chicken.

I called my husband in tears this morning.

"________ wrote me a private message (blubbering) saying (sobbing) that I (sniffling) am a gay basher because we eat at Chick-fil-A!"

With one "share" of a photo, displaying that I would be supporting Chick-Fil-A on 8/1/2012, (which to be completely honest, I'd probably have been at Chick-Fil-A on 8/1/2012 anyways, since I am there, all.the.time.) I had stepped into the boxing ring, glove less, and unprepared. 

I, along with the majority of my St.Augustine, Florida friends, will be attending this Chick-Fil-A event and I didn't think twice about posting it.  You can imagine my shock when the first comment (within seconds of posting the picture) was "that's great, go eat chicken and bash gay people."  Hmm.  Wow.

Instantly, I thought, "I must have missed something.. SHOOT!  What did I just get myself into?" 

I scoured the Internet, looking for reliable sources (HAHA), trying to figure out what this huge controversy was about.  Here's what I found,

"We are very much supportive of the family - the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that," Cathy (CEO) is quoted as saying."
-source CNN

I read it again.  And again.   Correct me if I'm wrong, but is this gay bashing? 

I'm almost at a loss for words.  Almost. (hehe)

My family and I eat at Chick-Fil-A a ridiculous amount.

Here are some reasons why we choose chicken over beef:

• It's cheap.  With the use of coupons and their special promotions we can eat for under 10 bucks.
• It's clean. 
• The customer service is crazy-CRAZY outstanding.  I have never had to find a high chair.  One is always brought to the table for me.  If I start to stand up, cup in hand, destined for a refill, I'm stopped and asked, "What do you need mam?  I can get it for you!"  For those of you with littles, you know how awesome it is to be able to sit at your table and not have to jump up and down a million times, retrieving cutlery and ketcup packets.
• Their new chocolate chip cookies  might have crack in them.  Okay, probably not.  But they're incredibly good.
• They cater to my kids;  meaning, they have place mats that stick to the tables for littles to eat off, because what 1 year old keeps a plate on the table?  They have fresh fruit, cut up into perfect kiddie bites, that my four year old devours in one minute flat.   The play area is well supervised, incredibly clean and has an airplane that Henry loves to "fly." 
• Regardless of what kind of day they're having, the employees at our (St. Augustine, FL) Chick-Fil-A are nothing but caring, helpful and plain cheery!    Ending every order, with "Have a blessed day!", I always feel a bit lighter leaving (even if I've got a banana milkshake in my hand:/)
• My mom and dad used to work there (in college) and it seems to bring back a hint of nostalgia for me, which is always a nice thing.
• And finally, yes indeed, it is a family owned, Christian based business.  It's closed on Sunday's, honoring it as a day of worship, which in this day in age, is a pretty incredible thing.  And I respect that.

Take note the absence of the reason:  "I eat at Chick-fil-a because of their position on gay marriage."

I hope its no secret I'm a Christian, since I believe the whole "They will know we are Christians by our love, by our love (sing with me!). They will knooooowwwww we are Christians by our love!"

It makes me sick with sadness to hear of the extreme radical views of "churches" or groups that shut their doors, or worse, harass and bully those that are different. 

Let me refresh your mind here for a quick sec.  Remember Zacchhaeus?  The wee little man who climbed up in a sycamore tree?  (wow!  Lots of elementary school flashbacks here!)  In short, he was a tax collector who was hated.  To the people of Jericho, it was just plain obvious that Jesus would want nothing to do with such a lowly sinner.  Yet out of the entire crowd, Jesus zoned in on him- offering acceptance and mercy.  (read full story here)  And THAT my friends is what Jesus is;  loving, full of grace, accepting, merciful.

As hard as I try, I cannot find the statement made by Cathy to be hateful or discriminating.  To be honest, I find it lovely.  I find it lovely that he honors his wife and thanks God for his blessings.  I understand that by using the words, "Biblical definition of a family" he is showing what marriage, in his eyes, should be, and that would be between a man and a woman.  That's his opinion, and that's a right we all have.  Me, you and the man on the moon. 

If we were to begin boycotting and harassing companies and people for that matter, with opposing views we'd be stuck in an endless wheel of checks and balances, constantly assessing who believes what, where and why.  Eventually we'd end up being holed up alone, in our "safe place" with a cat and a meaningless picketing sign.
I remember years ago, Disney announced they were having a gay pride week.  I remember it well, because we happened to be there on vacation when they made the announcement.  I was young, and didn't make vacation decisions, but I know we marched right into the Magic Kingdom and in that blissfully awesome Disney way, handed them over (much too much) money! :)  I am sure- no wait- I am positive that there are some people out there who did, indeed boycott Disney.  But if you know me at all, you know that I am the biggest Disney fan alive.  Ever.  For real.{read about our upcoming Disney vacay here!}  And I also happen to be Christian, with (mostly) conservative views. 

The CEO of Chick-Fil-A announced his belief in a traditional marriage.  He said nothing of the hiring/firing or serving of gay people- absolutely nothing.  Now, that would be discriminatory. 

This past week, a madman entered a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado shooting and killing twelve people.  Does anyone else find it incredibly silly that the people in this country are exploding over Truett Cathy's personal opinion on marriage while real, legitimate catastrophes like this are happening?   

This week, I've been asked my opinion on two moral issues. The first being this (the great chicken scandal of 2012), the second, the death penalty (in relation to the Colorado shootings).  A couple of years ago I'd probably have had different answers for you.

Remember those "WWJD" (what would Jesus do) bracelets that were all the rage awhile back? I've found myself wanting my faith to take this direction more and more.

There are "easy" answers to hard situations. Black or white, cut and dry, right or wrong; there are so many questions that we, as human beings think we have and know the answers to.  It's easy to say, "death penalty for that shooter!"   And then there's "WWJD." 

I personally believe, Jesus would walk over to anyone in any situation who is hurting, lost, broken, gone, forgotten, written off, forsaken-  He'd hold out his arms and invite them in, offering forgiveness, hope, healing and love.  To me, that is Jesus.

If Jesus walked among us in this filthy world, I truly believe He would seek out the hurting and hopeless.
Because we are sinners,and incapable of perfection and the purity of Jesus's love, we're constantly riddled with these same moral arguments, over and over and over again.

And to be honest, I'm tired of hearing it.  As I said before, there are people dying in movie theatres... children starving, in our own country... in short- so many other issues that need attention.  So I'll end with this:

I am a Christian.  I am a proud Christian.  I am humbled daily that I have a Savior so mighty.  That He is jealous for ME!  That He sent his perfect son to suffer and die, so that me- meek, stupid, pathetic, mucky sinner me, can LIVE.  

This will be the last time I give this issue (chicken...and such)  any "blog time"- I am over it and my heart is in a good place.   And after all, this blog is dedicated to the boogers (both literal and figurative) that run around this crazy house.

And I ask that if you're going to post something hurtful, to think twice, and if after thinking twice you still want to yell at me, message me privately.   Please don't blow up my wall or my personal blog with hate. 

Thank you :) 

Oh- and one last thing...

WALT DISNEY WORLD & CHICKEN FOR ALL! :D