I try to avoid public restrooms anyway...

Here's the thing... I try to avoid public restrooms anyway. In my mind most are full of germs, stink, and weird people that are perfectly normal outside of the confines of where we go to pee and poop.

Because of the world we live in, I'm ALWAYS looking around the corner and wondering what's hiding in the shadows. I call it my "irrational fears"... irrational because (and I'm sure there are actual statistics out there, but I'm not looking them up) there's typically a crazy small percentage of a chance that it's going to happen to me. And that "it" is anything. I don't park beside creepy white vans. I load my children both on the same side of the car and my oldest "crawls" through. My 45 pound 5 year old is still in a 4 point harness carseat. My guns are locked in bionic safes. I have a supply of canned goods and have thought about "what if" our power grid is wiped one day. I don't float on a rubber raft in the surf anymore... you see where I'm going. Basically, anything that seems dangerous or potentially hazardous, I try to avoid.

Now don't get me wrong, I still really enjoy life and the majority of the time my husband and kids have no idea I'm weighing the pros and cons of choices in my head, wrestling with the irrational fears that pop up. It's just a part of my day, and if I have to guess, it's just a part of being a MOM. It doesn't diminish my quality of life and if you had a conversation with my subconscious, I bet it would argue that my fears actually enhance my quality of life because I feel as if I'm actively protecting those that I love. Love...

It all comes down to love. Jesus teaches us to love our neighbor as ourself. Protect my kids... love the guy dressed as a girl... love the uber liberal left that continually rips at my conservative Christian values... protect my ability live in a country where my voice and values matter... It's a constant back and forth battle against loving and protecting and it's not really about bathrooms.

There's an agenda that helps to gain the following of us that wants to choose love first. We want everyone to feel loved and valued and that agenda is taking advantage of us. By gaining our following, they gain power. By gaining power, they take it away from us... bit by bit. Our government gets bigger and more powerful and our voices become less important. So if we want our children to have their voices heard one day, we have to protect their rights.

This is not a "boycott Target" post or a post encouraging/ discouraging  the support of HB2. This is a post about letting your voice be heard. VOTE. Don't be complacent. Don't hide your opinion for fear of ruffling feathers... I say that because it describes me perfectly! I have strong opinions and never share them publicly for fear of hurting others. I want to love. I want to spread the love of Jesus. But Jesus didn't hold his tongue for fear of ruffling feathers. He ruffled plenty! And he was the perfect example of love.

I try my hardest not to use public restrooms anyway, so passing laws about who can use which restroom seems really silly to me. There are bathrooms for men and bathrooms for women. If we wanted everyone to use whichever restroom, we wouldn't have put stick figures on the wall labeling which belongs to whom. It saddens me that my home (Charlotte, NC) was specifically targeted to promote a liberal agenda (that uses bathrooms as its voice, but is in reality MUCH bigger) because we're a liberal city in a swing state with a conservative governor. They came after us because we would create a perfect storm that would put them in the spotlight. They don't care about bathrooms either, though they're really making you think they do. They care about your votes. So no matter which side you're on... remember...

VOTE. Let your voice be heard. Educate yourself on the policies and PRAY. God is bigger than politics. He is bigger than government... and He sure as hell is bigger than bathrooms. Show love, shower grace, and if you feel threatened, read Luke, chapter 11. (I especially love verses 9, 10, and 21.)