A chicken in the road

“Why did the chicken cross the road?”  That question has headlined a whole series of jokes.  It’s blossomed into jokes about turtles crossing the road, and lawyers crossing the road, and rubber chickens, and just about anything you want.  But last week a chicken really was in my street, and it wasn’t simply crossing to the other side.  God had reason for that chicken being there.  I’d been intending to talk to my new neighbor for months.  In fact, it’s sad that my neighbor isn’t really new anymore, and until her chicken was in the street, I’d spent all this time harboring the notion of meeting her, yet I didn’t carry through.  This particular afternoon, I neared my house and saw my neighbor plunging into the street to grab what looked like a chicken.  Without hesitation, I hopped out of the car and walked across to inquire.  The Lord knew I would want to see my neighbor’s animals, and hence His wonderful creativity shined again.  I imagined Him saying, “Well, I’ve given Linda the notion and ample opportunity, yet she’s not carrying through, so I’ll make it happen.”  And what a very friendly neighbor I do have.  So nice to talk instead of just waving ‘hello.’  In Numbers 22, the Lord opened a donkey’s mouth to talk.  In Exodus 3, the Lord spoke from within a bush.  In Daniel 5, He caused the fingers of a human hand to suddenly write on a wall.  And here last week He used a brown-feathered fowl to arouse a much-anticipated conversation.