Let me introduce you to Crinkle.
We call her Crinkle, Crinkie, Pancake Chicken, or Striped Baby. When she was a little baby chick she lived in the bathtub with her sisters in the main level bathroom of our house. We don't bathe in there, but we go in there a lot. Especially when chicken babies make an appearance.
She would jump onto the rim of the tub any time a person went in there. Then she would jump onto our laps. She learned how to jump onto the palms of our hands if we held them out to her. We would bring her out to the living room and wrap her in a blanket and cuddle her until she fell asleep.
When we had to put her and her sisters outside I would go out to feed them in the cold mornings and Crinkle would be the only one to brave the feeling of the cold snow on her feet to come and greet me. I would pick her up and stick her inside of my jacket and carry her around while I did my chores. Then I would take her back to the warm coop and set her inside so that she wouldn't have to trek back through the snow.
When it is warm, she comes and says hello in chicken language. She follows us around expecting that we will drop a treat at some point. Even if we just sprinkle regular chicken food on the ground she calls her flock mates over and shows them the gift with flair and excitement.
Crinkle is a pretty cool chick. She knows we will care for her. She expects this, and receives the things we give her, as well as the things we don't.
She knows that we will come for her, and we will love her. She is "just" a chicken. But a well loved, well kept chicken. We treated all of her sisters the same in the beginning... holding them gently and hand feeding them. Its just that she responded to our care and has taken advantage of her knowledge of us. If I am simply a human capable of giving this kind of love to a chicken... how much more will Jesus supply all of my needs?
I want to be like Crinkle when I approach my Heavenly Father. These days, for some reason or another, I have been feeling as though I must earn the care and compassion that he showers on me simply because I am his daughter. He holds his hands out and I just have to come and rest in his presence. I just have to wait expectantly for the good gifts that he generously gives me. And trust him when he does not give me what I think he should.
Matthew 6:25-34 tells us this! It encourages us to trust our Father who clothes the fields in beauty and feeds the sparrows who do no work to obtain their sustenance. I am cared for. I am safe, and I am loved. No earning or striving necessary.
Be expectant, Dear Ones.
