Let me tell you the story about 5, not-so-little, ducks…

You see…

5 ducks did indeed go out one day. They wandered around the backside of the pond, found their way AROUND the fence, climbed the hill, and waddled away.

Dinner time came and they were ready for a snack, but only 2, not-so-little, ducks came back.

The pond is now a bachelor pad.

Now, let’s cross my backyard and venture into the chicken pen on the other side. Here, we have two hens that are determined to hatch themselves some eggs. We have plenty of chickens for the moment so I have been collecting eggs every day…even the ones they are attempting to hoard.

My neighbor knows of all of our farm adventures. She is our “chicken sitter” when we are out of town. She texted one night and asked if I would be interested in some duck eggs for my broody hens to incubate.

YES!!!

My kids were beyond excited when she told me she would see me the next day with eggs.

Fast forward to the next day and she arrived to deliver not a 1/2 dozen, not even a WHOLE dozen, but TWO DOZEN eggs.

24 EGGS, friends…24.

I asked, “what am I supposed to DO with all these eggs?”

She said to just give them to the hens and let them do whatever they are going to do.

I’m not EXACTLY sure what an excited chicken looks like, but I think these two ladies would fit the description. Their dream had come true. They had EGGS. LOTS of eggs. They were going to get to be mommies…we hope.

It was a lot of eggs and several rolled out of the “nest.” I use the term loosely because they did not choose a NEST…note the picture. We collected the ones that rolled out and left those that didn’t.

Five days passed…

JUST this evening we candled (shined a flashlight on) the remaining eggs and we have 11 with visible veining.

Do you know what that means, friends?

11 tiny beating hearts in 11 little duck eggs, sitting snuggly beneath their surrogate mother HENS…chickens.

It is so amazing!!

Those hens have no clue that they are hatching ducklings.

All they know is that their mother instincts are telling them to care for and protect “their” fragile little babies. And they are doing so with the passion of any mommy caring for her young…

If you don’t believe me, there are several other hens missing some neck feathers for venturing too close to prove it 😉

A mother’s love is so incredibly strong.

Happy Mother’s Day Week to all my mommy friends ❤

Whether you have babies snuggled in your arms or ones that have left the nest…

If your baby is currently growing inside of you or if your child is dwelling with Jesus…

Whether your child came from within your own body or if your child was carried by another woman…

If you are a woman that holds an incredible amount of love in your heart for a child you have not yet been blessed with…

Or if you made the choice to not have children of your own, but instead to love every child that passes through your life, ensuring that they know they are valued beyond earthly measure…

YOU ARE AMAZING!!!

All of you…

and you do not go unseen or unappreciated.

You are loved ❤