One thing I have never really noticed, having not grown up on a farm and all, is how chickens take care of their chicks. Yes, every once in a while mom will step on them while they are scurring under her feet. But, I saw the coolest thing the other day. I was out chick hunting-to pet them, not kill them- and couldn’t find the four newest tiny ones anywhere. Finally, I found the mom but she was just sitting there, no chicks in sight. As I walked towards her she slowly got up, and four little things scurried out from under her! All I could think about was the verses in the Bible that talk about the Lord providing protection. How He desires to shelter us, take care of us, and hold us underneath his wings. I can say I really never understood that until I saw this today. I understood what it meant to be ‘taken under someone’s wing’ but really, when I saw it done by mama chicken, I saw all that it really does mean. Her wings provide safety, they provide warmth (baby chicks need it hot at first to live) and they provide care, and no one even knows they are there!! When we allow our heavenly Father, He wants to do the same for us. He will provide for us, shelter us, protect us from the enemy. It may sometimes feels like we are being stepped on, but I’d rather be squished a few times than be carried off by a hawk or worse.

 

Psalm 17:8b

“Hide me in the shadow of your wings”

 

Psalm 63:7

“Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings”

I used to just think that was just a cute song, “with a chick chick here, and a chick chick there, here a chick, there a chick, everywhere a chick chick.” Turns out, it’s also real life! Spring is here, and there are cute baby chicks all over the place! I counted-and so far, at our house alone, there are 9 baby chicks from 4 mamas. They are pretty cute, and I whenever I can I snatch one up to cuddle with it, I do.  I’ve learned to distract the mom with food-and they don’t even notice a missing chick!

 

Here’s a funny one for ya. Last night, I made Haitian spaghetti. So far, it’s the best Haitian dish I can make. (Although, I am rapidly learning to make new tasty dishes from the woman whose helping us while Jim and Bob are here, Manette. The crack up? She made spaghetti tonight-American spaghetti!! I laughed so hard. I was going to tell her how funny it was that an American was making Haitian dishes while a Haitian was making America dishes-but was afraid I would offend her, or that she might feel bad that we had spaghetti two nights in a row! So, instead I just chuckled to myself all while she made it, and while we all ate it. In addition, today I showed her how to make banana bread-she loved it! Oh, but on a side note: Since she asked me to show her, when she tasted some I made last week, I thought I would quiz her at the end. She said she didn’t need to write anything down, she could remember it all. After we scooped it into the loaf pan, she repeated everything. It was only then, as she listed off all the ingredients, did I notice I forgot to add the bananas! We started laughing, and she even made a little joke too-because I made her list the ingredients for fig pen (banana bread) she said those were just the ingredients for pen.. and chuckled, which of course made me laugh harder! She must think I am special because this isn’t the first time I’ve done something silly like that. The first week we got here, one day I was very much in the mood to bake. So, I made corn bread muffins for dinner, and banana bread. As Brandon and I sat down to eat, and bit into the corn bread, it tasted like salt. I’m talkin’ like a salt muffin. It was awful! I couldn’t figure it out, until I realized I used salt instead of sugar!!!! When we moved, I had a ziplock of sugar, and got that mixed up with a ziplock of salt they had at the house! Who keeps a ziplock full of salt anyway??? I was SO mad! And of course that meant the banana bread was also ruined!! Not only did I waste all that time making them, but wasted the precious few ingredients I brought in to make them-like pecans, and corn meal. Okay, only two, but still. Annoying. I had to tell Manette the next day, along with the other two guys living here who were wondering why I was giving good food to the chickens. The guys laughed, but Manette kinda looked at me sideways, probably thinking, “who mistakes sugar for salt?” Ah, my life as one big awkward and humbling moment!