EVERYTHING'S COMING UP ROSES!

Just thought I'd show you a picture of my newest rose--a climbing Pinata! Isn't it lovely? We just put this plant in two days ago. It had several buds and I guess it is loving its new home from the looks of things. I've had so much trouble with my garden the last while that I almost hate to plant a nice new plant. It sometimes feels like I'm sentencing it to death. I have high hopes for this rose. My mom gave it to me and it's so pretty and healthy. Another rose planted in the same area flourishes, so I think we'll be ok.

I had an adventure this morning. I got up early and before everyone else was ready to help me and I moved 21 teenage chickens (actually middle aged chickens) from their cardboard condo in my barn to their more permanent home--the coop! Actually no home is very permanent for them since their lives are already about half spent. They are meat birds. I decided to venture out and raise a flock of birds to be butchered and put in the freezer this year. My laying hens will be ready to be picked up just as the meat birds are leaving the premises. It only takes 6-8 weeks for these birds to reach full maturity for butchering. I made a deal with a neighbor who gets laying hens (chicks) late in the spring. They are going to be about two weeks old when I pick them up. I'll get about 6 and pay him for raising them for a few weeks. It eliminates having to use the light on them and so on. A very good deal. Then by fall we will be having a consistent bunch of eggs every day.

As I was moving the chicks, of course they flapped, fussed, and carried on considerably. They tried to avoid me and didn't want to leave the only home they've ever known. It reminded me of how we are as people. Sometimes we think we know what's best for us and miss the VERY best by dragging our feet and resisting change. If these chicks could have known that they were leaving a crowded cardboard box set-up for a larger more comfortable home complete with grass and sunshine, they would have hurried into the portable cage for the trip! But instead, it took me a good deal of time to round them up, capture them one by one and force them to move. I put them in a dog cage, 5-7 at a time, and loaded them on the truck for a trip to the coop. Once there, they were obviously happy in the new surroundings. Aren't we like that? Sometimes we resist change in our church, our job, our home, our lives, when in all actuality change would be the best thing. I couldn't help identifying with them--I too am probably middle-aged! I was anxious for them to enjoy as large a portion as possible of their lives out in the sunshine and fresh air. Our weather has been too cold to move them before now. As I have written before, change is strongly associated with life. If you are living, you are changing. Change can be a positive thing. Ponder these thoughts and see if the Lord has been trying to get you to change in some area. Don't be like my chickens, too stubborn to move! Blessings, LORI