On Sunday night our plane placed us back in the comforts of home. However, with that landing we lost the luxuries of the lack of reality and responsibility that we somewhat achieved as we enjoyed a week long family getaway. Well, we did have to face reality to a certain degree as we watched my husband’s niece get married and we did have to be responsible parents and take a 
daughter to the emergency room while on vacation (a great story for another time) but still… you know what I’m talking about. Vacations are nice. I also found out that when we arrived home on Sunday night we also were ending our family time by beginning National Family Week… we were just ahead of our time. (It also makes you wonder if National Day of Prayer began during National Family week intentionally… I can think of plenty of reasons why it might have… impatience, arguements, etc) Anyway, I can spend this week enjoying the memories of our past week as a family…
So many holidays and such little time. I love finding out about little known special days….Today, Cinco de Mayo…. Tomorrow- The Great American Grump Out (yes, refrain from getting your grump on for one whole day)
But there is more… Yesterday, May 4, was Respect the Chicken Day. Though there weren’t any local events to celebrate it… or atleast none that I was aware of… I could definitely picture a parade or a bunch of poultry holding signs and bawking …
Please Respect the Chickens... Okay, so let’s think of the good things about the chickens and respect them….. Chickens are cute and fuzzy and are great at alarming the senses as they wake you in the early morning … they provide pleasantry to the eye as the rooster’s red comb….. Okay, I can’t do it… I can’t respect the chicken or at least not in the way intended by the poultry concern people… Chickens are only cute and fuzzy like when they are like two days old then they become incredibly awkward and ugly and I’m not even sure their mother’s think they’re cute….. they are only great at alarming the senses as they chase you around the barnyard trying to peck your head off…and the rooster’s red comb thing.. just gross… I can respect the chicken at Sonny’s Bar-B-Que though. It is tasty.
I can also respect other chickens… or at least a certain kind I read about yesterday on Respect the Chickens day. I was reading in I Kings about Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. My personal paraphrase is this…. Elijah challenged hundreds of prophets of the false god, Baal. He challenged Baal to burn up the altar and of course, Baal let his prophets down. God, on the other hand was an incredible showman and lit up the altar, consuming even the rocks, after it had been drenched in water. When everyone saw this they fell flat on their faces and declared God as the one true God… These people who fell on the ground in fear for their lives after they had seen God at work are who I will call chickens… but with respect….. so why respect them? well, because they had been standing up against God but when God showed himself they were afraid and threw away their pride and bowed before God and stated who they would worship… but there is more they were asked to prove this by gathering up the false prophets who had been leading and teaching them and bring them back to be killed… those “chickens” had to show that they were serious and they did… they had been knee-knocking scared but could have run away or could have been stubborn and prideful but they were “chicken” enough to respect God’s power
So I do respect some chickens… those who respect God enough to know that He doesn’t fool around with who He says He is..nor does He fool around with his power….
Enjoy the sixth of May and remember to leave your grumpy at the door!
1 Kings 18:16-40
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”
18 “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the LORD’s commands and have followed the Baals. 19 Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
20 So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”
But the people said nothing.
22 Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the LORD’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. 23 Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire—he is God.”
Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”
25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” 26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it.
Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “O Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.
27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” 28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which was in ruins. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” 32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs [c] of seed. 33 He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”
34 “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.
“Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. 35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.
39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The LORD -he is God! The LORD -he is God!”
40 Then Elijah commanded them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!” They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.
The Prodygal Life 