Life

I saved a life Sunday morning. We were hatching eggs so that our exchange student could experience the excitement of chicks hatching. J-1 is only here for a month, so the day of his arrival I had him collect eggs and place them in the incubator. I am sure he didn't understand what he was doing or why. Then Saturday night the eggs began to hatch. His first remark was, "Let me get my camera!" It is still that kind of a thrill for us, even after several hatchings. We wait to see how many will make it out of their shells. We root for those having a hard time. And sometimes we mourn over those that don't make it. It was one of those having a hard time breaking free that I saved. She had pecked an air hole and struggled all night, but for some reason she just couldn't break loose. I was taking out all of the bad eggs to throw away, and thought I would start cleaning the incubator, when I realized one of the eggs still had movement. All egg hatching directions say not to help the chick out of the shell. The membrane is still attached to the chick, and if it is ripped from the chick it will bleed to death. I decided to help her out anyway, since we would lose her for certain if I didn't. I was shaking from the tension of trying to be gentle enough to not harm her and yet strong enough to break her out. I felt like I was giving birth as I watched her small head appear, the eye slowly open, and heard the quiet chirp of a new life. It was exhilarating! I was the one responsible for saving this little breathing being, and it was amazing! Sadly, the chick became chilled while I started warming the incubator again, and it didn't make it. J-1 was sad and had to be alone for a while. Death as a part of life is something we have become accustomed to around here. Last week my friend Laura was asking her three children what exciting adventures they had had that day. They were seated around the dinner table sharing their days' experiences when five year old Gracie blurted out, "Miss Janelle saved my life today!" "She did?! Wow. How did she do that?" asked Laura, envisioning Gracie's teacher, Miss Janelle, squishing a bug or opening a water bottle for young Gracie. "Well," responded Gracie dramatically, "there was this toy that I really wanted, but I couldn't reach it. So I jumped in the pool after it, but I didn't have my swimmies on. Miss Janelle jumped in with her clothes on and saved my life! She even had her shoes on!!" Gracie is a shoe lover, and this sacrifice of the shoes in order to save her little life had made quite an impression. Life is so precarious. One moment you are about to be thrown out with the garbage, and the next you are gasping for air, breathing in the sights and sounds of a new world. Then as quickly as you came to it, it is gone. A breath that has been breathed, a sight that has been seen, a sound no longer heard. Our spiritual life is so much the same. We see that toy floating out in the crystal clear waters of the pool and we reach for it, never thinking of the danger that holds up that delightful thing we desire. We fall into the pool of destruction and flail our arms and legs screaming for someone to save us from our folly. Thank God that He doesn't take the time to slip off His shoes, but He plunges into the pool to rescue us from our own selfish desires. Jesus knows about life, and he knows about Full Life. "...I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ...I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me- and I lay down my life for the sheep." John 10:10-15 excerpted. Emily Dickinson said, "To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else." Life is precious. Life is startling. Life is dangerous. Whether our days are short or long, whether they are spent totally committed to Him or frittered away on worthless toys floating in darkness, whether we admit it or not... We need Jesus to give us Life.