Well, chicky baby is still alive and kicking. WOOHOO! These first few days are crucial as the babies simply must stay at a good 90ish degrees, all the time. A good mother is vital for their survival, if they are hatched out under a hen, or a light bulb warmer, if they are abandoned, or are mail-order chicks. Their temperature need drops every week or so, by 5-10 degrees. Hopefully, our mild fall weather will hold out long enough to get baby able to feather out and keep itself warm, with the other chickens on the roost, or at least, near Big Momma.
Big Momma, by the way, is a very good momma. She was growling at me while I was photographing them. Keep in mind, I was standing up, and this was taken using the zoom feature. It wasn't as if I was right in her face. I think she would have likely taken my hand (well, at least a finger or two!) off if I had actually tried that!
Her growling got Chicky-Baby back under her fairly quickly. It took little one a minute or two to figure out that bumping into momma's leg isn't going to exactly make it easy to get all the way under. Finally, little one ran around and dove in under momma's chin (do chickens *have* a chin? I'm not sure...), and then momma stood up, fluffed up some more, and settled in for a late morning 'nap'.
Baby comes out to eat, drink, scamper around for a few minutes, and then back under mom. Kind of like people babies, too.
And speaking of people babies...
Somewhere in this country today, there is a young woman, apparently on the verge of going into labor at any minute. Her baby is going to be adopted out to a family I am acquainted with, and so we are praying for an easy process all around, for bio mom, baby, and the adoptive family. Especially as the family has just driven to be in the same town as the delivery, over 1000miles, in one day. Dad has to fly out (from the city the baby is due to be delivered in), this morning, for a business trip he cannot put off. So, please pray for the entire family...it cannot be easy (they pulled into the delivery town this morning, Dad flies out in a couple of hours), and I know that they would appreciate the prayers and best wishes/positive thoughts. For privacy purposes, it is the "B" family. But God will know who they are, and will provide accordingly. :-)
Babies. Goodness knows, after six of my own wee ones (five I get to hold here), it never gets old. I'll admit, I am like my late mother in law, who when asked why she had 13 children, she said "I just love babies". I know *I* am glad that she didn't listen to all those who said (after number 4) "Just stop, already!". And again after number 6, when the doctor told her she shouldn't have any more. Because my darling El Husbando is number 11. And where would I be without him? I was never blessed to meet my husband's mother (she died of cancer when he was in his teens), but I will be eternally grateful to her, for opting for LIFE. For being open to it. For saying "YES" in a most visible fashion to the will of God. It isn't always easy, that I know. There are mornings like this one, when the one day I was going to be able to sleep in, #4 & 5 decided to strip and use a "self-produced artistic medium" to decorate their cribs, crib sheets, and selves (Lord, have mercy!)...and I had to pry myself out from under two gloriously warm quilts, off of a nice comfy feather bed, and drag my sleep imprinted head out of my bedroom, and immediately start running them a bath. But I wouldn't change a thing (okay, I wish they'd get past the strip and fling part of toddlerhood). I certainly would rather HAVE these two, even with the poo-flinging, than to be without them in my life.
And even when things don't turn out the way we would prefer, like with our sweet, much-missed #6, who we were only blessed to have with us for 11 wks (gestational), I know that God has a plan greater than my imaginings. Even larger than my dreams can ever fathom. And if His plan means that we are not blessed again with a child of our own, so be it. And if it means that we have been stretched by these twins, so as to have our hearts ready for triplets (not that I am asking for them, you know!), so be it as well. Let it not be said, that we did not echo the words of the mother of Our Lord, when she said her Fiat "Let it be done to me according to Thy Will".
May the Lord's blessings be upon you, B family. May the child soon to join you, be safely brought out of the womb, and into your arms...for we know, this child is already in your hearts.
And may all you others out there, pregnant or not pregnant. Married or unmarried. Give a moment in prayer for the little ones, caught up in the holocaust of abortion. Pray for their mothers, that they may change their minds, and bless a family with a child much loved and wanted, via the gift of adoption. Pray for those who perform these atrocities, that they will see their error, repent and turn back from their vile deeds, and instead use their knowledge for good, not evil.
And most of all, pray for those who have already crossed that bridge, that their hearts may be brought to repentence and healing, that the babies who have been lost, are fully joined together with Our Loving Savior, and that together with the prayers of the faithful Church Triumphant, we, the Church Militant, can change this world, and bring back the respect for life that we once had.
On this Sunday, the Feast of All Saints, remember those saints whose names have passed from human memory. Remember the martyrs, dying at the sword, the axe, the gun, and the hangman's noose. Remember the saints who died in their beds, after a life of knowing, loving, and serving God. And remember those saints in the making today. Pray for their strength--and ours--that we will hold fast, that we will run the race, and that one day, we too, can be counted amongst that holy company.
And until later, my friends, I hope you are having a blessed weekend, with family, and friends.
God bless that family and the woman who chose to give her child a life with them!
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