The Friendly Hen-and Can I Just Relax?

The last three days here in South Dakota, I have taken time to sit with bare feet on the porch swing on our basement patio, grounding and relaxing. I've learned that there is a flow of healthy electrons between the earth and our bodies--if that flow is not interrupted by rubber soled footwear or tires or pavement or most house floors. Grounding helps our bodies find balance. One doctor at the clinic in Arizona claimed that 45 minutes barefoot on the earth does as much good for a person's body as 100,000 milligrams of Vitamin C! I don't know if that is true or not, but the point was made, and I have been going barefoot outside for a while each day or on the patio which is concrete, a grounded material.

 

Yesterday one of our friendly white hens suddenly appeared nearby. She seemed to be looking for bugs--and was certainly finding one or two, coming nearer and nearer to me on the swing.

There I was, sitting, not even praying. Often, if I sit down even for a minute, I try to turn the time into prayer. Last month I had been trying to pray more--an hour a day more than my usual devotions, and while it worked the first day, I was finding myself struggling and overwhelmed with it. I was not finding any inspiration for my blog, and was feeling tied up and anxious. 

Sometimes, even when we want to be more spiritual or pray more, we can make mistakes. "Can you not watch with Me one hour?"had spoken to me the first day, and I had spent a wonderful hour praying.

But I got to thinking God must be wanting me to do that every day, on top of my usual devotions. And I discovered it was not working. The gentle call to an extra hour of prayer was for one day, not for the rest of my life necessarily.

I wish I was a little smarter, and could figure things out more quickly, but after that happened, I've sensed a call to relax.

To trust God with all those heavy things I was trying to pray about--the election, needed revival in our land, the reservations, our family, protection over us missionaries and the SIM properties and works.

To put it all in His hands and find rest instead of a heavy load. 

With my body loaded with cancer, I don't have the strength to carry heavy loads.

I watched as the hen took off across the brush-hogged grass to the tall weeds down under the elm tree--intent on grasshoppers for her mid-afternoon snack! She scared a pair of doves while she was at it, and they went flapping away.

Having apparently found her bug snack quite satisfying, she returned to the patio--and me. Apparently, she had not noticed me before! :) :) Me sitting there barefoot, swinging gently in the shade of the house just before the sun came around too much.

The next thing I knew, that hen was pecking curiously at something on my skirt--the tiny wooden beads sewed onto the red appliques! 

Thankfully, she discovered they were securely sewed onto the skirt and did not taste good, so she soon quietly wandered off again--

a friendly little hen that brought a bit of peaceful companionship to a mom sitting alone on a swing

in the middle of the day. 

Relaxing and releasing an awful lot of stuff into God's hands.