Does God giggle (at Chick-fil-A) too?

The apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:4, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.” (NLT)

Hmmm.

“… bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.”

As Christians, we try to bear the Fruit of the Spirit in different circumstances. You know, all the Fruit of the Spirit as written in Galatians 5:22: “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

It’s really not that difficult when we think about it. Especially in a simple display of “kindness.”

When I leave this earth, I pray people recall memories of a slightly crazy, happy, joy-filled older lady who loves Jesus. I try to impart this through my thoughts, words, and behaviors in all I do, but especially around the younger generations.

So yesterday when I unexpectedly saw that Chick-fil-A was celebrating “Cow Appreciation Day,” I invited my granddaughters to dress up like cows to visit our local restaurant for a free entrée. I never knew such a celebration existed, but … why not?

The two available younger teenage granddaughters gladly accepted the invitation. I printed off the bovine spots, masks and “Eat Mor Chikin” signs offered from the corporate website and whisked off to my son’s house.

The girls and I enjoyed an hour or so together on their front porch just chatting and making our silly costumes. One of them even wore a fuzzy shirt, quite warm for the summer day! Finally, off to Chick-Fil-A we went with our fancy paper outfits.

Truthfully, it was my very first trip inside our local Noblesville restaurant. (I always do the drive-through). Of course, we received funny looks from a few folks and we giggled as we approached the stanchions for the line to place our orders.

Giggling right along with us was the helpful, friendly lady behind the counter. The gentleman customer in the adjacent line wasn’t aware of the “Cow Holiday” either, until the young man assisting him mentioned it and recommended he could “Moo” for his free entrée. We mooed right along with him in encouragement and giggled even more!

We retreated to a table near the entry doors and didn’t wait long for our warm and tasty meals to be delivered by another friendly young lady. What a lovely idea, I thought, to bring family and friends together for the day.

We saw lots of parents and kids, some older, some younger. A few dressed in costumes, but several were not dressed as cows! We were eating our meal when two middle-aged women walked in, totally unaware of the day’s celebration. No spots, no signs, no masks, no bovine anything! Oh dear!

As they walked by our table, I offered my “Eat Mor Chikin” sign to the older lady who stopped long enough for me to explain she could get free food today if she wore the sign. She accepted it and returned a few minutes later to happily thank me for the heads up. Nice stranger to meet. I recommended she keep and share the sign with another person in need.

But it gets even better.

As we were cleaning up our table and getting ready to leave, my younger granddaughter spotted another “plain-clothes” lady coming into the restaurant and offered her signs, mask, and cattle spots so this stranger could enjoy her visit and free food today, too.

Oh … the sweet act of kindness, simply just witnessed by one and passed onto the next. Thank you, Jesus!

It just happened. It wasn’t planned. Nothing of this whole day was planned. It just happened … through God’s grace!

Complicated and hard times can be softened by a simple act of kindness. And God was surely kind to me today when I saw the joy in both my granddaughter’s eyes and hearts touched in folks we never met before.

The impact of this awesome day is far greater than many of us might realize!

You know, I think God giggles with happiness along with each of us, too, including at Chick-fil-A! And I am humbly grateful!

Rev. Bonnie Zickgraf is a retired pastor, registered nurse, electroplater, and podcaster. She continues to serve various preschool, youth, and adult ministries, including the Nurses’ Honor Guard for the State of Indiana. She loves to laugh, write, eat, and pray! Send comments to bonniezickgraf@gmail.com.