I needed to make a run to the neighborhood dump also known as the transit station.  Here in Hawaii if you live in a rural area you are responsible for taking your own garbage to the dump.  I don’t mind.  Our dump is actually very ecologically friendly.  It’s divided by categories like green waste, paper/ cardboard, cans/ bottles, etc.  It even has security guards , so I always feel safe.

Today I was in kind of a hurry because it was Easter and I was helping my daughter with her 2 day old newborn baby girl.  I had  black- eyed peas cooking in the crockpot and I needed to go buy a bag of ice for my homemade sweet iced tea.  There was a small line at the dump.  There were 2 bins to dump your garbage.  It is designed for 2 to 3 cars to back up next to it to unload.  As I made my way to the front of the line , I noticed that the bin closest to me had an opening . 

I had a “ prompting “  to wait for the farthest bin to open up.  That’s what I did.  I pulled up and stopped .  Then , as I put my truck in reverse I glanced to my right .  Just over the right side of my hood I caught a small glimpse of a chicken.  I continued to back my truck up to the bin.  As I was backing up,  I thought of that chicken.  It was in a half standing half squatting position with it’s head down slightly.  As I got out, the security guard said “ Hurry ! The bin is going to start crushing the garbage !” .  He helped me unload all of my trash.  I was distracted.  After we unloaded all of it , I went to open my driver’s side door.  The thought of that chicken was so strong.  I stopped, and walked around the front of my truck to the right side to see if he was still there and OK.  He was in that same position.  “ Poor little thing”, I thought.  I just knew he was very hungry and thirsty.  As I grabbed an old half eaten crumbled bag of Lay’s potato chips , I yelled to the security guard “Something is wrong with this chicken!”.  As I walked towards the chicken, he actually tried to walk towards me.  I sprinkled the chips on the ground in front of him.  He began to eat like he was starving .  I knew he was .  I squatted down next to him as he ate the crumbs.  He wasn’t scared of me at all.  As I looked closer, I noticed he had some kind of band on his leg.  “Oh no! He’s a fighting rooster!” I thought.  He didn’t really look like a rooster and he didn’t even have a big comb on his head.  Either way , he looked injured because he was favoring his right leg. 

I knew I had probably been parked in front of that bin too long , but I had to do something.  He needed water.  I told the security guard that he might be someone’s fighting chicken that had escaped from his bondage or maybe he was just abandoned . He agreed and said he had been in that same position for 2 days .  I grabbed an old water bottle from my front seat.  It had been rolling around in my truck for a while.  I didn’t have anything to pour the water in.  The security guard saw how I was rushing to find something to help this poor little bird.  He actually went up to someone else who was dumping garbage and got a small disposable plastic bowl.  I poured the water and placed it in front of this little guy and he drank and drank and drank.  I noticed again as I placed the bowl in front of him, he came very close to me to get water.  He wasn’t afraid.  I wanted to grab him up in my arms and take him home and care for him, but I had my dog “ Copper “ in the truck.  I knew if I just had a random chicken ( or rooster) in my truck with Copper , it could possibly become crazy and I didn’t want to put myself in a dangerous driving situation.

I knew at least for that moment, this little fellow had food and water.  I continued on to the store to get ice.  As I was driving, I remembered having that “ thought” or “prompting “ to go the second bin,  and how I had only seen the little fellow out of the corner of my eye.  I also had a strong thought to actually go and check on him even though I was holding up the line.  

I really wanted to know what I should do next.  It was Easter Sunday.  I didn’t even know if the dump would be closing soon.   I started playing it over and over in my mind.  How could I care for him?  If I left him there he could die.  I definitely didn’t need any more roosters.  I had incubated a bunch of baby chicks a few months ago and most of them turned out to be roosters!   I had a lot of them.  They all loved me.  I was basically their mom.  I  hand – raised them all.  Of course, I  had wanted chickens for their eggs but it didn’t turn out that way.  I loved them too.  

I went home .  I couldn’t stop thinking about him.  I was second guessing myself . Was I planning to go get him and bring him home because I wanted to , or was I actually hearing a “ prompting” to do this?  I knew that sometimes I get over zealous and I jump into a situation to “ help” before actually waiting  to understand more about it.  I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do.  Maybe someone else would help him or maybe he would be OK in the wild.  He continued to be heavy on my heart. 

I felt strongly that I should go back.  Finally, I told myself , “OK, I’ll get my little dog kennel and go back to the dump .  If he is still there then it was meant to be for me to take him home.  If not,  it’s a sign  that I wasn’t supposed to bring him home”.  My mind was racing with all of this .  I drove up to the same bin and the same security guard was still there.  I jumped out and asked him where the chicken was .  He pointed to him.  He had gone under a chain link fence and was on the other side.  “ How can I get to him?”, I thought.  I grabbed a little bowl of chicken scratch that I had brought with me.  I went right to him and put the bowl down next to the largest opening I could find.  He quickly pushed himself back underneath this area of the chain link fence.  He came straight to me and started eating ravenously .  I looked at the security guard and he looked at me.  He said “ He waited for you!  It’s like he knows you !”.  I gently picked him up and I told the security guard that I was going to take him home and take care of him.  This chicken was very still and let me not only pick him up , but put him into my dog kennel .  I put the bowl of food inside with him and he continued to eat and eat and eat.  I walked toward the security guard and I told him that when I got home ,  I couldn’t stop thinking about this chicken and that he had been heavy on my heart.  I could see tears in the eyes of this very tall and strong looking security guard.  He said “ You will surely be blessed”.  I smiled and I told him “ Happy Easter”.  I wasn’t doing it to get blessed.  I just needed to save him.  As I got back into the truck, I was overwhelmed with emotion and I burst into tears.  I couldn’t stop crying.  Why was I crying? I realized that I felt a “ prompting” deep inside and that I had “listened” and that I had actually heard the  “prompting”. I felt a “confirmation”.  I wondered if he had escaped or been abandoned . Either way , he must have had a very hard life.  He deserved to feel safe and secure and to have his basic needs met and to feel loved.  I had a connection with this chicken , but it was really that I had felt the “ prompting “ to save him.  I was so thankful and humbled.  I had wanted to be able to “ hear” God’s promptings better, and today I had.  I realized that I was crying because I had heard God today.