The Song Within
Texas is hot.....unbelievably sweltering hot. For this Colorado girl, making a change to this Texas climate in late June was a temperature shock that took stress to an all new level, and the dark circumstances surrounding my move made the adjustment even harder. I had never lived anywhere else except Colorado, and while the thermostat would occasionally flirt with the 100 degree mark, the humidity always stayed very low. Even on the hottest summer day air conditioning was not needed. Evenings cooled off predictably, and the breezes after sunset made sleeping delightful. In Texas, the air conditioners are never silent. In fact, they are kept at a very low temperature to offset the heat outdoors. Literally, I could stand in the shade absolutely still and perspire, and then go inside and get chilled from the artificially controlled temperature change. Sigh....it became baffling to me what to wear. Deodorant was a must have, but everything layered on top of that was questionable. Whatever I chose, it seemed to add to the heat or not be enough for the chill.
Christian friends are marked by the intervention they make for you when you are low. You can see the movement of the Spirit in their lives as they respond to the hurt in a fellow believers heart, and the love they poured out on me at this time was something that I will never forget. Sensing that time was my enemy, my friends decided that I needed to raise quail. Incubators arrived in the mail, electric egg turners fit perfectly inside the incubators that insured that the eggs be turned gently and continually. As I unpacked the paraphenalia, studied the instructions, assembled the unfamiliar equipment, a desire in me began to build that I not fail at this project. There was a genuine anticipation that began to develop with the first shipment of tiny eggs. Carefully unwrapped, placed in the cradle of the egg turner, temperature set at just the right degree adding just the right amount of water so the humidity was perfect, a waiting began that lasted 17 days. The eggs were removed from the egg turner on the 14th day and gently laid on the screen bottom and I noticed the weight increase instantly from what they had weighed just days ago. They were growing!!
I found it impossible to leave the incubator cover on without peeking. Every time it was lifted, there was a temperature and humidity change for the chicks, and there were, after all, windows in the top of the incubator for viewing. That didn't afford me the full view though, and I would often lift the cover to keep an eye on those eggs. What a delight it was to me to see the eggs start wiggling!!
Hours from birth, the babies became active as they would stretch and struggle to open the first tiny crack in the shell that would mean their escape from confinement and a new life on the outside. The tiny crack became a hole, and the hole became a slit, and the slit would grow to encompass the circumference of the egg releasing the wet chick into the temperature controlled world outside. It was very hard work for that baby, and the exhaustion was apparent, but even then he would struggle to learn to use the little legs that had been previously folded and pressed on the inside. A day following the hatch, the chick was standing upright, peeping, and flapping what would be its wings, running, eating and drinking, and racing the other chicks around the incubator.
Holding a fragile egg in my hand close enough to watch, a tiny beak poked through the shell and worked hard to make an escape. His movements were perceptible to my fingers as I felt him stretch inside the egg, and watching a birth of any kind of living thing is nothing short of a miracle. I ran to share the moment with others, and as we all gathered around the tiny egg in my hand we watched in silence. Suddenly, from inside the egg we could hear the voice of the chick yet to be born as we realized he sang from inside the shell! Tightly confined, longing to be free of his controlled environment, the tiny bird sings as he struggles to emerge.
I don't like my confinement here, and the struggle is overwhelming to me at times. I long to be free to enjoy the outdoors and the freedom of a Colorado summertime. I find the emotions of my moment press in on me and keep me from growing, and I feel that I must break out of here or I will succumb to the sadness of this season. Seeing that tiny bird sing reminds me that God is keeping close eye on me.. He peeks at me through the environment that He has chosen for me, adding just the right heat and humidity to ensure my growth, and He has chosen the time for me to emerge into a new world to try my wings. He is good, gentle and loving, and He surrounds me with people who will make sure that I have what I need to thrive. And He gives me a voice....I can sing with the impulse of the very life He provides in praise to Him. I will choose to sing.
