This morning I got up and marched right out to check on the three of them. The hens were doing well, the rooster still hiding in the neighbors horse pen. Together my husband and I rounded him up and got him safely back into the coop. My heart hurting for the 4 lost, of which all were a favorite. I jokingly said to my husband "see the ranch I'm done with death, we are moving back to town!" He didn't find any humor in that and shared (AGAIN) that when you live in the country, there is a circle of life. I snapped back, all I've seen is death!
As I'm on the phone visiting with a friend my husband points out the window to our neighbors. There just on the other side of our drive a momma is giving birth to a calf! I tell my friend I need to go (with excitement) because a calf is being born outside my window!
We watched the process, beautiful in so many ways and well, gross in others ~ and I just sat there in the window in awe. What an amazing event, there all on her own in the pasture, that momma was giving life to her baby.
After the "gross" of it all was taken care of I walked over to get a closer look and to try and take a picture. I stood there and I can not even begin to explain the joy which overtook my entire body, mind and spirit. It was un-explainable joy. This hasn't been an easy week as friends suffered loss, a family dispute and the stresses which come from working where things are political ~ all of that was so distant, so far removed in the moment as I stood there. There was enough joy flowing from me I smiled and got a little teary eyed. What a blessing of a gift early on a Saturday morning!
As I was walking back up the drive to the house, I thought about my poor wounded rooster, which made me think of his crow, which lead me to think I didn't hear him crow today ~ which lead me to think of Jesus.
And then as I continued my walk, Jesus spoke to me. THIS is the circle of life. There is death and there is birth and there is life in between. No one knows when their time will come, and for that very reason we must live each day fully. YES!
A reminder this morning, life can be very short (especially if you are hen in the country where there are other critters) and life can be very precious, if you are a momma birthing a calf in the middle of a pasture while the neighbor girl wipes tears in awe of your amazing abilities.
Each day is a gift, one we receive the moment our eyes open each morning! We must live it fully and to the best of our ability. This morning as I think about the loss of my sweet hens and the birth of that precious calf, I think of Jesus. Who died and rose again.
But very early on Sunday morning[a] the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 3 So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes.
5 The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? 6 He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man[b] must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.”
8 Then they remembered that he had said this. 9 So they rushed back from the tomb to tell his eleven disciples—and everyone else—what had happened. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several other women who told the apostles what had happened. 11 But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it. 12 However, Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings; then he went home again, wondering what had happened. Luke 24:1-12