From the Farm: The Nighttime Routine

Every evening, I have a routine I go through with my chickens.

First, I make sure they've all made their way into the coop. (Sometimes that means standing on my head to look underneath the henhouse for any sly girls trying to stay up past their bedtime.)

Then I close the sliding door leading into the coop. After my last raccoon debacle a couple of years ago, I started adding an extra layer of security by wedging a piece of wood into the door.

Next, I go inside.

One... two... three... four...

I count heads to make sure everyone is where they're supposed to be.

I look around the coop. Are all the windows closed? Is everything secure?

Then I tell them, "Good night, chickies. See you tomorrow!"

I do my best to give them a safe place to sleep.

That's why the recent raccoon attacks hit me so hard. Despite everything I'd done, the enemy found a weak spot.

As I was thinking about that, I was reminded of Nehemiah and the rebuilding of Jerusalem's wall. The people faced constant opposition from those who wanted to stop the work. Nehemiah wrote that they worked with one hand while holding a weapon in the other. They stayed dressed and ready because they knew the threat was real.

Yet in the middle of all of it, Nehemiah encouraged the people with these words:

"Our God will fight for us." Nehemiah 4:20

I love that passage because the people didn't simply sit back and wait. They prayed, they trusted God, and they kept building.

I couldn't leave my coop vulnerable. I had to reinforce the eaves with hardware cloth, fix the weak spots, and do whatever was necessary to protect the flock God has entrusted to me.

Today, the walls are stronger.

The coop is secure.

The chickens are sleeping safely again.

And tonight, as I counted heads, checked the windows, and said, "Good night, chickies," I found myself especially thankful.

Sometimes faith looks like praying.

Sometimes faith looks like picking up a hammer and building a stronger wall.