WOW, ITS WEDNESDAY AGAIN!! TIME IS FLYING!

 A long time ago in a remote valley, there lived a farmer. One day he got tired of the daily routine of running the farm and decided to climb the cliffs that brooded above the valley to see what lay beyond.

He climbed all day until he reached a ledge just below the top of the cliff; there, to his amazement was a nest, full of eggs.

Immediately he knew they were eagle's eggs and, even though he knew it was profoundly un-ecological and almost certainly illegal, he carefully took one and stowed it in his pack; then seeing the sun was low in the sky, he realized it was too late in the day to make the top and slowly began to make his way down the cliff to his farm.

When he got home he put the egg in with the few chickens he kept in the yard. The mother hen was the proudest chicken you ever saw, sitting atop this magnificent egg; and the cockerel couldn't have been prouder.

Sure enough, some weeks later, from the egg emerged a fine, healthy egret. And as is in the gentle nature of chickens, they didn't balk at the stranger in their midst and raised the majestic bird as one of their own.

So it was that the eagle grew up with its brother and sister chicks. It learned to do all the things chickens do: it clucked and cackled, scratching in the dirt for grit sand worms, flapping its wings furiously,flying just a few feet in the air before crashing down to earth in a pile of dust and feathers.

It believed resolutely and absolutely it was a chicken.

One day, late in its life, the eagle-who-thought-he-was-a-chicken happened to look up at the sky. High overhead,soaring majestically and effortlessly on  he thermals with scarcely a single beat of its powerful golden wings, was an eagle!

"What's that?!", cried the old eagle in awe. "It's magnificent! So much power and grace!It's beautiful!"

"That's an eagle", replied a nearby chicken, "That's the King of the Birds. It's a bird of the air... not for the likes of us. We're only chickens, we're birds of the earth".

With that, they all cast their eyes downwards once more and continued digging in the dirt.

And so it was that the eagle lived and died a chicken... because that's all it believed itself to be.

BOY, THAT IS EXACTLY HOW I WOULD FEEL IF I WERE THE EAGLE! BUT, IT IS TRUE.. IF YOU THINK YOU ARE "NOTHING".. YOU SURELY WOULD TRY LESS TO MAKE SOMETHING OF YOURSELF.. AND IF YOU FELT THAT YOU WERE SMART AND STRONG, AND ABLE.. YOU WOULD TRY MUCH HARDER TO BE ALL THAT YOU COULD BE ............................ AGREE?

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Norman told Abigail and I last night that he still has 3 more days to work down at Scott Hill... (thinking back, I wonder if he meant this week? or just plainly 3 more days to work... The other guy did come back yesterday, but Norman said he didn't do much?) Guess time will tell!

 GUESS WE ARE ON CHICKEN DUTY AGAIN TODAY.. SHE SEEMS TO LOVE FOOLING WITH THE CHICKENS.. YESTERDAY IT WAS THE LITTLE BABY CHICKS THAT HAVE BEEN HATCHING SINCE SATURDAY.. ONE GOT DOWN OUT OF THE NEST AND WAS ALL THE WAY OUTSIDE.. SILLY LITTLE THING.. SO LOUD, ANNOUNCING HIS BIRTH TO THE WORLD! WE PUT IT BACK IN THE NEST AND NEXT THING WE KNEW IT WAS BACK OUTSIDE.. GUESS IT HAS A LOT TO SAY.. BUT THEN WE WENT IN AND MOVED ALL THE LITTLE ONES (FROM THIS SITTING) DOWN IN THE FLOOR ON HAY, AND PUT FOOD AND WATER ON THE FLOOR OF THE COOP IN ANOTHER PLACE.. ALSO BLOCKED OFF THE LITTLE "CHICKEN DOOR" SO THEY CAN'T GET OUT.. WE STILL HAVE 3 HENS IN THE COOP STILL SITTING.. THEY ARE SO FUNNY.. IF ONE STARTS SITTING 3 OR 4 WILL GET UP AND START SITTING WITH THE FIRST ONE.. ANYHOW, ABIGAIL GOT TO HOLD ALL OF THEM IN THE TRANSFER.... BUT, OH THOSE FEISTY LITTLE "MAMAS" WERE MAD!!! IN THE MEANWHILE, WE ARE JUST MAKING "COUNTRY MEMORIES"


TOMORROW IS ABIGAIL'S 12th BIRTHDAY! SHE IS BEGINNING TO GET EXCITED... WONDERING WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN? AND IF SHE WILL HAVE A PARTY? AND IF SO, WHO WILL BE THERE? (many of her friends are on vacation, and she knows they are gone!) ... NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS... I HOPE AND PRAY THAT SHE HAS A WONDERFUL BIRTHDAY AND MAKES MANY GOOD MEMORIES! WE ALL LOVE YOU SWEETIE! 

TODAY AND ALWAYS, I AM PRAYING FOR YOU AND YOURS, FOR OUR FAMILY, OUR EXTENDED FAMILIES, FRIENDS, CO-WORKERS, AND NEIGHBORS.. PRAYING TOO FOR THOSE THAT HAVE LOST LOVED ONES.. PRAYING FOR OUR SOLDIERS, AND THEIR SAFETY. PRAYING THAT GOD WILL WRAP HIS LOVING ARMS AROUND EACH OF US AND BLESS US SPIRITUALLY, PHYSICALLY, EMOTIONALLY, MENTALLY, AND FINANCIALLY.. AND WITH HIS LOVE, GRACE, MERCIES, GUIDANCE AND BLESSINGS.. AND A SPECIAL BLESSING FOR THE SICK, AND THOSE THAT ARE FIGHTING ALL THE MANY, MANY DISEASES, ILLNESSES, CANCERS, AND INJURIES OF ALL KINDS.. THAT HE WILL HELP, COMFORT AND HEAL AND GRANT INNER PEACE.. TODAY, AND ALWAYS.. I AM PRAYING FOR OUR COUNTRY AND GOD'S GUIDANCE FOR OUR LEADERS.. AND GIVING HIM OUR LOVE, THANKS, HONOR, PRAISE, AND GLORY IN ALL THINGS, IN JESUS PRECIOUS AND HOLY NAME, AMEN.