By: Jason Tsaddiq
We brought our little chicken pullets home – no, not chicken nuggets; there is a difference. Upon the advice given by the farmer and the seventy-eleven articles online, we immediately put them into the chicken house we had prepared. The fresh pine shavings gave a “woodsy” smell that would never again return to the house after chickens lived there. A feed bowl and water bowl finished their accommodations, accoutrements through which they enjoyed traipsing. There they stayed for weeks, never leaving the house, seeing the outside world only through the screened windows, receiving fresh air only through thoughtfully-placed air vents.
Some folks believe that animals belong in the big, wide, wonderful world and not be captured and caged. The plethora of advice dictating that young or new-to-you chickens be cooped up for several weeks seems to be contradicting the animals-belong-to-nature belief.
As the several weeks passed, the birds began to realize that this was their new home, their resting place, their roosting place, their haven, their protection. After the appropriate time came, we opened the coop door, allowing them to roam freely within the fenced yard. Oh, their excitement was fun to watch as they wandered over their newly-discovered domain. Heads bobbed and necks jerked as they looked this way and that. Some scurried over here to investigate the pile of leaves; some roved over there to check out the white fencing. This one pecked at that one, wanting the bug or cricket she had just noticed.
We walked amongst them in the fenced yard, observing and laughing. Chickens are probably the funniest critters that God made! Some days we pulled lawn chairs up to the outside of the fences and spent time, soaking in nature’s noises from the fenced creatures and from the creatures in the surrounding woods.
Ah, yes - the surrounding woods which contained song birds, squirrels, deer, and chipmunks. The nature music was amazing especially when one ponders the Creative One Who designed it.
But the surrounding woods also contained opossums, skunks, snakes, and coyotes – all who would love a chicken dinner (and they weren’t even Baptists!). The fencing was enough to contain the normally gentle chickens who wanted nothing more in life than to find the next juicy bug but it was not strong enough nor thorough enough to keep out a hungry nocturnal predator. There is no way that I was going to stay up all night guarding the hen house! What to do? What to do?
God had the problem solved many, many years ago; He designed the chicken to return to her nest about dusk time. The once-jerky-headed, spasmodic bird starts to slow down, to bob her head slowly, to gently sway her head from side to side, as she ambles over to the chicken coop – her home, her resting place, her roosting place, her haven, her protection. Sometimes her body system slows down so much that she misses the ramp to the chicken house, causing her to wander around the ramp, puzzled over the location of the door. Pecking each other stops. Scratching the ground ceases. Running after flying insects halts. Eventually, one hen notices that another one is sauntering up the ramp and she gets in line. Then the little group of hens over by the fence begins to stroll toward their house, their home. Sometimes ten to twenty birds gather on the ramp, quietly bragging about the number of bugs who lost their life today and taking a vote to see who goes in first. By dark, this little orchestration of fowl finding their haven is concluded; all the birds have successfully made their way into the house and were stumbling around in the near dark, trying to decide which post on which to roost for the night.
The human then would shut the door til morning.
The predators were outsmarted once again.
As a single person, have I taught anyone that my presence, my home is their haven, their safety? As a married man, does my wife know that she is safe in my financial, spiritual, and emotional haven? As a married woman, does my husband think of me first when he needs a safety net, a friendly shoulder? As a parent, do my children know that I will never will betray their trust, that I will lead them in righteousness, and that I will never cease from praying a hedge of protection around them? Does my co-worker feel safe enough to confide in me and trust that I have the wisdom from above? Does my single mother neighbor know that she can go to work, knowing that her children are safe playing with mine? Does my fellow church member believe that I will step forward in his time of need of security? Does my pastor know that I will never allow a predator to get to him?
Am I one from whom others can gain a home, a resting place, a roosting place, a haven, a protection? Have I spent enough time with my Haven so that I can show another the way to the Most Loving Haven?
