The Chicken House is Hoppin'

The chicken house is now officially finshed. The chicks now reside in a rustic home made from well seasoned lumber that was once our deck and has been resting on our property for several years. We ordered the chicks to come through the mail and the delivery date was set for Memorial Day. Since the post office is usually closed we expected them to call on the following day, but we got several hilarious calls on the appointed day from a confused postal worker with the sounds of chicks in the background. We were thrilled to see how sweet and fragile they were. It's amazing how tiny and helpless they are and how quickly they grow. We kept them in a crate in the playhouse for a couple of weeks with a light to keep them warm. When they seemed a little too big for the crate and the chicken house was ready (we thought) we moved them into their new home. As we were moving them assembly line style, Ray found one that had died and was buried under the shavings. Mary has been the most dedicated to the cause and was very sad, along with the rest of us, so we had our first chicken funeral.
The next day was Sunday so after church Ray wanted to check on the chicks in their new house. We were very disappointed to find one chick dead in the yard but were more afraid of what would be in the chicken house. (Don't forget we have five cats and two dogs.) When we got to the house all was well and it took a long time looking to even figure out how the chick had gotten out. We think that the chick scratched near the wall, then Brandon (our golden retriever) dug around the ground on the outside. After the chick got out the cats knew exactly what to do, so there was the next funeral. Then Ray and I spent the rest of the afternoon cutting more chicken wire and nailing it to the base of the house. Now- nothing can dig its way in or out.
The chicks have reminded us of how children are. We can do everything in the world to protect them from harm, build the safest home possible with no gaps in protection from the world, but they may still be in great danger. If they choose to remove themselves from your umbrella of protection by disobeying, they suffer the consequences- sometimes even death and separation. We are so thankful that God is sovereign over all things, including children when they go astray.