The Best Protection Ever

 He will cover you with His pinions,

And under His wings you may seek refuge;

His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.  - Psalm 91:4

The other night I headed out to the barn to do my nightly chores.  Up until now the momma hen always sat in the corner of the stall with her two little chicks tucked up underneath her.  Tonight however, the momma hen had flown up to the top of the gate to the large stall.  Her wings were pitched at a strange angle.  But where were the little ones?  I hope that another snake hadn't eaten them.  

As I looked a little closer, I realized that one of the little chicks was right beneath her!  She was sitting on her baby to protect her.  She looked at me menacingly.  Is she giving me the evil eye, or what?  But where is the other chick?

I lifted her wing to find out.  Yep, sure enough, just as the verse above says, the chick is seeking protection under the sheltering wings.

Peek-a-boo!

The imagery in that verse is so strong and descriptive.  Just as the chicks seek refuge from danger (like snakes and rats in the barn), we seek the same from Our Creator.  He is indeed our Shield and Bulwark.

That is not the only verse that uses the imagery of protective wings.  In Luke 13:34 Jesus says:

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!"

It is kind of neat to think about the fact that Jesus, as a boy in Nazareth, may have walked into his father's wood shop and found a momma hen protecting her baby chicks and that example of concern, care, and protection made an indelible mark on Him.  On the other hand, He is God.  He is the Almighty.  He made it all.  He knows how momma hens protect their little ones.  

The imagery of a hen protecting their young was, I'm sure, a familiar sight to those He was teaching in Luke 13 and I'm sure it struck a chord with them.  The tragic part of verse 34 comes at the very end - "and ye would not!"  Like the momma hen, Jesus wanted to gather them and protect them, but they were stiff-necked and would not allow Him to.  It would be a mistake to attribute that folly to the Jews of Jesus' day and not realize that we are guilty of that today.

When we go outside the protection of the Sheltering Arms, we put ourselves in harm's way from him who comes to steal, kill, and destroy.  There is evil in the world today.  There is civil unrest and violence and men kill one another.  As I type this, riots are breaking out in Charlotte, North Carolina. Lord keep us under your protective wings and may we not stray from you.

North Winds 'A Blowin'

Proverbs 27:12

“A prudent person foresees the danger ahead and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.”

According to the weatherman we have some cold weather blowing in tonight. Actually I didn't need to rely on the weatherman - I just walked outside and brrrrrrr!  It is 32 degrees right now, but there are 30 mile per hour wind gusts blowing through giving wind chill readings of 20 degrees.  That's a little chilly for South Louisiana.

And that means that precautions need to be taken to protect everything.  Lots of work to do before I go inside and light a fire in the fireplace.  First I went into the attic and rooted around until I found some foam pipe insulation that I had purchased last year.  I cut off what I needed and wrapped an exposed white pvc water pipe to protect against a hard freeze.  Benjamin and I then got one of the trusty blue tarps and covered some plants around the back patio.

Next I harvested some nice Red Romaine Lettuce that's growing in the garden.  This stuff looks pretty now, but a hard freeze will really knock it for a loop.  Most of the other stuff in the garden is hardy and will withstand very cold temps.  There was a good bit of romaine that I didn't have room for so I'm going to try covering it with a tarp.  I weighted it down with some T-posts.  We'll see if I was successful in salvaging the crop tomorrow.

Red Romaine Lettuce

Then I turned my attention to the animals.  After milking we ensured that they had all the hay that they wanted to eat.  If a cow gets too cold, they'll start burning their stores of fat to keep warm.  After haying the cows and goat, I got the staple gun and stapled the blue tarp around the pullet tractor. They have plenty of feathers that give them good insulation, but I want them to be comfortable.

I had to laugh at this pitiful fact of Amy.  Can't you just tell she's begging to get into the barn?

Please?

After seeing the cows in South Dakota doing just fine in much colder weather, I don't feel as sorry for our cows.  They are pretty spoiled.  Actually I feel more sorry for me and Tricia.  Tomorrow morning will be one of those mornings when we walk out to the barn in the early morning to milk and when we squirt the warm milk into the bucket, the steam will rise.  Everyone's taken care of and unless I've forgotten something (like we forgot a couple of the ficus trees last year), we're prepared for the weather.