Biblical Chicken Wings

Psalm 91:4~He will cover you with His pinions (that means feathers), and under His wings you may seek refuge. He is a shield and bulwark (that means defense or protection).

The image in this scripture has always been comforting and meaningful to me - a beautiful picture of the loving protection of God over His children.

But i've never seen the natural example of it until lately.

For the first time, i have gotten to see, up close, the relationship between a hen and her chicks.

A couple of times i have been counting chicks to make sure everyone was accounted for, and i would come up short.  Frantically, i would be searching around for the lost chicks, when suddenly, out of nowhere, they would appear unharmed.  Finally, i figured out what was happening.

The chicks were taking refuge under their mother's wings.  When i say "under her wings," i don't mean that the chick was sitting on the ground, and the hen was sheltering the chick.  I mean that the chicks were hidden way up in the crooks of the hen's body - under her wings - in such a way that she was carrying them.  They were completely hidden in between her feathers, almost part of her body.

What a beautiful picture of how God hides us under HIS wings.

Sometimes, the hens cover the chicks with their bodies while the chicks stand on the ground beneath them.  

Sometimes, the chicks explore near the hens, but they are still protected.  Should anything come near the chicks - or the chicks' food - or any area that seems to be the general vicinity of the chicks, the mother hen rises up, flaps her wings, and pecks into submission any interloper.  She is their shield and protection.

And sometimes, they take refuge under her wings in a way that they are so close to her, that you can't find them.  You can only see the hen.

Painfully, i have seen where the mother hens' protections did fail, and the chicks were put in danger.

Then i am comforted again - that i am covered by the Father's wings.  The infallible, loving - not just instinctual - protections of my Father God guard me.  And i can take refuge under HIS wings, where i am invisible to any enemy.  Only my Father can be seen, and He will protect me while He teaches me and loves me, and i grow into what He has made me to be.

God's Gift of Nap

I do not want to ever discount the role of a full time mother by pretending that i know what it's like, from my babysitting experiences, to be a mother.  I don't yet know what it means to care for small children, day in and day out, 24/7 for 18 years.  And i have full respect and admiration for those who do.

That said.

I have come to discover that God had to have been thinking of mothers when He invented the need for napping.

Yesterday, God revealed to me that if i will refuse t.v. watching, place child on comfortable sleeping surface, and ignore her for about ten minutes, that the three-year-old will nap almost as long as the one-year-old.  And i am so thankful!

I have been blessed, this time around, with two children who will sleep nearly four hours in the afternoon, if i can just keep them going all morning.

I'm sure my husband is too because my house is CLEAN.  I can't believe it.

Right now, i'm typing to you mid-naptime and post SHOWER.  So awesome.

I recognize that this doesn't happen for everyone.  I have been the babysitter of children whom i could not, with any amount of ignoring, convince to nap.  And it was quite nightmarish.  'Cause these were the temperament of kids that you really really NEED to have a nap break from.

But now.....peaceful productive afternoons.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

puppy love

I mentioned puppy pictures yesterday, and today i will show you them.

Last week, while babysitting, the little girl was singing her version of a familiar song...

"...b. o. n. g. o. b. o n. g. o b. o n. g. o.....was his name-o!"

And i thought, "i'm a farmer.  i should have a dog named Bingo!"  And so i do.

BINGO

We also kept this little darling.  James named her Belle, which in my head i want to spell Bealle, but i think that would be confusing.  She's not quite as photogenically cooperative as Bingo, so i had to go back about a week to get a couple good pictures.

BELLE

Here's a great mother-daughter pic.  I included this one also so that, if you look very closely, you can see Belle has one blue eye and one brown - an attribute that endeared her to many, including my husband.

And of course, that's Jelly.  She looks a little grumpy there, but i think she was just sleepy.  

She's still a very happy and wonderful dog.

JELLY

These are those over whom such great food quality laboring has been anguished, as demonstrated in yesterday's post.

small triumphs in dog food

you, the world of people who know about dogs more than i do, probably already discovered this sort of thing, but i was pretty proud of myself, so i thought i'd share.

since i raise chickens, i have grown accustomed to reading those dang product labels to figure out the differences between the different feeds.  i have read a LOT of product labels lately.  recently, i was able to apply my extremely limited experience to dog food.

as you might imagine, dog food gets expensive around here lately.  up until recently, we had NINE dogs.  you'd be surprised how much those cute little puppies can consume.

and we really do want to feed our puppies PUPPY food, but it's so dang much more expensive, that sometimes we just can't handle it, and we buy the cheapest looking morsel we can find.  

but then those darling little puppies look you in the eye, and you think you're doing them wrong or something.

so yesterday, i went to the store for dog food.

again.

back to my recent experience with chicken food labels - i have learned that just because it's labeled for baby chickens or for turkeys or for game birds - doesn't necessarily mean the ingredients are particularly different - or sometimes it does.  you have to read the product label.

so i'm in the aisle at Brookshire Brothers (this is Coldspring, people; we have Brookshire Brothers, and we have Family Dollar; we do not have Wal-mart), staring at the 10 or so different dog foods, trying to make a wise decision.  and then...i remember....about chicken food.  and i start hauling these giant bags of food off of the shelf and onto my little shopping buggy there, and reading every single label.

i discovered a few things that surprised me.

one, as far as the dog food you buy at the grocery store - you know, not the gourmet stuff or anything - they're all mostly one thing............................corn.

no wonder my dogs like to eat the chickens' food.  it has better ingredients.

they all also have something they called "meat and bone meal" (which i assume is some kind of slaughter-house mystery meat) and animal fat preserved in something i can neither define, nor pronounce.

while, i am disappointed that i am mostly feeding my dogs corn, there's nothing to be done for it right now (since they're all like that), and i move on to the product labels.  or it's called some sort of "analysis."  i'm talking about the part, somewhere near the list of ingredients that says it has this percentage of this and that percentage of that, etc.

my goal is to discover what percentages of what, define puppy food as "balanced nutrition for growing puppies"  blah blah blah.

most of the amounts are pretty close ...... except the protein.  

the main difference (whether you buy "pedigree" or "cousin george's dog slop") seems to be the protein percentage.  "puppy food" has 27% crude protein.  "dog food" ..... has less.......in differing levels of ..... less.

the other thing about these foods is that the "special brands," you know the ones the commercials on t.v. have convinced us are better for our dogs, are (at this store) about a dollar a pound.  they package them in weird amounts like 14.5 pounds or 17.6 pounds, to throw you off, but they're all about a dollar per pound.  they want you to think you're comparing apples to apples, but you're not.

anyway, i started looking through the "cousin george" brands i've never heard of to see if anyone's percentages were better or worse than anyone else's.

most of them were exactly the same as any other "dog food."

but then i found a "Lone Star" brand, called Hi-pro PLUS, with the 27% protein.  and it didn't cost a dollar per pound.

i walked out of that store with a 40 pound bag of dog food for $19.something.  Just about half the per pound price of the brand name stuff.

and i feel like i really pulled something off.

for those of you that are screaming, "DON'T BUY THAT STUFF!" and want me to buy something from the vet that cost 6 times as much, i hear you.  and i am considering ways to feed my dogs more healthfully but also more affordably.  the wheels are definitely turning.  but for now......at least i know (sort of) what i'm feeding them, and i can feel good that they're getting "pedigree" nutrition......and we're not going broke to feed our dogs.

thank you very much.

for inquiring minds, we are now officially down to our original Jelly, and two of her puppies, Belle and Bingo, whom we plan to keep around.  

dogs make good chicken security.

and these ones are really cute.

AND they will all participate in the appropriate medical procedures to ensure that we never again have 8 mutts to find homes for if i have to babysit for the next year to pay for it.

pictures later, folks (of the puppies, not the medical procedures).  

there are three tiny children sitting on my couch, sort of quietly absorbing Blue's Clues, but i'm sure the peacefulness won't last forever, so i better stop blathering on.

welcome me back to the world of blogging.  i missed you.

good and messy life a.k.a. let me sum up

O.k., here i am.  Writing again.

I have decided (for maybe the 42nd time) that it is good for me to write, and i should do it even if i'm tired.

And i have been tired.  It has been kind of an emotional roller coaster, so i need to catch you up on the highlights.

It has been exHAUSting.

I told you that my baby chicks started hatching (thankfully) two days earlier than planned.  I was SO happy about that.

So at the beginning of this week, i had in my care:  9 brand new baby chicks, 9 four-week baby chicks, 8 dogs (one adopted last week), 20 full grown hens, and 4 roosters, plus a 1 year-old boy and a three-year-old girl between the hours of 7 and 4.

I thought everything was fine.  I seemed to be coping fine.

Then, one of the cute little puppies discovered that chickens don't make fun chew toys - two days later another puppy discovered that they do, however, make a great dinner.

One day later another puppy discovered the newly hatched make a great snack.

I, who had been previously pretending everything was fine taking it all in stride (whatever that means) broke down into a pile of mush.


The world is horrible.  I can't get control.  Too many tiny things that want to kill each other.

Giant emotional emergency.

All the puppies went into puppy jail.

The next day, the wonderful, kind, sensitive, and helpful husband of mine removed the offending puppies.

Remaining puppies stayed in puppy jail.

Everything seemed mostly ok, and then the one year old child fell off my porch into very stubborn stobs (word?) of unwanted shrubs and gashed his head.

(stob:  what would be a woody shrub, sticking out of the ground because it has been cut down to that level by the caretaker of the land.  cut down but not nearly low enough)

God help me!  (and i mean that in the way that you mean it when you are actually talking to God)  I am definitely a horrible babysitter.

Child got stitches.

Small chickens placed in more secure environment that previously was not secure until God helped me barricade it.

Mean offending stobs covered to protect living things of all sizes and species.

Peace approached.

Lessons learned:  puppies don't mean to be cruel killers, so they should be separated from things they can kill; i should ask God for help a LOT more often (didn't we hear this lesson recently?); when i do ask for help, HE responds.

End of day today:  i am down to 8 newly hatched chicks, 8 five-week old chicks, 20 hens, 3 puppies, one Jelly, 4 roosters.  Tomorrow, i am to be relieved of two roosters and one puppy.

On Monday, i am to be back in charge of same small children.

But this time, it will be a nicer week.  It will.

Seriously, it will.

O.k.

Now i must share with you the happier side of the week by sharing with you a little child humor.  I LOVE child humor!

The three year old girl i'm watching had seen a cartoon wherein the main character learns to do a magic trick.

This little girl tries to imitate her by taking some flower petals off the counter and putting them in her hand.

She tells me to guess which hand they're in.

Every time i get it wrong, and they're in neither hand.

"What happened to them?"  i ask.

"It's magic!  They disappeared!"  she exclaims.

"Wow!" i condescend, clapping and pretending it's the greatest thing i've ever seen.

After about the third time, this tricky little girl gets a big grin on her face.

"It's not magic!" she says, like i'm a big stupid head, " I threw them on the FLOOR!"

Laughing ensues.

Silly me.  =D

Delightful.

Remember how i said i'd rather have messy life than clean non-life?  I still think so.

five

Five new baby chicks this morning.  And one good mama chicken.

I am very pleased.

The other mama hen is hatching her babies right now.  So far we have two and at least one slowly cracking egg. It kills me not to watch every second.

God's creation is so amazing!  It's so unbelievable that that egg and that mama made new life.  How can anyone believe it's an accident?

pip

I have been so very busy lately - doing some babysitting for a friend of my husband.  And when not busy - just plain exhausted.  So i haven't written much.

But today i have big farm news!  I have had two broody hens sitting on eggs that i thought were due to hatch on Tuesday.  But this afternoon, i got a big surprise.  One of my hens' babies are already hatching.  There are two so far, but i could get a picture of only one.  It's kind of hard to see.  I outlined the tiny baby chick in yellow dots, so if you click on the picture and blow it up, you can kind of see a tiny baby chick under her mama.  I'm so excited!

Life, More Abundantly

Some months (i don't remember how long) i became a member of the arbor day foundation, paid my $10 dues, and subsequently expected to receive 10 free "trees" in the mail.  Yesterday, my trees arrived.  I'm very excited.

Here's the package i received in the mail.  Or, more correctly, this is what the trees looked like when i pulled them out of the package.

Here they are all separated.  Four dogwoods, 3 goldenraintrees, 3 redbuds, and one crapemyrtle.

Some of the dogwood trees are fairly small.  Hehe!

I promised one of the dogwood trees to a lady at my church.  The others, i planted today.  I might have taken pictures of where i planted them.  But, one, it was raining, and my camera doesn't like water.  Two, when i walked my husband directly up to one of the trees and pointed to it, he said, "where?" and he was serious.  So i don't think a picture would've helped.  

So.  I made this fairly inaccurate drawing on paint to show you what my place sort of kind of looks like and roughly where i planted my trees.  It may or may not be enlightening, but i enjoyed drawing it.  You'll probably have to click on it and enlarge it in order to gain any new knowledge from it.  I hope you enjoy looking at it.

I'm going to have to find something very brightly colored that the rain won't wash away to mark my little trees with.  That way i will be able to find them - and avoid mowing them down when lawnmowing season arrives.

But i have big dreams.  I'm envisioning them in all their beautiful potential, making my yard glow with color, attracting bees and butterflies to taste their nectar.  Sigh.

I hope you enjoy my drawing.

In other news, i'm babysitting this week.  Today, i had off, so i was able to plant trees.  Tomorrow, i start in again.  It's kind of like a competition, seeing if i can keep my house in some level of not-completely-filthy while watching 3 small children, who have to help me take care of 33 chickens, 9 dogs, and a cat.  It's kind of fun.  On Monday, when they were here, i kept hearing the phrase in my head, "life more abundantly."  Yeah.  Life is sometimes a mess, but abundant life, no matter how messy, is way improved over non-life, no matter how clean.

He Who cares for me and mine

I had to go read my own blog just now so that i could remember what i said last.

Chickens and laundry and clowns....got it.

So you're dying for news of my Wednesday road trip?  If you are, and i won't be offended if you are not, please refer to this link.  Blog entry about chicken road trip.

Here, i want to share something spiritual - but relating to the chicken road trip.

On Wednesday morning, i had prepared myself with clean clothes and clean shoes and plenty of gas and extra oil and ... and ... and..., and i went on my way to meet Eva in Cut and Shoot, where we would begin our journey together.

Normally on a little trip like that - when i'm alone - i will turn on the radio and sing my little heart out all the way.  I don't get a chance to do that very often, and it's fun, so that was the plan.

But as i started down the road, i felt the urge of the Holy Spirit to turn off the radio and just listen to Him.  And after a little more prodding, that's what i did.  And i'm so glad.  The Lord spoke to my heart something that i want to share with you.

**disclaimer:  i'm about to say things like, "God told me..."  When i say that, i mean that i strongly felt His impression on my heart that i have learned to recognize as Him speaking to me.  If i ever heard Him audibly with my physical ears, i'll let you in that probably.  But that's not what happened here.


I was thinking about these chickens and our trip and the excitement and the dreaded possibility of getting some horrible chicken disease and spreading it to my flock, etc., when the Lord reminded me that i had never asked Him about this rooster.  I had asked my husband, which was right and good, but i had not asked God.

Some people will tell you that God gives us principles and leaves the details of our lives to us.  I disagree.  Here's why.

The next thing that He spoke to me was about how if i will bring these little things to Him and hear from Him about what to do, then i give Him room in the details of my life to protect what is important to me.  And He wants to do that.

He is not so limited that He can only deal with the big picture - and He has to leave the details to us.  He leaves all the details to us, but He desires that we would involved Him in each and every one.  He wants to be the center of our lives.

I hope that my words can come close to conveying the cared-for-ness that the heavenly Father conveyed to my heart at that moment.

I have not, in the past, truly considered that it would be God's will for me to raise chickens.  I knew that He would use whatever i do to teach me more about Him and His nature, but i did not consider that He will guide me in each detail - if i will let Him.

In the truck, on the way to Eva's, i broke down and cried and asked Him to forgive me.  I want Him in everything.  How much easier to rely on the all-knowing Father for instruction, instead of trying to predict the future on my own.

Specifically, God knew whether our travel to this far away chicken farm would yield devastation to our own flocks.  Why wouldn't i want His o.k. before going?  I'd be nuts not to seek His approval, knowing that He knows and cares about what happens to me and mine.

So, it turned out to be a really nice trip to Cut and Shoot, hearing from the Lord and softening my heart to His instruction.

And the whole day was lovely  - we got lost, but we got found, so it was o.k., just long.

And then i brought home one of the most beautiful animals i think i've ever seen.

I am absolutely in love with this bird.  He is the nicest rooster i think i could ever have.  And maybe you'd have to know about chickens to understand, but he is so sweet and does not struggle against me.  Most roosters don't like to be handled.  But this guy, he's cool.

I don't usually publish pictures of myself on my blog.

I like to let you imagine me as pretty and in shape and photogenic as i imagine myself to be before i look at my own pictures.  But in this case, i'll share.

See how happy i look in this picture?  That's how happy i really am.

That's Magnus in my arm there.  He looks a little less than smiley in this picture, but then again, he's a chicken.  Don't judge him too harshly.

Here's a more recent picture of Magnus and his buddy Hansel.  Hansel will soon go to live at Eva's house, but he's hanging out in Rogers Country for a few weeks to keep Magnus company during his quarantine period.

That's Hansel in front and Magnus in back.  Magnus has an unusual comb with lots of fingers/teeth in it.  You can't see Hansel's comb in this picture, but it's a little more sort of all the same length - in a chicken comb sort of way.

One last thing, because i think you deserve a good laugh.  While i was typing this post, my dog, Jelly, you know the one with all the puppies, started raising a fuss outside - in what sounded like the direction of the chicken coop.  It sounded like the kind of fuss that was about to eat something for a late night snack, so when it didn't subside, i decided to go investigate.  There was no one here to take a picture, but i put on a sweatshirt over my pajamas and took my $3 yellow flashlight (the kind they sell in the impulse rack at Lowe's) and my shotgun.  I felt like some kind of hillbillie csi, doing the flashlight and gun thing.  Very cute.  And there was no one there.  Although, there was one suspicious shadow that turned out to be ....well, nothing.  I thought you'd enjoy that image.

Happy night, friends.

chickens and Mexico and clowns

Today.

Is laundry day.

Today is kind of an important laundry day.

How can one laundry day be more important than any other laundry day?

I'll tell you.

Tomorrow, a road trip is planned to go and purchase some full-grown roosters from another chicken-raising type person who lives 2 hours or so away.  But what you might not know about chickens, is that each flock has its own thing going bacteria-and other microscopic being-wise.

It's kind of like Mexico.  In Mexico, the people drink the water and don't end up deathly ill, right?  But if you, as an American, go to Mexico, everyone and their brother and their cat will tell you, "don't drink the water."  And if you do, you might end up with Montezuma's Revenge or some other delightful word for feeling really bad.  You might also end up with hepatitis.  This is because your body is accustomed to dangerously sterile, bleached water here in the States, while all the little Mexican babies have been drinking this water since they've been drinking any water at all, and their bodies know what to do with it.

So, in this way, chickens are like Mexico.

If they share germs that their bodies don't know what to do with, someone might get sick.

Alternatively, they might inadvertently share a deadly-to-all-chickens disease that they didn't realize they had and almost never have - but if they do have is really devastating.  And that would be really bad too.

The way that all this Mexico/chicken information relates to laundry is this.  Tomorrow, when i go to get my rooster, i will be very careful to wear clean, untouched-by-my-chickens, clothes, and i will carry freshly laundered, poop-free shoes in a plastic bag, to wear only at the destination site, after which, they will be washed again.

Are you glad you know all this?

Good.

Here's the rest of the story.

I have exactly 3 pair of pants that i wear on a regular basis.

I have my clean, fairly new, dark blue jeans that i wear mostly only to church and church-type meetings - or other gatherings where i am expected (or it would simply be courteous) to be clean.  (Yes, this is Texas.  I wear jeans to church.)

I have my work jeans.  These are old, well-loved, comfortable, holey, patchy, generally stinky, and i wear them every day to do work around the house, collect eggs, and cuddle chickens.

Then i have my alternate pants.  They can sub for either of the other two in a pinch.  And often they're what i wear when i go do laundry.

But this week, because of the chicken trip, i'm going to be one pair short, so i need to wash all three.  But since it's very important to wear pants when you do laundry in public, i had to think of an alternative alternative pair of pants.

I went digging.

I found a box under my bed of old dress clothes that i used to wear to the courthouse.  This is also the box that my dog has apparently been sleeping on top of when i am not looking.  Anyway, i found an old pair of not in particularly good shape, brown, don't really fit me anymore, dress pants.  With them i am wearing a really ratty t-shirt that doesn't go at all.  Then, as i was getting my coins, etc., together to do laundry, i discovered that these dress pants have no pockets for quarters.  I don't like taking my purse to the laundromat because it seems unwise to leave your fundage accessible to strangers.  I like to have my money ON me.  So i have constructed (word used loosely) an over-the-neck-and-shoulder type bag out of what appears to be a weird little pocket thing designed for someone's belt, and a giant adjustable strap for a suitcase or something.

I'm very fashionable.

Actually, i look a little like a really unimaginative clown.

But it's o.k.

I'm clean, and my quarters are safe.

And no, i'm not going to share a picture.

metaphors about my back side

Ah...Friday.

It probably seems like i wouldn't notice Fridays so much since i'm home every day of the week - BUT i do.

I'm happy it's Friday night for a few reasons.  One is that i'm getting a chance to post on this, my blog.

I haven't been writing much this week because i've been evaluating my habits and priorities.  It seems more important that i do the doing than that i write about the doing.  Not to mention that if all you're doing is writing about the doing and not so much doing the doing, then pretty soon you don't have any more doing to be writing about.

Meaning, i've been falling behind on keeping things up here around the homestead, and i'm in the midst of giving myself a kick in the pants and putting a fire under my seat and a few other metaphors involving my back side and getting a move on.

Another reason i have not been online much lately is that the monitor on my computer has all but completely blacked out, and i cannot see what i'm clicking on.  Therefore, i am using my husband's computer late at night after he is gone to sleep.  I know that our having two computers might make it sound like we've spoiled ourselves, but the truth is that they are both hand-me-down computers or were very very cheap - i can't remember specifically.  I believe we've paid a total of about $36 dollars for both systems, so we're doing pretty good.  Thankfully, tomorrow we have plans to receive another free monitor from a kind Freecycle member who has one i can use.  Whew!  It's amazing how much difference i makes.  My computer is set up just the way i like it, and my husband's .... isn't.

Back to the metaphors about my backside.

I think the Lord is trying to get something through to me.  I'm a little slow, but i'm starting to get it - more to His credit than mine.  Do you know the scripture that says .... hold on, i'll look it up....here it is.  It's Proverbs 29:18.  The version you've probably heard says "Where there is no vision, the people perish."  That's only the first part of the verse, by the way.  I've had that verse in my head after every unproductive day for which i've had no plan.  If i have no plan for the day - no direction - no goals - the day generally ends without any accomplishment.  The day is dead because i did not use it.  That's how it seems to me.  The day perished.

I like the way The Message Bible says it - the whole verse this time - "If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves..." (that definitely sounds like me) "...but when they attend to what He reveals, they are most blessed."  This remind me of the most important part of planning - getting God's plan.  Doing things my way often ends as badly as no plan at all (or worse).  But if stop to listen - and yes God cares about the work i do around my home - He really will direct me and even make my work easier than it would be.

Does God really care about the work i do around my home?  You betcha!  The very first chapter of the Bible reveals God's will that man have "dominion...over all the earth."  How much more should i have dominion over my house and yard?  This is the part of "the earth" that is specifically under MY jurisdiction.  So i need to take care of it.  Not to mention that everything i have is really HIS.  I need to be a good steward of all that He gives me.

These are just some of the things on my mind and heart lately.  They are also among the reason why i might not blog every single day until i get my system down - and why some of my phone calls might be cut a little short.  I need to get my priorities in God's order and make sure that what i have dominion over - my responsibilities and my spot in the earth - is in the order and condition God desires.

Then i will have a lot more doing to write about.

When i get back to my computer, i might also get to show you some great pictures.

You are going to be SO GLAD you read my blog!

I can't believe i haven't already shared this recipe with you.  This is THE way to eat eggs.  Seriously.  I know about eating eggs.  And this is IT.  I need a name for it though.  I don't know what to call it.  Let me tell you about it, and we'll go from there.

Start, with a nonstick saucepan.  Yes, you read that right.  SAUCE PAN.  NON-STICK.  I know.  Terms i don't usually use.  But for this one thing.....this is the way to go.

So you have your small non-stick sauce pan, and you have your well-fitting (is that a word?) lid waiting in the shadows for its moment of glory.

First things first.  

Butter.  The salted kind.  This is the foundation of your perfect breakfast.  Put some in the pan.

Heat over medium heat until the butter is melted.

Line the bottom of the pan with sliced mushrooms.  Texas Fresh little white button mushrooms will do in a pinch, and that's what these are.  But if you happen to have your hands on some baby bellas, you will never eat anything BUT this.

Sautee for about 20 seconds or something and flip 'em.

Have your eggs ready.  As soon as you flip the mushrooms, drop in the eggs.  This is actually only two eggs, in spite of the 3 yolks.  One was a double-yolker.  These eggs are farm fresh wonderful, orange-yolked, top of the line, home grown, best flavor in the world, eggs.  Try to get some of those.  But if you can't regular, flat, pale, store-bought eggs will work.  Just not as magnificently.

On top of the eggs, cheese.  Pretty much any cheese you like will work here.  This day, i used a shredded fiesta blend.  Be generous.  Next, put on the lid.  I took a picture of it with the lid on, but that was a really boring picture, so i'm going to let you use your imagination.

Don't lift that lid too often, and don't let it sit too long.  I like runny yolks and non-runny whites, don't you?  This picture is about 15 seconds away from perfection.  I put the lid back on briefly to take care of some wobbly whiteness.

Then, easy as .....  way easier than pie .... flip.  There it is!  You've got your sauteed mushrooms, cooked into  your sunny-side-uppish eggs with cheese on top - er, on bottom.  And you're going to need  a spoon, so you can enjoy the goodness.

Liquid gold.

Wait!  Haven't we forgotten to thank the Lord?  All natural ingredients, all made by God, all together.  He deserves your thanks for this and so much more.

Now enjoy!

If you don't believe me, try it, just one time.  It's the best thing you've ever done with an egg.

In other news, these are two of my new roosters (baby roosters), Magnus and Zebu.  Zebu is the very confidant, in your face, dark-colored fella up front.  Magnus is the low-key guy chillin' out, maxin', relaxin' all cool, there under that little shelf.  Those guys huddled in fear in the back are future dinners, and they don't like me.  We call them The Nuggets.  We have really never called them The Nuggets until i did it just now, but i thought it was pretty funny, so i went there.

Magnus and Zebu know about eggs.  They used to live in eggs.  They think you should try my recipe too.

In other other news, i have two broody hens at my house.  If that interests you - or if you have no idea what broody means, check out detailed educational value type chicken business over here.

***This blog post has been entered into the "Grow Your Own Roundup."  Check it out here.***

Answered Prayers, present and former

 A long time ago, when we moved here, i blogged about my struggle with finding a new home church - after being a member of what i felt was the perfect church - for seven years.  The separation from my distant church family and the search to find a new church were excruciating.  I felt so lonely and really really needed a home church body.

Finally, after a lot of prayer and lot of crying and feeling sorry for myself and a lot of skipping church because i didn't feel i belonged anywhere and a lot of God encouraging my heart and a lot of true spiritual friends encouraging me to press through, i made a decision about what church i would commit myself to.  It was so important to me to be a part of a local church and to find a way to contribute.  It was almost a year ago - Easter-ish - that i made that decision.

But still, i, the quiet introvert, very slowly eaked my way into a few friendly acquaintanceships in my church.  Not their fault - mine.  But i loved my church, and slowly, but surely, i was feeling a little more like i belonged.

Then, something unprecedented (at least i've never heard of it before) happened.  The Lord moved on the hearts of the pastors of our church and two other local churches - TO MERGE.  You've heard of church splits, right?  These guys decided to humble themselves and merge for the glory of God.  I know that this decision was made with much prayer and confirmation from God in the minds and hearts of the church leadership.  But to some of us, it came as quite a surprise.

At first, i was pretty ok with it, though i was concerned for some of my co-members, who didn't seem quite so optimistic.  The main church we were merging with was the same church that had been with my current church in my "final two" selection process when i was searching for a home church body.  And i could see some of the complimentary strengths and weaknesses that would help the two bodies to strengthen each other.

But then, it happened.  I listened to the voice of discouragement, and i became so very negative - critical of all the new and different things.  Intolerant of all the little quirks and awkwardness that must naturally come with such a merge.  So much that i considered leaving the church altogether...even though i knew that God had directed me to this body.

One Wednesday evening, i forced myself to go to church, having in my mind that i didn't want to commit to service at this church yet because i didn't know if i was going to stay.

But before the service, i prayed a simple but sincere prayer.  I admitted to the Lord that i knew my heart was wrong, and i asked HIM to change it.

He did.  He did it right then.  I started perceiving things differently, seeing people through the eyes of love instead of criticism, receiving the presence of the Holy Spirit in the work that was happening.

I even heard myself volunteer to commit myself to helping in the nursery on a regular basis.  I say "heard myself" because that's what i mean.  Afterward, my negative (and quickly diminishing) side was protesting, "wait!  you said you're not going to commit yet!"  But i was in.

God has continued to change my heart since that evening.  And i have changed.  I have begun to receive the Word of God from the leaders who are over this church, and i have benefited greatly.

And i'm so in awe of how God answered my prayer.  How He seemed to do it totally independent of me.

Yesterday, for the first time since we merged, i had a thought that my almost silent negative side couldn't stand.  I thought, "I like my church!"  And i do.

God is doing something amazing here my little town.

Another unprecedented thing in this little community, i will share with you.  When i was a child, a teenager, my family lived in this area, and my dad pastored a church.  And we felt the strong heaviness of racism in very real ways.  All i can say about that is that the members of the community and the church were largely very closed (vocally so) to the idea of black and white Christians worshiping together in the same place.  There were "white churches," and there were "black churches."

Now, some 20 years later, Christians with black skin and Christians with white skin and Christians with a few skin shades in between, welcome each other in my church.  It's a big deal.  It really is.  I am moved.  I'm not sure i ever believed that would happen here.  I am so happy it is!