Today’s Word from Deacon Amy…
The dictionary describes a miracle as “a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency.” We may have experienced a small miracle at our little farm this week.
Like many of you, we lost power for about 36 hours last week. Our only real loss was the small incubator that my daughter had in her room – she had 6 chicken eggs that were about a week from hatching. When using an incubator, you have to be pretty meticulous about keeping the heat and humidity just right throughout the 21-day incubation period. Lia keeps a calendar and makes adjustments at precise times. Losing the heat and airflow for 36 hours was catastrophic – there was no way these eggs were going to hatch.
As happens, life got busy and we kind of forgot about the incubator. That’s why it was such a shock when I walked into her room yesterday and heard the unmistakable peep of a brand-new chick. I hurried to the incubator to see one adorably fluffy chick, and another working on breaking free from its shell. Since we knew that the eggs were not viable, Lia had stopped adjusting the temperature and humidity, and had not removed the egg tray that turns eggs over on a regular basis. I quickly opened the cover and started to remove the tray – the little one still in the egg burst out as soon as the restrictive walls were removed. Inspecting the eggs, I found that two more chicks had already pipped (poked small holes in their shells). I was absolutely amazed!
By the next morning, we had four happy little chicks bouncing around in there. Four out of six is a pretty good hatch rate – we usually hope for five, but I’d say four was pretty spectacular considering what these particular chicks had been through.
I don’t know if this counts as an actual miracle – I can’t fathom any reason why God would be so inclined to intervene and make sure that these little guys hatched – but it’s still pretty thrilling for us. I also realize that I have no idea why God does what God does most of the time – and I’m ok with that. I think that’s a big part of faith – not understanding, and being ok with that lack of understanding – I can completely trust in God, and know that I don’t have to know the reasons behind God’s actions. After all, God knows better than I do what is most important.
So, this little hatching, whether a true miracle or not, brought joy to our household. We smiled with the joy of new life, which is always a miracle. We celebrated the surprise, and we’ll enjoy these new little ones for as long as they are a part of our lives.
Keep smiling, friends, and keep looking for little miracles all around!
Deacon Amy
An update – when I got home tonight, there was one more new chick, and the 6th was starting to poke through the egg. A 100% hatch rate for eggs that really didn’t stand a chance. Absolutely amazing!
