Eat More Chikin

So, most of you know that our family moved out here to be chicken farmers....:Yes, it is just as glamorous as it sounds. And while I’m not going to stand up here and act like I go out and work in the chicken barns everyday, I have spent enough time in the barns to have learned a few things. First, I have learned that chicken farming stinks. It smells just about as good as you might think it would. Second, I am grateful to be a vegetarian. Now, before you go making assumptions, just let me clarify that I am not some tree-hugging, hippy, PETA member. I have been a vegetarian my whole life. As the saying goes, “The sins of the parents should not be answered upon the heads of the children”. I’m kinda kidding. My mom and dad are here today. Anyway, you will never catch me discouraging others from eating meat. In fact, as the Chick-Fil-A cows say “Eat More Chicken”. Next, in the movie “Forrest Gump” you may remember a floating white feather. In real life, floating feathers are neither romantic or cinematic. They are disgusting nuisances that you want to try and avoid getting in your eyes. Now here’s another movie reference: in the movie Mary Poppins (the first Mary Poppins, the original Mary Poppins, the only real Mary Poppins) She makes a statement that goes something like “In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun.” …….She is a liar. Chicken farming is not always easy. It’s not always hard. But it’s NEVER fun. But, in these experiences I have learned that I can do hard things. I can do GROSS things and at the end of the day, I feel good about the work that I’ve accomplished. President David O. McKay said “The privilege to work is a gift. The power to work is a blessing. The love of work is success.” I’m still trying to learn how to love working. On the day that we receive baby birds, they are looking for their mothers. So they will flock to anyone who comes in the barns. The barns are around 90 degrees so Greg likes to tell people that he’s surrounded by hot chicks. Kidding aside, the birds are instinctively looking for someone to nurture and protect them. 3 Nephi 10:6 reads “How oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return to me with full purpose of heart.” We need to learn to be like these newly hatched chicks, searching for the great protector; Jesus Christ. Out of the 300 some thousand birds we get, there are some that are runts and they just don’t grow like the rest of them. One day I walked into a barn and found one of these little guys stuck on his back (they call this “turtling”.) There was a much larger chicken just standing over him and looking down. I gently flipped the little guy back over onto his feet and he took off. But I was so mad at that big chicken who was just standing there watching the little one suffer and doing nothing about it! Sometimes I can be like that big chicken. I see others struggling and yet I sit back and do nothing. Mostly because I’m not always sure what to do to help someone in distress. I want to strive to not be a “Bird Brain”, and get to work helping out those in need. It’s imperative that we have the companionship of the Holy Ghost to help us know what to do to uplift others. A quote from Joseph Smith states “Salvation cannot come without revelation; it is in vain for anyone to minister without it. This is the principle on which the government of heaven is conducted-by revelation adapted to the circumstances in which the children of the kingdom are placed.” So with the help of the Holy Ghost, we can help those around us who may be “turtling” There is usually a lot of commotion in the barns. Between the clucking, flapping of wings, feeders running. Sometimes we have so much racket around us that we can’t hear or listen to the Holy Ghost. We should be setting aside some quiet time each day to listen to what our Father in Heaven would like us to do for His children-and then follow through with the promptings we receive. Elder Uchtdorf stated: “Often the Holy Ghost speaks to us in ways that we can hear only with our heart. To better hear His voice, it would be wise to turn down the volume control of the worldly noise in our lives. If we ignore or block out the promptings of the Spirit for whatever reason, they become less noticeable until we cannot hear them at all. Let us learn to hearken to the promptings of the Spirit and then be eager to heed them.” As the birds get bigger, it’s more difficult to maneuver around them. I can yell at them to move and they may shuffle a bit, but I’ve found that the more effective method to get them out of the way is to shake something large over their heads. This reminded me of the quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.” Our actions can be far more compelling than just words and perhaps this is most true when it comes to parenting. There’s that other quote that states “Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary use words.” We share the gospel with our children most effectively by simply living the gospel. A few weeks ago, Adley took a piece of the sacrament bread and then she whispered to me, “That was hard...but it was good” That statement pretty much sums up parenting: It’s hard, but it’s good. The HARDEST thing I’ve ever done in my lifetime, but also the BEST part of my life. I think that before I became a mom, I subconsciously thought that my kids would inherit mine and Greg’s good qualities and that any flaws that they would have would be ones that I could easily relate to and handle. I didn’t expect that they would each have different struggles and some of those struggles would be things that I didn’t have any experience in. I’ll give you an example of this. Greg and I are not “Snoozers” meaning that when our alarm goes off, we get up and out of bed. Even as kids, neither of us gave our parents trouble in that regard. So imagine our surprise when 3 out of our 4 kids do not want to get out of bed in the morning. Like ever. This is just one of the many things that I wasn’t prepared to deal with in parenting. Something else that I struggle with is comparing my kids to other peoples’ kids. And also, feeling like my friends and family members are comparing my kids to theirs. What we have found is that all kids have their own “Brand” of stupidity. In fact, all people have their own brand of stupidity. Our old Bishop in Springfield, Sean Breckenridge made a statement once that I think about often. He said, “What if each of our sins had their own odor?” What if everywhere I go, people can tell what my sins are based on my smell? There are some things like smoking and drinking that have a distinct aroma. What if pride, greed, gluttony, lust, wrath, slothfulness and all other sins each had their own funky smell. I’m pretty sure that I would probably smell like a chicken barn. So I shouldn’t judge my friend because she sins differently than I do just as I shouldn’t judge her kids because they have a different brand of foolishness than mine do. With very few exceptions, the hundreds of thousands of birds that we have each flock are pretty much identical to each other. They were engineered to be that way. Every once in a while you may find a gray or red chicken or some really messed up ones and the occasional runt, but for the most part, they are mostly all exactly alike. And what they are are a bunch of stupid chickens. Going back to what I’ve been talking about, I often get this brainless mindset that I can’t love somebody until they are just like me. And yet, if everyone were just like me, what we would have is a world full of stupid chickens. It is ignorant for us to feel like we can’t fully love our kids until they are just like us. It is unreasonable for us to look at others and feel like we can’t possibly be friends because they are just so different. What if the Savior felt that way about us? What if He said “I will only love you when you are just like me?” All of us would be unlovable, unworthy, hopeless. Luckily Christ doesn’t treat us this way. He was always reaching out to those who were nothing like Him. There was never another person like him and yet he loved all. He loves all. The “Come, Follow Me” curriculum has been life-changing for me. Every week, I can find a way that the lesson applies to me and what I’m dealing with in my daily life. I know that the manuals were put together by inspired men and women. I’ve been using a YouTube channel to accompany my personal study. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to look up “Don’t Miss This” on YouTube. Subscribe to their newsletters and print off their study guide. I have never felt more close to my Savior as I do this year studying the New Testament, watching the videos and receiving personal revelation. I am starting to gain a glimpse of the love that the Savior has for us. We learn of his teachings, his grace and his miracles. Last week, I loved the parable of what we have termed “The Prodigal Son”. This young man disgraced his family by asking for his inheritance while his father was still living. He then went out and spent it all in a reckless manner. Once he hit rock bottom he came up with a plan. He was going to go back to his home, find his father, admit his faults and unworthiness and then ask to be made a servant. The father had been watching for his son to come back and when he saw him far off, he ran to him and kissed him. The son begins to go through the steps that he had prepared in his mind, but it was almost as if the father didn’t listen to a word of it. He asked for a robe and a ring and shoes to be placed upon his son. He ordered that the fatted calf be butchered and prepared for a grand feast. A party of epic proportions was then underway. The father had forgiven his son even before an apology was made. How many of us would have stood back and said “Well...let’s see what he has to say for himself”? But this father was just so happy to see his son that none of it mattered. The boy had come home expecting to be made a servant and instead was treated like royalty. In our journey to our Father, all that is required is a desire to begin. He will meet us where we are, kiss us and rejoice in our return. I’m so grateful that I made that choice to begin my journey to my Heavenly Father at age 19. He met me where I was and extended his love and forgiveness to me. I’ve never felt anything but love from him. I really think that it’s the adversary and the judgement of others that make us feel unlovable and unworthy. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love my Savior. I love that I get to raise my children in the church. To quote David Butler from one of the Come Follow Me lessons, “If your heart doesn’t want to throw a party when you hear the gospel, then I don’t think you’re hearing the gospel.” I love that. And for the first time I really feel like my heart wants to have a party. The gospel of Jesus Christ is something that we should be excited about. It’s something that we should try and get others excited about-especially our children and families. Families are forever. We have a living prophet on the earth. We are led by revelation from God. I am so thankful for this knowledge that I have and I share these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.