can be done'. As I listened I began to realize what this means for our country/ our children. I sat there listening to details....details without a silver lining.
But remembering Julia, and the message that little ordeal sent to my daughter and the rest of us, I can clearly and emphatically say....... 'This is just the beginning!' It is when we have nowhere to turn, when we get to the end of our ability, when things get their bleakest...... God shows up (though He's there all along) and NOONE gets the credit. It's when we get to the end of ourselves that we find God. It was when all hope seemed gone that Julia the chicken was saved.
As long as we have opportunity. As long as we have some kind of self ability - we don't seem to need God. Pride is our enemy. It's our own flesh that is in battle. Our flesh against our own spirit. Yes, the battle is within ourselves and as long as there is some degree of self ability we will not be humbled. With brokenness comes great joy and thanksgiving.
Not all is lost..... here's our back garden which sat high above the waters flood. It seems that while our side garden was screaming "help me!", our rear garden was yelling "Thank you!". It received a healthy dose of rain and today looks twice the size of two days ago.
And we're actually harvesting some blueberries as well. It seems that the bird that kept getting in to our blueberry patch may have learned the very same life lesson. For he, I suppose, got to the end of himself too. Nowhere to go. Sitting in his captivity with no escape in sight. Maybe it was God that burdened our hearts for the rescue of that rascal bird. It wouldn't have been long and he would have been dead from the heat and lack of water inside his pleasure cage. Maybe he got to the end of himself and cried out with chirps to the Lord. Yes, with brokenness comes great joy and thanksgiving! There's a freedom that comes from being broken.....
My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.
Psalm 121:2
Comments
May. 15, 2009 - Untitled Comment
Posted by SweetSavages
What a great post! I was nervous for Julia, but am glad it had a happy ending. We love our chickens too....I think I would have prayed and ran out into the lightning though. = )
We have a really handsome chicken named Aslan Jr.
Maybe sometime we could introduce Julia to Aslan. = )
May. 18, 2009 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Eunice
I was SO tempted to save that chicken. The kids were begging me to get her/let them get her, but it was a good lesson for everyone. Just before this happened, w/the chicken, they begged me not to get in my van to try to find this lady on her bike (long story...). But we had a quick talk, prayed, and I went to find her. Then when I came home this - with Julia. It was a good lesson about how we risk ourselves for our fellow man but these chickens do not get the same ranking. Of course I didn't know it was lesson time until it was all over....
