What Manner of "Hen" Ought Ye To Be?

Several years ago I had this crazy idea that we should raise some chickens. I had never raised chickens before. The idea of raising chickens and collecting eggs from the hens was something I always wanted to try. I thought it would be fun and a great experience for our four young children.

Before purchasing some chicks, I needed a chicken coop. I found some "do it yourself" plans and purchased all the materials to build a small home for chickens. Rika and the kids were kind of surprised. They asked, "Dad, are really going to build a chicken coop?" Then thy added, "Do you really know how?" I assured them I could do it and then invited them to help. Before long we had a home built chicken coop. It was not the best coop ever built, but it would do just fine for the six little chicks we planned to buy.

Soon we found six cute little chicks at the farmers market. They claimed they were all hens (female), but we soon found out identifying the sex of baby chicks is not an exact science. 

The kids loved our chicks. They would take them out and play with them like new little pets. Those cute little chicks grew and after several weeks started looking more like chickens. As they matured, to our great surprise, it became apparent that two of the six chicks turned out to be roosters! You know what that means. Crowing in the morning. Needless to say we did not need an alarm clock any longer. It also meant that any eggs laid by our hens, if sat on, could hatch new baby chicks. Soon the hens were big enough to begin laying eggs. Every morning we would collect 3-4 eggs from the hens. One summer day, after a short vacation, I went to see how the chickens were doing. I had not gathered any eggs for a few days and I noticed one of the hens had gathered all the other hen's eggs under herself and was sitting on them. All of them. She had maybe 10 or more eggs under her. I left them there thinking they would not be fresh. The next morning she had done the same thing and she repeated this exercise every morning for several days. Not knowing which eggs were just laid and which ones she had been sitting on for a few days, I was compelled to leave them all under her. Now if you remember, we had two roosters. That meant that the eggs she was sitting on may be fertile and possibly hatch new chicks. I was skeptical, but curious to see what would happen. Several more days passed and this hen continued to sit on about 20 eggs. I thought there is no way these are going to hatch. There are too many and they may not even be fertile. I was tempted to throw them out, but I decided to wait a few more days. The other hens and roosters had no interest in this mother hen or her eggs (which were their eggs too). She seemed all alone, fixed on her task of hatching those eggs.

Then, one morning to my great surprise, when I opened the door to the coop, several small chicks darted across the floor. Before we knew it, we had over a dozen little chicks running around the yard.

Then I discovered something that literally changed my life. While the others hens and roosters had no interest in the eggs before, they seemed to despise and pick on these newly hatched chicks. But as they began to chase and peck at these little chicks, the hen that sat on them jumped to their defense and gathered them back under her wings. Knowing of the danger outside their mother's care, the chicks soon learned to stay close to her and when they got too far away, the mother hen would pull them back under herself where they would be safe again. In reality, not all these chicks were from her eggs, but that did not matter to her. She had sacrificed herself for them and painstakingly sat in those eggs for days. She seemed determined to protect these chicks and gather them under her wings over and over again.

As I witnessed this with my real chickens, my mind reflected on the words of Jesus Christ when he said "...how often I have desired to gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and ye would not." (Matthew 23:37).

The Savior loves each of us and he is gathering his children even today. Like the hen I witnessed, He sacrificed his own life, that each and every person on this earth might be saved. In modern day scripture we read, "Listen to the voice of Jesus Christ, your redeemer, the Great I Am whose arm of mercy hath atoned for your sins. Who will gather his people even as a hen gathereth her chickens, even as many as will hearken to my voice and humble themselves before me, and call upon me in mighty prayer." (Doctrine and Covenants 29:1-2)

The gospel of Jesus Christ offers each of us peace and protection. Following the teachings of the Savoir does not guarantee we will not face trials, but it will provide us with the proper perspective and the reassurance and strength to face and overcome trails we will certainly encounter in our lives.

Watching the mother hen, gave me a renewed understanding of the role of Jesus Christ in my life. It reminded me of how He loves and cares for me. The invitation to all is to follow Him and strive to live a life patterned after His. When Christ appeared to the Nephites in the Book of Mormon, he asked the question, "What manner of men ought ye to be?" Then he answers, "even as I am." He is our example. He served and sacrificed for each of us. That day in my chicken coop, I saw a little bit of the example of Christ reflected in that crazy mother hen. 

I then had a silly thought. What manner of "Hen" ought I be? The answer was clear, just like that crazy mother hen. An example of Christlike love and service. Needless to say, I am still working on this, but grateful for the reminder provided by this mother hen many years ago.

The pictures are actual pictures of our children with the chicks and our little chicken coop.

Rika Ito McIntyre 信仰ー 私の改宗について

　信仰ー 私の改宗について My Faith - Conversion Story - I am a Mormon!

あれは私が東京の専門学校の入学試験のために夜遅く、勉強している時期でした。ある朝、眠い目をこすりながら自転車で通学中の私の隣を車が勢いよく通り過 ぎていきました。その時、危なく体のバランスを崩し倒れそうになった

私は、ハッとして、しっかり眠気が覚めました。もしかしたら、車にはねられていたのか もと。その日の夜は朝に起こった事が頭から離れず、もし今日死んでいたらどうなったんだろう。両親は悲しむだろうか、妹たちもこんな自分勝手な姉でも悲し んでくれるだろうか。死んだら今まで勉強してきたことが無駄になってしまう。そこから私は、なぜこの世に、生まれてきたのだろうと誰に聞いたらよいのかも わからないような大きな疑問を持つようになっていました。そんなある日、道端に無料英会話と書いたチラシを見つけ、東京の外語学校に行こうと思っていた私 は、さっそく友人を誘い参加してみました。その英会話ではアメリカから来ている若い先生達が親切に英語をそれぞれのレベルに分けたクラスで教えてくれまし た。数回通った頃、学校のクラブの先輩もここに集っていることを知り、彼女が私を日曜日の集会にも誘ってくれました。その時、いつもは楽しく英語を教えて くれてる先生達が末日聖徒イエスキリスト教会の宣教師として福音を教えるために日本に来ているのだとわかりました。そして彼女たちが教会の事について話し 始め、３つの質問をしてきたのです。１．私たちは生まれる前にどこにいたのでしょう。２、なぜこの地上に生まれてきたのでしょう。３．私たちは死後どこへ 行くのでしょう。その質問を聞いたとき私は、この人たちは私が探していた答えを持っていると感じました。それ以来、私はこの教会のお世話になっています。 ニックネームでモルモン教会と呼ばれたりもしますが、正式には末日聖徒イエスキリスト教会と言います。この教会に出会ったおかげで日々変わりつつある社会 のモラルに惑わされることなく、（実際、高校の同級生数人の友達は卒業後妻子持ちの方に誘われて付き合うこになって、困ってると）　私の好きだった、宝塚 のモットー、清く、正しく、美しく（？）を保ち、今の主人と出会い家族を持てたことが、大きな祝福の一つと感じています。皆さんの中にも、夜空を見て宇宙 の広さを感じるとき、大自然の雄大さを見るとき、この世には人間が作り出せない、それ以上のものがあると感じるときがあるかもしれませんね。また人生に対 して、虚しさを感じたり、人が信じられなかったりする人もいるかもしれません。そんな時は、私たちの霊の父である、神様（天の父）、そして私たちの霊の長 男であるイエスキリスト（救い主）の事を学んでみてはどうでしょう。宗教は心の弱い人が一人で生きていけなくて、何かに頼りたくて、そんな人のためにある もの、とある人が私に言ってきたことがありますが、私はこの教会に入って、弱い人達（人を頼りにする）より、強い人が多いのだとわかってきました。子供を 事故で無くした母親がいつか息子と会えること知っていると教会で話すとき、それは弱い母親の姿ではありませんでした。信じること（信仰）がこれほど人を強 くするものなのかと。私自身の子供たちにしても、それぞれに何かあっても自分たちはこの教えを通して結ばれているという、同じ所（天の父のもとに戻る）で いつか会えるということを教会に通い福音を通して学ぶことにより、わかっているのです。それにより、普段はケンカをしたりしていても、自然と一致すること ができます。人は宗教と聞くと嫌がる方も多いかもしれませんが、私の中ではすでに生活に密着しているもの。私たちがこの世を安全に進めるような（誘惑がな いわけではありませんが）道しるべとなるのが福音です。これを読んで教会の事がもっと知りたいと思った方はこちらをどうぞ。
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God Does Answer Prayers! - Something I learned as a Young Boy

日本語は英語の下にあります。ぜひ読んで下さい
  
A few years ago my mother passed away. This is one of my favorite memories of her. This little event has had a huge impact on my life. This was the beginnings of my testimony of prayer. The year is around 1972 and the location, Visalia, Calfornia.

 - William McIntyre

I learned at a young age that our Father in Heaven really does answers prayers.  As a boy of about 8 or 9 years of age, I often biked around the block to the street behind my house to play with my friends. There was a large walnut orchard behind my house that separated my street from the neighborhood behind us. The trip around the block was not all that far, but with the extra distance due to the orchard, to a young boy it seemed like a major journey. To complicate the trip, there were some boys that lived in a house on the corner behind our street. They were the neighborhood bullies and passing by their house was a scary experience. I remember rounding the corner each time and riding as fast as I could in hopes that they would not see me or at least not be able to catch me.

One day after playing with my friends around the block, I was riding home and to my great fear, these boys were out in the street right in my path. It was as if they were waiting for me. They were your typical neighborhood bullies and I was sure they saw in me a younger boy they could take advantage of. They seemed to think the corner was theirs and they had the right to torment anyone who past it. I stopped as soon as I saw them. I was still a few hundred yards away. I remember sitting on my bike at the curb near the sidewalk. I was terrified. I thought they would beat me up for sure.

At first, I hoped they had not noticed me, but then I saw them start walking my way. I had to think quick. I imagined myself dropping my bike and making a mad dash for the front door of the house I was stopped in front of. Then I thought, but if they are not home and no one answers the door, I am a dead man!

I felt helpless and alone. The only thing I could think to do was pray. I prayed in my heart that they would not hurt me and that I could somehow get away. I could not see anyway out of this problem. I prayed harder asking my Father in Heaven to help me be safe and know what to do.

I stood for what seemed like a long time, but was probably only a minute or two, as they approached. The boys started yelling things at me as they got closer. Soon they were so close it was evident I would have to run or fight. I prayed for super human strength or at least super human speed so they would not be able to catch me.

As I stood my ground and they continued to tease me, I saw something that not only surprised me, but brought great relief to my situation. Just up the street behind the bullies I saw our old brown Dodge station wagon slowly turn the corner and start to make its way towards us. It was my mother. I gained that super human strength and told the boys they should leave me alone! When they saw the car and it was apparent that my rescue had arrived, the bullies quickly ran off back towards their house.

 My prayer was answered!

The funny thing is my mother had never come to pick me up before and I wasn't late. There was no real reason for her to come looking for me. When I asked her why she was had come, she simply said she felt like she should come and see where I was. It was then I knew. The Holy Ghost answered my prayer by speaking in a still small voice to my mother. I was never alone facing those bullies. Father had heard my prayer and His Spirit was with me and protecting me. And my mother was able to hear and act upon His prompting.

I learned that day that the God does hear and answer prayers. I learned he does not always answer them in the way we expect him to or sometimes want him to, but he does answer.  I also learned that he often answers our prayers through someone else. While I expected to have something happen to me, like great sudden human strength, the Spirit quietly answered my prayer by speaking to one who would listen, one in tune who could help me.  And she came to my rescue. How grateful I am for a mother who was able to hear the still small voice and have the courage to act on that prompting.

Since that day, I have never doubted that God is there. I have never questioned if he hears my prayers. I have also tried to act upon the promptings I feel from time to time in hopes that in some way, I might be able to be the answer to someone’s prayer like my mother was to mine that day I faced the bullies and she came to my rescue.

Yes, God is there and he hears and answers the humble and sincere prayer.

日本語

数年前、私の母は他界しました。これは、母の思い出話の一つとして私の好きなものです。この小さな出来事が、私の人生に大きなインパクトを与えました。これが私の祈りに対する証の始まりとなったからです。これは約１９７２年、カリフォルニア州、バイセリア市で起こりました。　　　　（ウイリアム・マッキタイヤー）

私は幼くして、天の御父が　本当に私たちの祈りにこたえてくださることを学びました。当時８歳、９歳くらいの私は、家の裏手にある友達の家に自転車で遊びに出かけていました。家の裏手には大きな木の実の畑があり、その畑を超え、道を超えたところに友達の家がありました。その家まで、距離にすれば大したものではなかったと思うのですが、子供の頃はこの畑の脇の道を通り、友達の家にたどり着くのがとても長く感じられました。また、この道のりに加え、家の裏手から先に進んだ一つ目の角に住む数人の男子の事で、さらに気が重くなっていました。彼らは近所のいじめっ子たちで、彼らの家の前を通るのはとても怖いことでした。毎回、彼らの家の前を見つからないように、また捕まらないように急いでその角を曲がったのを覚えています。

ある日、友達の家で遊んだ後、不安を感じながら家に向かい自転車をこぎ始めると、その先には何とあのいじめっ子たちがいたのです。彼らはまるで私を待ち構えているかのように見えました。彼らは典型的ないじめっ子で、彼らからすると年下の私はからかうには丁度良い相手に見えたでしょう。彼らは近所の角はまるで自分たちが管理してる場所とでも言うように、だれでもそこを通る子供をいじめていました。私は彼らを目にするなり自転車を止めました。彼らから数百メートルは離れていたでしょう。私は自転車にまたがったまま、その場に立ちすくんでしまいました。怖くて仕方がなかったからです。彼らが私を何もなく通らせるわけがないとわかっていました。

私は初めに彼らが私に気づかないようにと望みました。しかし、彼らは私の方に向かって歩き出したのです。何かすぐに対処しなければと思いました。自転車を降りて急いで近所の家に助けを求めることを考えました。しかし、もしそこの住人が留守だとしたら、私は死んだも同然です！

私は自分が何もできない、一人だと感じていました。その時私が思いついたのはただ祈ることです。私は彼らが私をいじめることなく、どうにかして私がこの場から逃げられるように心の中で祈りました。私はこの状態からどのようにして抜け出せるか考えることができませんでした。ただ私は天の御父に私を助けを求め、どうすればよいのかと強く祈りました。

実際、彼らが近づいてくるのには数分だけだったと思うのですが、自分がそこに長くたっていたように感じられました。彼らは近づくにつれ私に向かって何か叫んでいます。すでに彼らは私が走って逃げるか、喧嘩するかという選択をしなければならないほどの距離ほどに近づいてきました。私はスーパー人間の力かスーパー人間の速さで、彼らが私を捕まえないようにと祈りました。

私はその場に立ったまま、彼らが私をからかい始めた時です。私は驚くばかりではなく、その場を逃れられる安堵感を感じる何かを見たのです。それは、いじめっ子たちの住む道から茶色の古いステーションワゴンが角を曲がってこちらに向かってきたからです。それは私の母でした。私はスーパー人間の力を得たかのように、そのいじめっ子たちに、私に構わないでくれ！と言ったのです。彼らは、その車と救いに来た母を見ると急いで家に戻っていきました。

私の祈りはこたえられました！

おかしなことに、私の母は、一度でも私を友達の家に迎えに来たことはありませんでした。また私の帰宅が遅れたわけでもありません。私を探しに来る理由などなかったのです。私が母になぜ迎えに来たのか聞くと、彼女はただ私が何をしてるのか行ってみるべきだと感じたからと答えてくれました。その時私はわかったのです。聖霊が私の祈りを聞き、母に小さな声で囁いたのだと。いじめっ子達を相手に私は一人ではなかったのです。天の御父は私の祈りを聞き、聖霊が私と共にいて守ってくれていたのです。そして私の母はその聖霊の囁きを聞いてくれたのです。

その日、私は天の御父が私たちの祈りを聞き、こたえてくださることを学んだのです。私は天のお父様は、彼にしてほしい事や、私たちが望むようなこたえ等にいつもこたえてくれるわけではないことも学びました。そして多くの場合、彼は他の人を通してこたえてくれることも学びました。あの日私が自分に何か起こると感じ、人間が出し切れるすべての力により求めた時、聖霊がそれにこたえ、私と同様に囁きに耳を傾けられる人に伝えたのです。そして彼女が助けに来たのです。小さな囁きを聞き、行動を起こした母にとても感謝しています。

あの日以来、私は神様の存在を疑ったことはありません。また彼が私の祈りを聞いているだろうかと思ったこともありません。また私自身、あの日、聖霊の囁きに耳を傾け、私を助けに来てくれた母のように　誰かの祈りにこたえられるように備えようとしてきました。

そうです。神様は存在し、私たちの謙遜で心からの祈りを聞いてくださいます。