Chickens

"Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral." - Frank Lloyd Wright

    It started as a science experiment. My online biology/statistics class required an end-of-the-year project that accounted for 20% of the final grade. Unfortunately, building a chemical laser did not fit under the "biology" requirement for the project, and I had to settle for something a bit less interesting. My mom had gotten several laying chickens the past year, but ended up ditching them at a friend's house while their coop remained trapped on graph paper. To kill two birds with one stone (no pun intended), I thought it would be a grand idea to use baby chicks in my science experiment, and, consequently, create an incentive to get the chicken coop finished. This little idea cost my dad quite a few billable hours, scrambling to build a coop and hen house. 

     We have twelve, black, Australorp chickens who, as their name implies, hail all the way from the outback. Apparently, they are supposed to hold up well in bad weather and and lay one egg a day. After almost five months of waiting, we've only gotten one breakfast out of our hens. This Thursday. They were scrambled eggs. And very tasty at that. But honestly, raising our own chickens has been no cheaper than buying eggs from the store. Fortunately, there is a significant entertainment value that has kept our hens out of the frying pan. The birds have brains that are no larger than fingernails, and it is much like having a flock of clowns wandering around the farm every day. If separated from the collective, a hen will squawk around in circles before galloping across the yard flapping its wings, or go sticking its head in a corner. 

     Much like chickens, we as humans can act irrationally when we are disoriented or confused. Unfortunately, sticking our heads in corners doesn't really solve anything. We have to live confidently and fruitfully, pleasing our master with acts of kindness and gifts toward our fellow man. Even so, we know that our egg production, or lack of, won't determine our suitability for the frying pan. We serve a loving, gracious, and patient God who, though he appreciates our fruit, gives us salvation only through his son, Jesus, Yeshua.