Saturday, March 23, 2013

He Prayed for Chickens


A story for future generations who will enjoy the story of Grandpa Zander or Grandpa Alex - who knows how he'll be known in the future......

We began to pray intentionally (as a family) for our new assignment last summer/fall.

Zander (10 then; 11 now) began to pray, "O Lord, let us have chickens at our next house."

What?

CHICKENS?!? 

Day after day, "I just want God to give us chickens at our next house."

"Lord, will you please make sure we can have chickens at our next house."

I knew I had to prepare Zander. Sometimes God doesn't answer prayers as we'd desire. In my adult wisdom, I KNEW this was one of those times. It is not be feasible for us to raise chickens. I shared the facts as I saw them, we are retiring in a couple of years and are not buying a house with land. I explained chickens are not allowed in base housing and we'd probably live in base housing. I pointed out if we didn't live in base housing, we'd  stay within our BAH and rent in a neighborhood where chickens are not welcome. He said he understood.

He wasn't rude. He understood my explanation about God answering prayers in the ways He knows to be the best. He seemed to surrender to the truth.

But still, day after day,  "Dear Heavenly Lord, please give us a house with chickens."
EssjayNZ via photopin cc 
God decided to teach a lesson other than the one I expected. Though I deemed this pray unfeasible;  God proved He can see to it (Jehovah Jireh).  He's the God who "opens His hand and satisfies the desires of every living thing." Ps 145:16. God said, "I can easily give this boy a home that can house chickens. Watch this. Now it's up to you." God showed off for us.
Before we began a look for housing at our un-desired  assignment, He gave us a 3100 SF home on 6 acres of land -  to rent. It will cost us the same as living on base (maybe a couple of hundred out of pocket for electricity).

Recently,  Zander looks out the window at breakfast and says, "I can't believe in a few months, I'll look out the window and see 6 acres."

This morning Holy Spirit put the pieces together for me. I can be slow. We've been dazed, amazed and delighted at God's work on our behalf. We all prayed for a home which would be at least 4 bedrooms. God could have answered our prayers with a base house and we would have been content.

Zander was the only one who prayed a difficult prayer.

Zander was the only one who prayed the desires of his heart - an impractical prayer.

"Lord, will you please give us a house that can have chickens."  A prayer which required a home in the country with a bit of space...at a price this Dave Ramsey family wouldn't balk at...and God saw to it...He provided....because a boy asked for a difficult, impractical, unfeasible desire.

I have no clue how to go about finding chickens or what to do with chickens. I no longer eat chickens and have no intention of learning how to wring their necks. I can see the benefits of our own fresh eggs.

I do believe God answered Zander's polite and persistent request which is why we have been so delightfully blessed.

Chickens - who would have guessed?

Just now we're praying for the release of Pastor Saeed and revival in Japan. It could happen....remember the chickens.

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

5 comments:

Linda said...

I'm with Zander! I want some chickens, too!

karin said...

chickens are EASY and you can get them at one of the local farm supply stores once you get to the states. We have a flock of 12 and they are awesome pets and give us great eggs!

Anonymous said...

Alexander & family:

PTL! and again PTL! HOW COOL Alexander! Isn't it so much fun when God answers a persons prayers. G'Pa & I are so excited for you. GUESS WHAT? Both G'Pa and I had chickens when we were kids. G'Pa lived out in the country with lots of land that went right up to the Snake River. They had chickens, pigs, rabbits and stuff. As for me, G'Ma, we had well over 75 chickens and over a hundred turkeys. My dad raised them to sell. He had a huge pen with a 2nd floor about 3 feet off the ground made with slats for the floor. The turkeys stayed on the upper floor. The chickens were on the ground floor. My job was making sure they both had plenty of food and water..... and I did a lot of the cleaning of the pen which was not the most fun. My dad sold all the turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Dad sold the chickens all the time when people wanted them. It was fun watching the chickens teasing the turkeys by jumping up to catch the turkeys toes when they poked thru the slats. The turkeys would sometimes be looking with their heads down so they could try to catch the chickens when they jumped. ANYWAY, your 2G's know you are going to enjoy your chickens. Also when we were missionaries in the Philippines G'Pa helped the Bible School Students learn how to really raise enough chickens to help them earn money when they became pastors etc. Sometimes the students had 500 baby chicks to take care of at the Bible School. G'Pa & I will be praying you really enjoy your chickens and another GUESS WHAT? They make real good pets too! They can sure be a lot of fun. love/prayers - your 2G's T.

Renee said...

The friends I have with chickens do not kill them esp since they have names. They have chickens solely for the eggs.
Maybe this is a research project for Zander - learn about different breeds of chickens, what care is needed, how many eggs per chicken, etc?

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Well - we haven't said he CAN have chickens and I'm not so sure about this whole thing...but he sure DID pray about it...so we will research and see where it leads. I don't think I'll be killing chickens any time soon - but maybe enough to have eggs....and I'm not sure what we'll do with them in 2 years....but we certainly owe it to Zander to at least consider this and see if it truly is practical or will work. I don't know there may be zoning laws or something....but he is way close to having chickens. LOL