Hello,
The chickens are here!
Those of you old enough to remember the 60’s-70’s show “Green Acres”
will know what I mean when I say that I am living out that show, only in
reverse. In the show a man
captivated with the idea of living on a farm steals his wife away from the big
city to take up the country life…”Green Acres is the place to be…farm living is
the life for me…” Well, in my case
it is my wife who has the farming bug, and she has stolen this suburban Chicago
kid to live the country life.
We have lived on our small western Pennsylvania acreage for just about a
year now, and I can now say that “farm life” has officially begun. Over the course of the winter my wife
has been making preparations for this day, the arrival of her chickens. With her usual diligence, she began
researching designs for chicken coops in the fall, made adaptations to many of
them to fit her dreams, laid away on many a night mulling over the options, and
then while the snow flew she built her chicken coop in the protection of our
garage. Let me just say, that this
chicken coop is quite unlike any chicken coop on Green Acres which lacked
quality and durability. No, my
wife’s chicken coop is the “Taj Ma Coop” of chicken coops….built on a solid
trailer, bolted down with 8 large bolts, equipped with electricity for lights
and winter heat, complete with vented roosting boxes, and easily
accessible egg retrieval, and
sided with cedar siding left over from our house construction. It took its maiden voyage out of our
garage a couple of weeks ago, and it now sits safely sheltered behind our
garage awaiting its occupants. For
the last several weeks my wife has been counting down the days for the chickens
to arrive in the mail (yes…they come in the mail!), and at last, today they
arrived. Four baby chicks now
making their home in our furnace room in the makeshift pen that she formed out
of our dog’s no longer used kennel.
Paneled in cardboard, the pen mimic’s their mother’s nest by keeping at
a constant 95 degree temperature for the first week or so.
After they have grown enough, and I don’t know what that
means…but believe me, my wife has researched this….they will take their place
in the palace that awaits them, the “Taj Ma Coop”.
So, it is an exiting day at the Nuernberger house… a new life for this
city kid as “farm animals” have arrived, and a new life for my wife as a long
hoped for dream begins to take shape.
All this has given me a new appreciation of what Jesus said when he
spoke of the joy in heaven when a sinner repents, more joy than when a shepherd
finds a lost sheep….more joy than when a woman finds a lost coin…….the kind of
joy, I am sure, that I saw in my wife’s eyes when the chickens arrived!
Fellow chickens…..have a great week!
God’s grace and peace,
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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