I found something today that I'd forgotten about until now, but it amused me enough to put it on here for today's post.

A few years back, when I was in the ninth grade, I had to write an opinion article about a controversial issue for my creative writing class. My teacher ended up sending it into the newspaper, and they published it within the next week. Here is the link: the amazingness. And here is a copy of what I wrote:

Letter: Hate not part of God's plan

"God hates faggots."

This slogan has spread through America during the past few years, spoken by people who claim to be Christian, spreading hatred toward homosexuals with Web sites, speeches, banners and that motto.

I am a Christian and I believe homosexuality is wrong, but there is no reason to hate someone simply because of a lifestyle with which you disagree.

God is a God of love and mercy, not hate.

John 3:16 does not say, "For God so loved the world - unless they are gay."

God loves the world, homosexual or not, and he would not want so-called Christians going around spreading hatred in his name.

If we really want to change a lifestyle we disagree with, and teach anyone what being Christian means, we need to express our views through love, or we will convert more people to atheism than Christianity.

Emily Whelchel

Now, my dad is a doctor, and he knows a lot of people, and so all day after this was published, random people kept coming up to him and saying things like, "Your daughter's article in the newspaper was a riot!" Now my dad had no clue I had even written this article, and so when he finally got his hands on a newspaper, upon reading the first sentence, he later told me that he had to set the paper down for a moment because he was so afraid that I had written something terrible about gay people.

I tend to say what I feel about certain issues, and so I'm sure that that was a legitimate fear in the back of my dad's mind. But anyways, when I saw this article for the first time in a couple of years, it brought back some amusing memories, and I hope this made you smile too.

I still agree with myself, by the way.

So yesterday, if you read my last post, you found out that I am a terrible miniature golf player.  Today, I discovered a new hidden talent of mine.  I bet you'll never guess it.  Can you guess what it is?

Laser tag. 

That's right, laser tag.  I got second place out of everybody in my family.  I'm very proud. 

Actually, I'm shocked.  I think it was my code name that helped me score the way I did.  You see, we did not get to pick our code names.  They came with the gun that we were given.  While everyone else in my family got names like "Falcon" and "Venom" and "Viper", my alias was "Barney."  I still have no clue why any of the staff members would pick a name like that, but I suppose that it didn't hinder me all that much.

Later in the afternoon, the family and I went to see Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede.  In case you haven't heard of that show, it is located in a coliseum of sorts where you sit down and watch a live show with horses and cowboys and singers while you enjoy a four course meal.

I have nothing but good things to say about the show, which at one point featured a lifelike nativity scene scene with real camels and sheep and basically shared the gospel with the audience.  The only real complaint I have of this Dixie Stampede is the way you're supposed to eat your food.

Here is a list of what I was given during the show: a biscuit, cream of vegetable soup, an entire chicken, half a potato, a slab of ham, corn on the cob, and an apple turnover.   

I have no complaints about the quality of the food.  It was all very good.  My only complaint is that we were given no silverware!  I think it was supposed to be a joke... because it was very difficult and messy to pull apart a greasy chicken with my bare hands and slurp up the cream of vegetable soup without a spoon... but I sure would have preferred it if thirty seconds into the prank, someone would have jumped out with a tray of silverware, saying, "Just kidding.  You don't have to make a mess, Emily!  I know you prefer to be neat and tidy!  Here's a fork!"  But that didn't happen, so I ate the food messily.

A huge wonder of the night was the chickens.  Every single person that came to see the Dixie Stampede got a full chicken.  They were small.  They were good.  While we looked around with amazement at the hundreds of poultry being passed around the room, my dad leaned in to whisper to me, "That's a lot of dead chickens."  I agree.    

Today was a good day, but I am ready to return home tomorrow.  We will be leaving bright and early in the morning, but that means that we'll arrive back in Texas earlier too, so I guess I'm okay with that.