Chick-fil-A, the largest fast-food restaurant chain in the United States, will soon open its second location in Marshall, Texas, where the franchise owners' buried an open Bible in the building's foundation as a reflection of their faith in God.
The franchisees, David and Holley Snow, owners of the first Chick-fil-A drive-thru in Marshall that will open in the coming months, said before the concrete was poured they wanted to do something to honor their Creator.
"When the first concrete was poured on the restaurant site, it was important to us that a Bible be laid into the foundation of Chick-fil-A Marshall. We opened the Bible to Joshua 1:9 — a verse that has stuck with our operator and his family through all their endeavors. 'Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go,'" read a post on the franchise's Facebook pagebefore it was taken down.
Among the chain's 2,773 locations nationwide, Texas has the most with more than 450 restaurants across the state.
David Snow, whose new drive-thru will add to that tally, is a native Texan, having been born in Gilmer. He played football for the University of Texas at Austin before being selected to play in the NFL as an offensive lineman for the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers, KNUE reported.
Holley Snow, who also attended and graduated from UT-Austin, was a news reporter for ABC News affiliates KLTV and KTRE in East Texas before she married her husband in 2012.
The Snows' 4-year-old son, Montgomery, laid the Bible in the restaurant's foundation at the same time his parents were at the hospital with their daughter, Wynter, who was born last October but remains hospitalized, Church Leaders reported.
Wynter was born with Down syndrome, a congenital heart defect, and an esophageal defect. The newborn had her first surgery at three days old and is expected to undergo several more operations.
"We firmly believe God thought of & uniquely designed our Wyn, just as He wanted her here on Earth — in His image," Holley Snow wrote in a separate Facebook post on Oct. 23, 2021. "Wynter is an answer to countless prayers, a daughter of the King & an absolute miracle — unlike anything we've ever witnessed on this Earth."
"We named her after Rhea F. Miller, the woman who wrote, 'I'd Rather Have Jesus' — a song I couldn't get out of my head before we ever were told any news about our girl," she added. "We decided early on, we would rather our children have Jesus than anything else this world says is 'normal.'"
Chick-fil-A has long been recognized for its Christian founding and corporate culture, which includes being closed on Sundays so employees can observe the Sabbath.
In a previous interview with The Christian Post, Trudy Cathy White, the daughter of Chick-fil-A's founder S. Truett Cathy and his wife, Jeannette, shared how the faith and quiet strength of her mother contributed to the massive success of the fast-food restaurant.
The company's dedication to prayer and biblical principles, she said, is largely due to Jeannette's influence. She described her mother as having a simple, yet powerful motto she lived by: "You can with God."
"My mother was a prayer warrior," White said. "A big part of our culture at Chick-fil-A is to pray for one another, and that is the influence of my mother that has permeated the restaurant culture. She, like my father, believed good business practices are a result of good biblical principles, and we can apply those biblical principles to the practices that we have in business. She believed that God really has the formula for success in life."
