Only God Could Think of That

 
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  2 Corinthian’s 5:17

It’s a big week for my little lovelies…our chicks will be hatching in the next couple of days.  It’s more exciting than Christmas in first grade! Today I moved the incubator to the “tiny table” so the kids could kneel down and look right in the clear top to see what was going on inside.  As a dozen of them peered intently through the Plexiglas, one of them said, “Hey Mrs. Wohlfert, this reminds me of Easter.”  “Why is that?” I asked.  I got a groan and grin from one of the boys who said, “Geez Mrs. Wohlfert, don’t you get it…Easter EGGS, that’s what he meant.”  After some laughter the little boy who started the conversation said, “No, that’s not what I was talking about.  It reminds me of Easter because inside those eggs it’s dark and boring, just like it was inside Jesus’ tomb.  We’re all just waiting around not really seeing anything but then in just a couple days it’s going to be like Easter and something alive is gonna break right out of those eggs like Jesus just broke out of His tomb and wasn’t dead anymore.” It was as if the most profound lesson had been bestowed upon them.  They were in awe of his wisdom and so the conversation really began.  They stared at the eggs and began coming up with all kinds of ways those little eggs waiting to burst forth with new life connected to the Easter miracle.  I just sat back and soaked it all in, in awe of the simple beauty of God’s love  and the wonderful lessons they found in that incubator.

The entire 21 day project is so full of life and faith.  They learn about taking responsibility for a living thing and they really become invested as “chicken parents” as we learn all the things that are happening inside those eggs. Even the busiest, most wiggley lovelies of all learn to turn the eggs twice each day with gentleness and tender care.  We learn that they have a beating heart on the fourth day of incubation and that they develop their beaks on day 9 but it doesn’t finish getting hard until day 18. They also learn that there is exactly enough egg yolk to feed them for 21 days and then it’s all used up and on day 19 they situate themselves with their beaks pointed toward the air cell at the end of the shell so they can have air during the last 3 days when they grow so big their feet wrap up around their eyes.  As I share each new and amazing fact about the developing “babies” inside that incubator, they respond to each astounding detail with one response… “Only God could think of that!” I’ve heard that so many times in the last 20 days I've lost count.  Their excitement and anticipation amazes me each year.  It just never gets old!  They even remind me to whisper the lunch menu if it contains a “chicken” entrée so as not to frighten or hurt the feelings of the “babies” because as you know, “they have ears by day 5 and we don’t want them to know yet that someday they might be lunch.”

Toward the end of afternoon one of the lovelies realized that the reason we have eggs and chicks with the Easter decorations in the stores is because they are a sign of new life, just like Jesus.  He wondered if everyone knew that.  I decided to take them one step further and said, “Now that you know why we see eggs and chicks at Easter does anyone know why we see lambs?”  After a tiny second of quiet a giant gasp and a hand flying into the air revealed that one little lovely got it, and she said, “It’s because Jesus is the Lamb of God!”  It was an excellent day!  The fine folks at the MSU
Poultry Farm have no idea how big a lesson they sell for $8.25 per dozen.  Only God could think of that!

 A Seed To Plant:  Look for a true miracle of God’s creation today and pause for a minute to tell Him thank you.

Blessings on your day!