Chicken Thighs

I threw chicken thighs out the back door yesterday.

Yep. There they are. You can even see where they hit and slid a couple feet further.
Call me crazy.
But I did it.

Grief makes you do funny things. Weird things. Sometimes it makes you feel like you should be put in a straight jacket. You never really know what is going to put you over the edge. Or when something is going to put you over the edge. And for me, yesterday, it just so happened to be...

chicken thighs.

I should have known about a week ago when I picked "Lemongrass Chicken" that it was going to be a disastrous idea. I don't even know what lemongrass is. I Googled a picture of it while I stood, lost, in the produce section, and I still couldn't find it. Frustrated, I left the store. I made a few other attempts, and never found what I was looking for.

So I have this package of 12 chicken thighs sitting in my refrigerator, and I have no idea what to do with them. I'm really showing my true colors here that I am not experienced in the kitchen. I'm not one of those who is gifted with picking up spices and making things up. I have to follow a recipe, and I get nervous if I measure something even the tiniest granule off.

So I went back to one of my best friends - Google. I asked her for some "chicken thigh recipes" and she told me about a teriyaki chicken recipe that sounded pretty good and easy. Keep in mind on the timeline here, these chicken thighs have been in my fridge about 3 or 4 days now. I don't know the shelf life of these babies, and I want to get them cooked before they enter our prison, aka the freezer. Once something goes in there.... it typically doesn't come out. *dun dun dun*

So yesterday I had the perfect window of time and thought I would June Cleaver my way through the kitchen. Before I even began, I realized I didn't have all the ingredients. Slightly frustrated I made a quick run to the store and pep talked myself back into a good mood as I arrived back home. Alright, let's do this. These chicken thighs are gonna be good! You have all your ingredients. You're set. Easy peasy from here. WRONG. I am so not June Cleaver. One of the ingredients must have fallen in my blind spot. I still didn't have all I needed....
And
I
was
so
done.

All I could do was throw my hat on the ground, crawl in my bed and pout.

At first, I was angry with myself. How could I overlook something so simple? And then I realized...

I was angry that my mom isn't here.

This is one of those times when a girl needs her momma. Had she been here, I would have still been irritated, but I would have called her and explained the whole story. I would have said in my own frustrated, pouty tone, "Mom, what the heck can I do with these chicken thighs? Please help me." And she would have told me exactly what to do.

But she's not here. I can't call her. And the last thing I want to do is call someone else. No one else can fix this dilemma. Only Mom can do that.

I want my mom.

So it seemed like to me, since I couldn't call Mom, the next best thing to do was to get those cursed chicken thighs as far away from me as possible. I didn't want to be under the same roof as them. "You know what I want to do right now?" I said to David. I threw off the covers, put my feet on the ground, stomped into the kitchen, grabbed the chicken thighs, and
threw
them
out
the
back
door.

And it felt good. I really wanted to throw them over the fence. I wanted to open up the package and throw them one-by-one as far as I could. But I maintained my sanity by a hair, and settled with throwing the package only a few feet. But it still felt good. And thankfully, David still loves me. And God still loves me.

FREEDOM. A word my dear friend, and a woman I look up to, has spoken over me the past couple of months. And what a beautiful word it is. I've definitely taken it to heart, trusting that my God remembers that I am but dust (Psalm 103:14) - and if I want to throw chicken thighs out the back door, He still loves me.

I can't believe chicken thighs are what did it to me. But it's so true, you never know what or when something will put you over the edge. But something will. At some point.

And for me it just so happened to be chicken thighs.

"This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it."