“Oh… you work at Chick-fil-A? I don’t eat there”

I took my son over to the local mall tonight to give my wife some peace and quiet time with our 3 week old daughter. Since I knew fellow Chick-fil-A team members were there Christmas shopping, I sent one of them a text so we could meet up. While waiting, I decided to stop in to my favorite tea place, Teavana, and sample everything in sight. The girl sampling the tea was very outgoing and friendly. I jokingly asked her if the YOUTHBERRY tea would make me younger. She responded with, “It really works! I’m 50 years old”. We laughed, and she admitted she was actually only 18. 

A short while later, my two fellow CFA team members joined us in Teavana. It was their first time there, so they definitely enjoyed sampling everything from Chinese teas, to iced Blueberry Pineapple. The employees there obviously get paid on commission, as the girl demonstrated and suggested gadgets and gizmos ranging from $20 – $200. We thanked her for her kindness and for the time spent with us, but I chuckled as I said, “Sorry… we all work at Chick-fil-A. I can’t afford a $200 tea making machine right now”. And that’s when her demeanor changed:

“Oh… you work at Chick-fil-A? I don’t eat there”

Thinking she may not care for fast food, or perhaps had experienced poor service at some point… I asked her why. She explained that her mom is a lesbian and that they boycott Chick-fil-A, and have boycotted Chick-fil-A since the media broke with the statements by Dan Cathy concerning marriage. 

At this point, I saw that God had orchestrated this meeting… and that this was a tremendous opportunity to make a difference in her life. I explained to her that though Dan Cathy may have a personal standard on marriage, it doesn’t mean he hates the individual that differs from his view. I went on to tell her the story of when I was first being interviewed for a job at CFA almost a year ago. My operator, Dean Sandbo, met with me at a local diner and we talked for almost 2 hours. At the end of the night, Dean told me to wait a second, and disappeared around the corner. Later, he told me that he had seen a homosexual couple that used to eat at our CFA quite frequently, but had not been back to the store since the boycott. Dean paid for their meal that night to bless them and to show them that we genuinely love them and still care about them.

She was blown away. She said that because of me (it really wasn’t me… I was just the representation of CFA at the moment) she is going to come back to CFA. I wrote down our store’s address and told her to bring her mom to the Chick-fil-A of Wesley Chapel and lunch will be on us! What a joy to share the heart of Chick-fil-A…. and ultimately the heart of Jesus Christ.