Don't give them your money.



The wisdom of a 5 year old I tell ya.  Yesterday we were all outside for the day working and playing when Bean overheard Dustin and I talking about two of our roosters that were going to have to "go".  Bean asked where they were going to go and I explained that we would use them for meat.  I could tell by the look on his face and his wide eyes that he didn't really know quite what to think.  I've always just been blatantly honest with my kids and didn't see the reason to hide this from them.

I sat Bean down and laid it out, plain and simple.  When we eat dinner and there is chicken in it, it comes from a live animal....and so on.  I still got the look.  I further explained to Bean that the reason we don't want to eat at places like McDonald's or buy some of the meat at the grocery stores is because the animals that the meat came from weren't healthy and weren't being treated well.  I also told Bean that we believe that God put animals on the earth for us to care for and to use for nourishment.

Then Bean says "Mom, we don't want to give those places our money".  I was so proud!  He totally got it.  He knew that if we gave those food establishments and those stores our money for the meat that was inhumane and unhealthy that we would be supporting something that we didn't believe was right.

Do you think about where your meat comes from?  Do you think about the animal that it came from?  Believe me, I understand what it's like to look the animal you eat in the eye.  It's not the easiest thing to do and I've learned a lot about myself in the process.  No matter if you believe it's right to eat meat or not, you can at least see the value in an animal that is treated as nourishment versus one that is treated as profit.  It's time we face the music and realize that meat is not just something we buy at the store, there is a LIFE behind it.

Let me tell you something about myself that you may not know.  At the age of 12, I became a vegetarian.  I remained that way until I started keeping chickens.  My perspective has changed and over the past few years I have become a carnivore.  I understand and respect both sides of things and am not trying to talk anyone in to eating meat.  But, I want everyone to be aware that not all meat is created equal.

I challenge you, if you haven't already, to either grow your own meat or purchase meat from a responsible party.  Regardless of your feelings on beef or chicken, we all know that at some level our world depends on it.  Whether it be the hamburger you just ate or the pair of shoes you are wearing.  Let's make sure that the LIFE behind it was lived to the fullest!!

McDonald's and cheap meat can't make it if we don't buy it.  Vote for healthy and humane meat with your dollars.  Yes, it's more expensive, but if we all work together to change the meat industry it will become more affordable.  And much better for our animals.

Psalm 8:3-9

³ When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
⁴ what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?^[a]

⁵ You have made them^[b] a little lower than the angels^[c]
and crowned them^[d] with glory and honor.
⁶ You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their^[e] feet:
⁷ all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
⁸ the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

⁹ LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Just this morning we lost our Marvin.  He was our 9 month old cow who fell ill over a week ago.  It's been tough.  We are emotional beings and even though I knew Marvin was meat, I knew that God wanted me to treat His creation with compassion until the end.  Marvin, as Bean says, you have a "new cow body in Heaven" now.  It's not easy raising animals for meat.  I don't think it was intended to be.  If you don't feel, you ain't livin'.