Chickens

We got chicken eggs at school today. I’ve been building it up – telling them what great parents they’ll be for these little chicks. I’ve explained the very important job they’ll have of turning the eggs every day. I put up the “Egg Helper” job on the chart and I’m pretty sure most of them can’t sleep tonight hoping they’ll get to be the first one to have that job tomorrow.

I know from years past that they will take their job of being mother hens (and roosters) very seriously for the next 21 days. They will explain the life cycle of chickens to anyone who walks in our classroom and they will warn them what not to do around the incubator. They will patiently watch the arrow move every day on the chart and count how many days are left.

And when the chicks finally hatch, they will love them and keep them from harm and write beautiful letters to them when they leave to go to the farm. Even the meanest playground bully will turn into a protective defender of these chirpy little balls of fluff.

The way these children love with their whole hearts just blows me away.

As we were sitting on the carpet at the end of the day, all packed up to go home, I told them about a note in their folders. It said that while we were hatching eggs, we would also be raising money to buy chickens for a family in another part of the world so they could have food to eat and make money selling eggs so their children could go to school. As I told them about children who would love to learn but their families don’t have money for shoes and supplies so they can’t go to school, their eyes got big and sad. My precious kids love to learn. (In fact, they get a little irritated if someone interrupts our learning). The thought of someone wanting to learn and not being able to pierced them in the heart. In unison they all started digging in their backpacks. Down at the bottom, they found four pennies in one bag, a quarter and a nickel in another, three more pennies in another.They handed the coins to me without hesitation and I dropped them in the bank. One asked, “Is it okay if we bring dollars, too?” My eyes were full of tears and I said, “Yes, dollars are okay too.”

Right now life is simple. They know what to expect and what is expected of them. They believe they have the resources to solve everyone’s problems. They ask questions and receive answers. You and I both know their lives will not always be neat and safe and as predictable as chicken life cycles. We know they will face circumstances that will knock them off their feet. Because life has done it to us. But I pray as life takes their simplicity that it will not steal their love.

And I pray for those of us on the other side. Those of us who have been through storms and have been knocked down and forget to be kind. I pray that we can learn from them; that our first response to a need is to dig frantically in our backpacks, hoping we have a coin to share. I pray we take our eyes off of ourselves and start looking through eyes of love.