The Duck Dynasty Thing

I am not a reality TV fan.  In fact, I despise reality TV.  Watching any of it gives me an uncomfortable anxiety.  I don't even watch The Office because it's too close to reality TV.  I'm ok with how ridiculous that sounds. 

I don't like competition - in fact, I'll not play a game if the competition is going to make it less fun. Ping pong?  Sure - but let's not keep score.  I don't like conflict and do whatever it takes to avoid it.  I don't like to see people down on their luck. It makes me sad.

I don't watch reality TV because all of these things occur.  Backstabbing, lying, fighting, screaming, cussing - and it all makes me feel stressed.  I have four boys.  I have enough stress.

Enter Duck Dynasty.  I had friends tell me it was their favorite show on TV.  Friends who watch the same kind of shows I love.  So I asked what it was about and they made the mistake of starting the explanation with, "Well, it's a reality show about..." All I heard after that was white noise.  That was the first season. 
This past year, I heard more and more about it.  Other people told me to put aside my perception of reality TV and give it a shot.  But I was exposed to other reality shows that my husband and father-in-law watch where families struggle to mine an ounce of gold out of mountains and wrangle hogs and fight and scream and fight and scream and fight.  No thanks.  That was season two.

This year, I had enough of my friends tell me it was their favorite show.  I sat around work listening to coworkers discuss the latest episode and laugh hysterically at the antics of 'Uncle Si.' 

I broke down.
I set the DVR.
I watched the first recorded episode.
I thought, "I don't get it."

I honestly didn't.  The fighting wasn't that bad, though, and I have a rule that I'll try three episodes of a show before I decide against it.  So, I watched another episode, this time with my kids in the room.  They laughed so hard.  I laughed at their laughter. 

That's when the first realization hit me.  This is the first show I've seen in many years that I don't have to pause when the kids walk into the room.  It seems like they don't make family TV shows anymore.  Everything is sex and violence and cursing and political agendas masked in comedy or drama. 

We watched a third episode and this one was really funny.  Even to me. 

So, Duck Dynasty became a family thing - something we could all watch together on a rainy day.  And eventually, we were all laughing at this show - talking about how people we knew were like our favorite characters on the show (are they characters in a non-fiction show?  I guess they are because really... Si is a character). 

Then a defining moment happened.  I'm a huge advocate for dinner at the table.  It's one of the things I love about the show.  And one night at dinner, Stone said, "Can we do the Duck Dynasty thing?"

I said, "What's the Duck Dynasty thing?"

He said, "You know, when they sit down at the end of the show to eat and the Daddy says the thing."

One of his older brothers (I think it was Pearce) said, "You mean pray?"

He said, "Yeah, pray!  Can we do that Duck Dynasty thing?"

A little back story - and I don't want to sound weird here or like I'm picking on Chad - but I'm the 'church person.'  And because I love him and don't want him to feel like I'm judging him, I don't shove faith down his throat.  Ok, I try not to.  So, I've never insisted that we pray before a meal.  I insist that we eat together.  I insist that we put away electronic devices.  But I've never insisted on a prayer because I don't want him to feel like I'm becoming overly 'religious.' 

So, when Stone asked if we could pray by calling it the 'Duck Dynasty thing,' it made it somehow ok for us all to say, "Yep, that's a good idea."

And now we do.  Pray before dinner.  We call it the Duck Dynasty thing and I keep it light.  Something like, "Thank you for this family and for our love for each other and your love for us.  Help us to love each other and you more and more every day.  Thank you that we are so blessed to have this good food.  Amen." 

You know...light.  But in my heart, I'm bursting with heavy gratitude for this stupid show about this family who makes duck calls; a group of brothers who fight like my boys fight; a crazy Uncle (we all have one -and in my case more than one), and a patriarch who gives thanks to his father at the end of the day. 

Ultimately, I give thanks to God who works in the most amazing and creative ways to make himself known.