Everything of Worth Takes Time and Work

I think one of the reasons I admire characters in historical novels (say before the end of WWII) is that most all of them were not afraid of hard work. They put time and effort into everything they did for living and valued even the simplest of things. They weathered the inevitable storms and persevered.

Now we are in the instant gratification age where we don't think something has much worth unless we have to pluck down a fistful of money for it. We'd rather have our $8 cafe salad over one that was picked free from our own backyard.

I'm a newly crowned chicken farmer. Five chickens moved in at my house this past Saturday. For many weeks now I've had to answer all the questions about why I would want to get into chickens, and I have many reasons:

• - reoccurring food quality and safety issues in the big corporate farms
• - working toward raising more of my own food for more self-sufficient living
• - knowing where my food comes from
• - learning and preserving the old ways
  
• - teaching others (mainly my nieces and nephews) about where food comes from and how to grow it for oneself
  
• - keeping some type of farming going on our ancestral farmstead
• - sharing quality food with others (including the truly hungry)
  
• - gratification of the work of my own hands
• - pets :-)

When I was conversing with a relative stranger about chickens her response was something like: "Oh, I'm glad I can afford to buy clean eggs in the store." I had to scratch my head. All the money I've put into chickens so far would have bought me a truck load of eggs, but it isn't about the money or the ease of buying eggs in the store. It is about the work. Most people just can't fathom putting in the work it takes for homegrown food of any kind.

Before I turn this into a preach about issues that could lead us off trail into many brier patches like church outreach to the needy, preparedness, socialism, capitalism, politics, oil crisis, climate changes, etc., let me just remind us all that in the long run we are wired to value the things that cost us the most in our time and efforts. It has taken me months of reading, planning, and preparing to get a coop built. I moved chickens in, but there is still much to do to make it a smooth running operation and to build up to where I'll have enough eggs to start sharing/selling them to others.

As writers we can get tempted to skip the work and time and jump right to "buying the eggs." But to really appreciate your own talent and the blessings that will eventually come from writing for God's glory, you MUST put in the work, lay the foundation of your coop, and let the proper time (sometimes only God knows how long) for things to mature until you are ready to lay that "golden egg" of publication, an award-winner, a bestseller, or whatever your egg looks like.

Don't try to skip the steps, and don't whine that someone with a rather rickety looking coop got her egg first. Trust in God's timing and keep putting in the work - rebuild your coop if you have to. The reward for you will be greater in the end.

(If you ever want to learn more about raising chickens at your own house or just need some research, www.backyardchickens.com is a really valuable site.)