peaceful porch moments

I let the chickens out of the coop this evening so they could peck around for a while and the first thing they all did was to run to the side of the house so I couldn't see them. I didn't run after them, although they have been known to follow the fence line down to the street, pecking and pawing at the ground for snacks and treats. But, I did make an effort to move that way.

I shooed them closer up toward the house and sat on my front porch swing. I expected them to stay there and eat all the goodies but they just weren't content. It was probably Redhead, that rotten rooster. I'm not afraid of him because he's all bluster and part showman, but he's sooooo mean that I don't want him anymore. He's really mean to my hens and I can't stand to put them through the torture any longer. My friend, LB, found the rascally rooster a nice home on 200 acres somewhere not too far away at her friend's house. He gets his new home on Friday morning. Anyway...

The chickens moseyed around back and I just stayed on the swing enjoying the early evening cool down. It was peaceful. I started to sing an old song written by Dottie Rambo that I hadn't thought of in a very long time. I wasn't loud--after all, I was sitting on my front porch and I wasn't so sure how well my neighbors would have liked an evening serenade by me.

As I sang:

Amazing grace shall always be my song of praise,

for it was grace that brought my liberty;

I do not know just why He came to love me so,

He looked beyond my fault and saw my need.

I shall forever life mine eyes to Calvary,

to view the cross where Jesus died for me,

how marvelous the grace that caught my falling soul;

He looked beyond my fault and saw my need.

all my hens and that mean old rooster, Redhead, slowly peeped around the other end of the house. Without his arrogance and nasty attitude, Redhead led his hens to the swing where I was sitting, singing softly. They moved in closely and stayed there on the porch with me as I sang. They looked at me. They seemed to listen to me and probably wondered what I was doing. After all, I'd never sung to them before. (Who knows what a chicken thinks?)

It was a nice moment, a peaceful moment, just the Lord, my chickens and me on a quiet Wednesday evening thinking and singing about God's grace. After a little while, they quietly moved along to the other side of the house and to the backyard, heading for the safety of their coop. And, that's what happened on my evening chicken watch. There was nothing outwardly earth shattering and certainly no huge epiphanies to shout out to the world on Oprah but I love when the Lord speaks peace to me in that still small voice. Now, that's earth shattering and life changing.

Lord, thank you for those sweet, tender moments that reach in directly to us and pull us closer to Your heart. I think the chickens liked it. I know I loved it!

Suz