This was a great week. Two notable things happened.

First, Kathy found this interesting recipe a couple weeks ago and shared it with me. I was intrigued so, I bought some rotisserie chicken meat from Costco so we could make it. However, later, I found out that Kathy also bought chicken meat and the other ingredients for it as well. So, we actually made it twice!

It's called Chicken Cobbler.


She made the first batch and she thought it was just OK. But, I loved it.

When I made it a week later, I tweaked the recipe and added more veggies (corn, green beans, and peas) and I thought it tasted even better.

It's super simple and very delicious. I love chicken pot pie and this Bisquick version of it pushed my buttons. I highly recommend it. I thought it was super good.

The second thing that happened is kinda personal so I hesitate to share it cuz not everyone is gonna get it but, I think it's interesting and, who knows...maybe someone will benefit from this.

Years ago, while reading the scriptures, I noticed this pattern which many refer to as the Pride Cycle. The people are humble and righteous and, as a result, they are blessed and prospered by God. But, over time, due to their exceeding prosperity, they become proud and begin to be lifted up because of their material possessions. This pride leads to suffering and destruction.

Ultimately, the suffering and destruction causes the people to eventually remember the Lord, repent, and become humble again. Due to their righteousness and humility, the people are blessed and prospered. And, then the cycle repeats...over and over again. This is especially apparent in The Book of Mormon.


I was intrigued by this observation and wondered what I could do in my life and for my family to avoid getting caught in this trap. I decided that, in order to avoid pride, I needed to know what pride really is and what it means to be proud.

So, I committed myself to diligent research on the subject. And, after collecting lots of information, I compiled it into an easy to read list of the Signs of Pride, printed it, and hung it on the mud room door. That way, as the kids, Kathy, and I leave the house, we would see it and, perhaps it would serve as a reminder to us.


Later, my daughter-in-law, Cecilia, jokingly suggested that it might make more sense to post this on the back of the bathroom door. That way, it would be easy to read when you're sitting on the pot with nothing to do. I thought that was a great idea...so I printed another copy and hung it there too!


This turned out to be a brilliant idea because it was much easier to read. And, it's such a good reminder because it's easy to forget some of these things and becoming proud is a slippery slope. There are some things we do that seem like normal behavior which, unchecked, can lead to pride. For example,

Complain: When our heart is in the right place, we do not complain that our assigned task is unworthy of our abilities. We gladly serve wherever we are asked. When we do this, the Lord can use us in ways beyond our understanding to accomplish His work.

Also, there are some things we do that seem like humility that really aren't. For example...

Beating Ourselves Up: Some suppose that humility is about beating ourselves up. Humility does not mean convincing ourselves that we are worthless, meaningless, or of little value. Nor does it mean denying or withholding the talents God has given us. We don’t discover humility by thinking less of ourselves; we discover humility by thinking less about ourselves. It comes as we go about our work with an attitude of serving God and our fellowman.

So, I created this Signs of Pride document at least 10 or 15 years ago and it has been a helpful guide to us. But, Monday, as I'm kneeling down and saying my morning prayers, suddenly, this inspriation hits me out of the blue! "Share the Signs of Pride poster with Kalani!"

As I mentioned in a recent newsletter article, the head coach of the BYU football team, Kalani Sitake, is my nephew and we're super close friends. Considering that BYU is undefeated and ranked #14 in the nation, it makes sense that the players might become proud and fall victim to the Pride Cycle.

I usually spend about 20 to 25 minutes saying my morning prayers because I pray for all of my family and extended family and friends. I even pray for my Cook'n Family too! And, I've found that if I don't jot down the ideas that I receive during my morning prayers, I will forget them by the time I finish. So, I always pray with my phone in hand so I can make a note of the inspiration that I receive.

I made a note to share the Signs of Pride poster with Kalani and, later, I added that item to my task list. But, as I went through my day, I had a lot to do. I got busy and I procrastinated taking action on that task!

Also, Kalani gets so many text messages that he can't even read them all! His wife, Timberly, told me that he doesn't even read or respond to the messages that SHE sends to him because he gets so many!

Also, I couldn't think of a short way to make this suggestion and I figured that if I send a long message to him, he would be even less likely to read it.

And, I figured that even if he did read it, perhaps he would think that it would be a silly idea to put the Signs of Pride poster on the door of every bathroom stall in the football locker room.

So, as you can see, I began to have doubts.

But, then it occurred to me that it didn't matter if he didn't see my message. It didn't matter if he saw my message but didn't read or respond to it. And, it didn't matter if he received my message and didn't like the idea. I was inspired to do one thing: "Share the Signs of Pride poster with Kalani!" That's it! I figured that I just needed to have faith, do my part, and leave the rest to God!

I found that if I don't act on the promptings and inspirations that I receive then I receive fewer promptings and inspirations! And, likewise, when I act on the promptings and inspirations that I receive, I tend to receive more of them!

So, finally, at 7:30 pm, I thought to myself "get thee hence, Satan!" And, I sent the message to Kalani.

To my surprise, he responded a couple hours later and said:

"I just got home from work & just barely read your text. This is awesome!! I think it’d be a great idea to put them in the stalls of our locker room of our practice facility. Great reading material. The only change would be the last sentence would read…. It has no place among the holders of the priesthood of God & His Football team...since we have non members on our team. I love you brother! Thanks for listening to the Spirit. I had an amazing message for the team today too that was very much aligned with your message. The Spirit works in wonderful ways."

Woohoo!

My 8.5x11 printed sheets looked pretty janky. So, at 9:30 pm, I asked one of the Cook'n Elves, the graphics designer Elf, to take my document and make it look cool. He jumped right on it and, at 11:30 pm, sent me the following image:



The next morning, Kalani texted me and put me in touch with his Chief of Staff who printed the posters and hung them in the bathroom stalls of the locker room!

That evening, at a youth activity for our church, I was chit chatting with the Bishop and I shared this story with him about the Signs of Pride poster and Kalani. He said "Dude...print 40 of those. I want to give one to each of the youth in our ward." I said "you got it!" He said "I'm going to tell them to hang it where their parents can see it!"

I thought that was pretty cool because so many of the youth look up to these football players as role models. I shared this experience with Kalani and said:

"Do you realize that, if this catches on, BYU fans all over the world may want to do the same thing? You are an instrument in God’s hands changing the lives of millions of people! God brings to pass marvelous things by small & simple means. God may or may not care too much about football but he most certainly cares about bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of His children and if winning more games means that this poster will spread, I think you may have many more wins ahead of you!!

He responded and said:

"Having your friendship & love is the WIN I care more about than football. Thank you bringing the Spirit to my life thru small & simple things! Love you bro!"

So, that was pretty cool. Hopefully, this poster will help our local church group as much as it has my family and me. And, hopefully, it will help the BYU football players in their game against Arizona tomorrow. Go Cougs!!