The Stolen Chicken

The Stolen Chicken

Mandy was a white, medium sized dog with random black splotches. She definitely had some Kelpie in her, but apart from that, she was a mix of a variety of breeds, highly intelligent, gentle and loving. She had been raised from puppy hood and trained by an enthusiastic owner. She could sit, shake hands, have food placed within her reach and then told to wait before she could eat it. She was a well trained, lively and happy, young dog. At 12 months of age, heavily pregnant with her first litter of puppies, she was abandoned by her now, ‘not so enthusiastic’ owner, in the bush near my childhood home. 

Mandy’s survival instincts kicked in and the desire to protect and care for her young drove her to the life of a wild dog, hunting and scavenging for food. Her relentless search for nourishment compelled her to seek out food from the neighbourhood in which I lived in. She became skilled at begging, stealing and knocking over the small tin garbage cans in everyone’s back yards, to scrounge for scraps. Some neighbours felt sorry for her and fed her bits of food, others in anger, drove her away. 

One neighbour, who regularly and sympathetically fed her, decided to follow Mandy back to her den and check up on the puppies. There he found a litter of squirming puppies, all well fed from their mother and starting to explore. He knew that soon those puppies would need homes and he set about to find a loving home for each puppy. Slowly, one by one, they received homes and Mandy kept scavenging. Finally, only Mandy remained, and my family chose to take her in and keep her as our own. 

Mandy was every girl’s dream dog, loyal, playful, loving, companionable and well trained. Our family fed her well, provided for all her veterinary needs, gave her a warm doggy coat in winter and a snug kennel to sleep in at nights. Mandy had a whole new life filled with love, acceptance, a sense of belonging and all her needs  were fully met. Mandy thrived and was content with her new family.

Mandy, however, continued to scavenge, sneaking out of our yard whenever she had an opportunity. We fed her well, but fear led her to beg for food from the neighbours. Mandy grew fatter and fatter, as her soul filled eyes desired more and more edible items. We needed to place a notice on her collar which read “Please do not feed me.” Then there was the dreaded bin nights. Every Sunday night the neighbours all placed their bins by the road for collection in the early hours of  Monday morning. Mandy loved those bins and she knew of the delectable food scraps contained within. Cleaning up the rubbish from knocked over bins was not an activity my parents enjoyed and Mandy was many times kept tightly in the house on bin nights. Mandy had a new life but she still clung to her drive to survive.

One day our neighbours were packing their car with all the needed items for a lovely family picnic. They stacked their belongings one by one on the front porch, to then be picked up and taken to the boot of the car. A small plastic bag held a barbecued  chicken wrapped up and ready to take. Mandy must have smelled that chicken from several houses away. She located the bag placed on their front porch very quickly, and joyfully carried it home, to stash away for the future. Her tail wagged highly in the air and her dark brown eyes glistened with the eagerness of her plans. Then my mother spied her. “ What was Mandy carrying?” She thought. My mother intercepted Mandy and managed to retrieve the bag of goods, and she discovered someone’s picnic food. Up and down the street my mother traipsed, knocking embarrassingly on  people’s doors to discover the owner of the stolen barbecued chicken. 

Mandy had an entire new life, all her needs were met, she was loved, she belonged and she was accepted yet she never fully developed that complete trust that we would provide for all her needs. She still maintained a fear that she might find herself without food one day.  Can we be like Mandy, we have a new life in Christ, He meets all our needs, we are loved, accepted and we belong but we hang onto the worries and fears from our life before Christ. Do we fret about studies, work, housing, finances, or the  future? When problems assail us, are we focused on them in a state of fretfulness? Will we let go of our worries and trust Jesus with everything in our lives? Sometimes just thinking about surrendering all can seem scary. We like to stay partially in control and partially with God. Lord make us willing to be willing. Let us choose to walk by faith and not by sight. Let’s choose to trust in God. 

Prov 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding.

Isa 26:3 You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you: because he trusts in you.

Phil 4:6, 7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.