Ode to White Chicken

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1 John 4:11-12

Ode to white chicken...

Last week we said goodbye to White Chicken. When my youngest child left for college, my husband got me three chickens, one for every child who was then out of my empty nest. At one point they had names but mostly I just called them my biddies because they reminded me of three little old ladies. They balked at one another, they fought, they squawked and clucked constantly, but for all their apparent contention, they seemed to move in a lovely rhythm of sisterhood, never straying far from one another, each one knowing where they fit in the pecking order.   White chicken was the most vocal of all. It was her job to sound the alarm when the other two were trying to lay eggs.  Unlike Lucy, (Chicken number 2) her egg production was sparse at best, but every morning when the other two layed their eggs,  Whitey would strut outside the coup and scream at the top of her lungs as if to announce the greatest event in history.  Not the most social, that was chicken number two, Red Chicken. White never really grew comfortable with us but would always stay a safe distance away.  I think she was a bit of an introvert. True, she was an odd bird, but it was clear that she was the caretaker of the flock.  Yes, she was a leader for sure and Lucy and  Red were content to follow her.  She would lead them around the yard in search of good places to forage for bugs and I often observed her strutting back and forth like a sentry while the other two contentedly dug around in the dirt. She was the one who figured out how to escape the coup, raid my garden, and led the charge in the hostile takeover of an old barbecue in the backyard, which really did make a perfect roost!  When she became ill, from whatever chicken born illness would eventually take her chicken life, our hearts were saddened to watch her strength fade.  What did not grow weak however was her desire to maintain her role as caretaker of the flock.  No matter how hard it was to keep up with the other two, she found the strength to do it.   Red chicken was struck by the same illness and quickly became too weak to move.  Even though she was clearly worse off than Red, White walked slowly across the yard and as she reached the place where Red was lying, in what would be her last display of love and commitment, she spread her wing over her and lay down next to her. White chicken breathed her last that day but not before teaching me an incredible lesson about sisterhood. She was all in! There was no every hen for herself attitude with Whitey.  She knew her role in the flock and she fulfilled that role with all her chicken might. She may not have been the most social, like Red, or the most productive, like Lucy, but she was smart and crafty and she had one BIG voice, especially when she was singing the praises of her sister hens. There is a kingdom lesson in the life of White Chicken wouldn't you agree?  

Today, in honor of White chicken, think outside the box, let yourself be comfortable doing what you are great at, and stop comparing yourself to others.   Take just one moment to sing the praises of one of your sisters, and despite the squawking, and balking we sometimes do as women, take a minute to let your sister friends know you are indeed there for them and you are  ALL IN!

Love from home,

Julie