Riding in the car, Kimmy looked at her brothers and challenged them to a race. Jake was too busy reading to care, but Wes accepted the challenge. As soon as the car was parked in Grandpa’s driveway, Wes and Kimmy jumped out and dashed toward the house. They were both out of breath as they were greeted by Grandpa Myers with one of his big bear hugs. “Why the rush?” Grandpa asked.
“We raced like always, and I won!” Kimmy responded.
“Well, I let her win,” mumbled Wes. They sprinted off to the kitchen. After hugs and kisses from both grandmothers, Kimmy declared herself an Olympic racer.
Wes asked Grandma, “What’s for dinner? I’m starving!”
“One of your favorites, fried chicken,” smiled Grandma as she pointed to the stove.
Mom was just entering the room when she heard the conversation and began to laugh. “Oh my, do I have a chicken story for you! I’ll tell it while we eat.”
FIFTY POUNDS OF CHICKEN
When everything was in place, the family settled down at the table. Grandpa said grace. Mom began, “Last Friday afternoon I went into the garage to grab something out of the freezer for dinner and noticed that someone never quite closed the freezer door. Water was dripping from the open door onto the garage floor. Looking further, I was surprised to find a lot of the food still frozen, but it seemed like fifty pounds of chicken had thawed. It was still very cold, but not frozen.
THE CHOICE
I knew my evening plans had suddenly changed. I would be spending the evening cooking all that chicken before it spoiled. While loading my arms with chicken, I was upset until I heard the still small voice of the Holy Spirit reminding me, ‘You can be grumpy and waste the evening cooking while in a bad mood, or you can make the best of it. Your choice.’
THE CHICKEN DANCE
“Once I was back in the kitchen with the chicken, I turned the radio to my favorite praise music. I then began cooking and singing at the top of my lungs. The neighbors probably heard me. There was chicken on the stove top, chicken in the oven, chicken on the grill. I laughed as I was even doing the chicken dance. There I was, happily cooking and singing until about 9:30. Then I realized that it would be impossible to finish cooking all that chicken before bedtime. I didn’t want to spend the next day still cooking chicken.
YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THIS ALONE
“Again, the Holy Spirit whispered to me, ‘You know, you don’t have to do this alone. There are others who would appreciate some chicken.’ My first thought was to drop some off at the mission the following morning. Then I remembered the family of five right across the street. They might enjoy chicken. I called them and left a message explaining that I had extra chicken for them, but it needed to be used soon.
PRAYERS FOR CHICKEN
“First thing Saturday morning, my neighbor called. She had been praying for chicken just the night before! She said she was pouring her heart out to God, ‘I don’t need a lot, just a little extra chicken in the freezer would be nice.’”
Wes chimed in, “God had the chicken ready to go even before the lady prayed for it.”
SUCH A LOVING GOD
Grandpa thought a moment. “I know what you mean Wes. He is such a loving God. God answered your neighbor’s prayer through your mom’s problem. Your family also blessed – the open freezer was discovered before all the food went totally bad. I love the verse: My God will use his wonderful riches in Christ Jesus to give you everything you need. (Philippians 4:19) Wes, do you want to pray for us today?”
Wes bowed his head. “God, thank-you for using my mistake of leaving the freezer door open so that our neighbor could have her chicken prayers answered.”
“And Lord, please help Wes remember that freezer doors are supposed to be closed, otherwise all our ice cream will melt,” Kimmy added.
And all the family said, “Amen!”
Questions:
- What did Mom have too much of?
- Why was she grumpy?
- Instead of being grumpy, what did she choose to do?
- How did God use Mom’s overabundance of chicken to help the neighbor?
- What does God promise in Philippians 4:19
Prayer time: thank God for everything He has done today