When Hope Comes to Life

             "I don't think any of my eggs will hatch." It wasn't the words that bothered me as much as the tone of voice she used. It was the sound of hopelessness. Half-pint was fighting back tears when she told me about her most recent discovery in her duck's nest. That day she had found an oozing egg, and we all remember what that means, right? (Did you miss the rotten egg story? Click here.)  To make matters worse, we left town for a short vacation the previous week; and all three young boys ducks (plus one girl) flew away while we were gone. We now have just one hobbling drake and five girls. I could tell that Half-pint was losing hope. I've felt that same feeling many times--the feeling that nothing good will happen. Even worse, I've thought that nothing will ever change. I have enough history to also know it is a lie, and who is behind it. A mentor of mine used to use a phrase I love...that it was "a lie straight from the pit of hell". I don't mind Half-pint mourning her loss of ducks. That's normal and healthy. The part she was struggling with was giving up on the future just because something bad that happened in the past. I told Half-pint that we had no control over what had happened,  but we also can't tell the future. The only thing we can do is to pray to the One who does have control.
          We have added a lot of new life on our prairie. Last week, we added ten new chicks and two red-ear slider turtles. Despite Half-pint's concerns, this week we've also added a dozen brand-new ducklings. The joy on the children's face was priceless when Half-pint rushed in to tell us that the ducklings were hatching.  We put math on hold to watch a little natural science. It was fascinating to observe the way the mother covered the little ones by puffing out her feathers. The little ducklings would pop out from under the mama and occasionally venture a few inches from her till they realized their mistake. They began a frantic peeping and raced back to her side. She quickly tucked them under her, all the while carefully rolling the unhatched eggs around under her warm feathers. Charlotte, my Rhode Island Red hen, jumped down from her perch in fascination. She's green with envy.
            A funny thing happened when our mama duck started sitting on her eggs. Charlotte decided to sit on her eggs (and all the other hens eggs). I gently explained that since we have no rooster, she was only spoiling our breakfast. She dutifully squawked at me and puffed her feathers out to look fierce. Several times I donned my leather gloves and took her eggs.  I gave up gluten,  I'm not about to give up my eggs too. When the duck eggs hatched, she finally realized the futility of sitting on her empty nest because she reluctantly spent some time outside with the rest of the hens. Maybe I should give her a little talk about hope too. Perhaps someday, we'll get a rooster.
            Last weekend,  our pastor spoke on Christ being a man of sorrows. It is so easy to take for granted how much He suffered for us. They showed clips from "The Passion of The Christ", and it was hard for me not to feel light-headed while seeing the way his flesh was torn by the whips they used.  I cannot fathom allowing someone to nail my hands to a wooden beam to hang from when I did absolutely nothing wrong. It hurts my heart to think of watching any of my children suffer the way that Mary and God did. The passage our pastor read from was Isaiah 53:1-12. He spoke about how we have all strayed from God's path, and he pointed out that sin is ultimately a disconnected heart, a turning to our own way. Honestly,  I've felt that lately...like there is a disconnect between my heart and His...like I've wandered out of the nest on my own. There has been a feeling of hopelessness in my heart over prayers that I have continued to lift up. There has been a lack of passion in my heart for Him.  I'm guilty of walking around oblivious to God, mulling over my own disappointments instead of noticing His blessings. It's been easier lately to make other things a priority over reading my Bible. It's been easy for me to forget what He did. No more. This past weekend was a good reminder of how much He hurt for me and how much He loves me. Seeing the ducklings hatch also reminded me that no human really knows the future and not to give up my hope so easily!
           I attended a women's event recently that highlighted Romans 13:11-14. It was dead on with what I've been experiencing. It begins by saying, "But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing!"