“How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings…” Matthew 23:37
The Bible is full of gems from nature. In this scripture Jesus describes God’s nurturing love as that of a hen gathering her chickens under her wings.
It’s amazing to observe a clucky hen. For three weeks she will sit on the eggs with such dedication, awaiting for these to hatch. During that time, she will only get up for feed and toilet time. In other words, she is placing the needs of her future babies above her need. She looks like an enchanted bird, vulnerable to any predator, until one tries to remove her from the nest. Best to have protective gloves as she will attack you.
As these baby chickens hatches, she will continue to nurture, protect, take care of them. This she will do for several weeks. She will gather them under her feathers, keeping them warm and protecting them. I tried to lift our broody hen’s feathers to see the babies and she put up a fight.
Watching our broody hen, and pondering on this passage of Scripture, I can only say: How awesome it is to know that God cares for us, nurtures us, protects us.
I had watched for signs that would indicate their arrival, however, we had recently been told they weren’t ready so I relaxed and stopped observing. We woke up on Bastille day(14th July), my husband looked out the window and low and behold he could see extra feet near Coffee our ewe. Coffee had given birth to the most gorgeous black headed lamb I’d ever seen. We named him Bastille.
The next day, Caramel’s udders had dropped, which we were told was a sign that she would soon give birth. Next morning our little Antoinette was born. As a contrast to Bastille, she is totally white and a complete little lady.
Baby lambs are so cute. I could watch them all day; their curiosity, the way they frolic in the paddock with not a worry in the world, their playfulness, it’s all so beautiful.
As we watched her almost lifeless, we were confronted with thoughts of discouragement. Why are we homesteading? Is it really worth it?
Feeding them daily until they were weaned was a great experience which allowed us to build a caring relationship with them.
They say “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”, that goes for animals too. We weaned Rosie and Patch three weeks ago, and still, at the sight of a bucket they will come running to us. While they enjoy their feed, we get to handle them. At first, we could only touch them while they were eating, however, with time they are desiring more contact. The other day, Patch decided to lay down at my side, allowing me to continue rubbing her long after she finished her treat.
Between the birth of a thought, it’s completion and publishing on my blog, there can be various days or weeks. It often looks so different than my original thought.
