I DID NOT KNOW......

Anyone who has seen the Mel Gibson’s Movie “The Passion of The Christ” will remember the man who played the part of Christ if nothing else. Well now I understand why all who has seen this movie was moved. Even non-Christians, and even non – religious people were somehow moved and touched by this movie. 

I myself as a Christian was so deeply moved by this movie, but disappointed that they did not finish the movie with the resurrection.  However,what Jim Caviezel shares in his testimony has let me know why the resurrection could not be shown with this movie. I now understand why this movie had to end when it did. Jim Caveizel came as close to death as any one could by the end of this movie. I was amazed at what I learned.

I have come to love the actor Jim Caviezel from my favorite TV series “Person of Interest”.  I did not realize until this year that he was the one who played Jesus in the Passion. When I found out I started to understand why I was so drawn to him as an excellent actor. It’s not just his “good looks” LOL. I haven’t seen it yet, but he is also the star of a new movie called “When the Game Stands Tall” I understand that this is not just another sports movie. I have heard it compares to movies like Rudy.

I believe we are all children of God and we all were given special qualities and strengths to help us while serving this mission here upon the earth.  And I do believe that if we continue to pray and search out God’s will, He will lead us to further learning and revelation that will ultimately guide us to know His will and to help each other in the journey.  I believe more than ever before now that it was no accident that Jim Caviezel was chosen to play the part of Jesus Christ in this powerful movie.  He has found his mission as a servant of God. 

Please sit back and make time to listen to his powerful testimony and I can promise that you will not be sorry. I strongly feel that the message he is giving is from our Savior Jesus Christ and it is my message also, Probably one of the most important messages I have received to share...

Be ready to laugh, cry, and be inspired.

"Behind every door there is trouble"
     This was said in church today and its kind of like the popular song "I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes"  I'm not the only one that has troubles ! I know it seems like everyone else around has it easy when your trials make you feel like the world is caving in on you. But the fact is everyone on this earth has trials.

The late President Kimball who was the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints while I was growing up said: "Being human, we would expel from our lives physical pain and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort, but if we were to close the doors upon sorrow and distress, we might be excluding our greatest friends and benefactors. Suffering can make saints of people as they learn patience, long-suffering, and self - mastery."
   
     "No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility.  all that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God ... and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven."
                                                                                                                                ~Orson F. Whitney

Nothing teaches selflessness and patience better than motherhood; When I was young I loved to dance, but didn't plan on taking up dance as I was short and plump. However, I ended up taking dance in high school because it was the only P E class I could take as my asthma would not let me take normal P E. Taking dance taught me to endure pain, breath, and gave me strength to handle what was to come in my future. (Things happen for a reason) At age 16 I fell 15ft onto a hard floor on my tail bone while jumping on a trampoline without a spotter, something I had been warned not to do. It hurt like crazy but I told no one for fear of getting in trouble. Later my back went into terrible spasms, I was rushed to the hospital but was sent home later with instructions to rest, no ex-rays were taken.  Many years later after going through 6 pregnancies and much crippling pain  and eventually becoming crippled, I learned that I had broken a wing on my spine and it healed wrong. The pressure of weight gain and carrying babies had deformed my spine to the point of almost severing my spinal cord.
An eight hour surgery was proposed asap with a 50% chance of paralyzing me. Yes I was scared, but I knew that the Lord did not bless me with the joy and wonderment of those 6 beautiful children just for them to loose their Mother when they needed her most. I received a blessing from some Elders there in Billings Mt and I went to sleep with my Husband holding my hand. I woke up 10 hours later and spent the next 30 days completely helpless, unable to move on my own. When the nurses moved me I cannot even describe the horrendous pain that followed. But the Lord was blessing me all the way through. He sent me a wonderful angels in the form of family a friend and neighbor to care for my children and myself through the whole ordeal.  Our family was in a small development in North East Montana where the developer had stopped paying the workers. This left several families including ours stuck through the winter with no income. But somehow, we were blessed with a roof over our heads, warmth in terrible winter temps of -40 wind chill. We even had food provided by the near by town. It took me almost a year to learn to walk again. But I was blessed with the miracle of being able to walk again! The Lord provided the way as I endured through this hard and painful trial.

Was it painful and very hard at times? yes, would I do it all over again? Yes! Because I endured,and because I held on, I have 6 amazing and talented children who I love with all of my heart.  I even have two grand children!

The Lord tells us in Deuteronomy 31:6,8
"Be strong and of good courage, fear not,nor be afraid of them: for the Lord they God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. and the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed."


Also in 1 Corinthians 10:13:
"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able: but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

So please, rejoice in your trials for the blessings they bring! have faith! hang in there! And above all forgive, and don't let it make you bitter, let God make you better!

After I lay down at night and even before I am totally awake, the adversary is bidding to deceive and is ready to plant defeating thoughts in my mind causing anxiety and depression.
 He wants us to be hopeless, faithless, and negative, He definitely doesn't want us to be positive when we get up. He wants us to have a bad attitude and be selfish and self centered, full of hatred, bitterness, resentment, doubt, unbelief, and fear ----------to be mad at everyone if possible.
     But thank god, through Jesus Christ and His Atonement the way has been made for us to be redeemed from all of those negative patterns! We can resist the devil and trust God's power in order to live victoriously today!

Today is the 1st day of my journey to happiness!

When I was young my Parents taught me that God wants me to enjoy my life. That this life is a gift of education. He wants me to take it in abundance so it can be filled with an overflowing joy that will spill into the loves of others. He gave us a text books full of instructions called Scriptures on how to find Him for the keys to unlock the prize box.

Todays Scripture:

     "When I said, My foot is slipping, Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, held me up."  ~PSALM 94:18

I will try to day to start the day on the right foot.

                                                          (Painting by Greg Olsen combined with my digital painting)

This is a great article I found that has helped me understand my

 depression a little more.

At one time or another, everyone has been depressed. For this reason, it would not seem to be a mysterious and new problem, but it is. The latest studies on popular antidepressants like Prozac and Paxil indicate that about 50 percent of patients get little or no benefit, but lots of unwanted side effects. These are people with mild to moderate depression, which account for approximately 70 percent of depression cases.

Is there a way to help them and to get millions of other depressed people off the pill?

This is now an urgent question. Doctors keep writing prescriptions, but back in the research lab, the findings are discouraging. It turns out that antidepressants don't correct imbalanced brain chemistry. And there's no real proof that the brain chemistry of depressed people is any different that of people who aren't depressed. All of this is bad news for big pharma, but it opens the way for other approaches. So let's start from scratch.

If you met a young person with awful table manners, what would you think? It's natural to suppose that this behavior started in childhood and turned into a habit. What if the same is true for depression? Most patients who complain of depression cannot say when it started. They talk about depression running in the family. This indicates that depression has three components:

·         1. An early outside cause.

·         2. A response to that cause.

·         3. A longstanding habit.

Let's rid our minds of calling depression a disease, just for a moment. Severe, chronic depression can be approached like other mental disorders. But you aren't ill if you get depressed after a bad divorce. We commonly say things like "She's out of her mind with grief" when someone loses a beloved spouse, but grief is natural, and the depression that comes with it is also natural. What this tells me is that depression is a natural response that can go terribly wrong.

Read more copy and paste in your address bar: http://www.oprah.com/spirit/How-to-Heal-from-Depression#ixzz417LlWTFF

Self-Taught Photography?

Student photographers may share the same passion, but they don’t all share the same education anymore.

Professional photographers and many college professors alike tend to agree that technology-wise, photography has drastically changed. 

Now days many people claim to be photographers due to the advancements of digital cameras, but at least 90 percent of self-taught photographers under the age of 40 know nothing of how to develop real film in a dark room. Many photography courses do not even require the old 35mm and dark room knowledge now.

Weather student photographers are self-taught or learning from photography professors, photographers agree a certain “eye” and talent is needed for a good photo.  As a professional photographer myself, I feel that taking classes greatly enhanced my ability to understand the mechanics of the equipment as well as some of the verbiage. However, even though classes can be helpful, but there is not always the need or ability to spend the time and money on them. Many artists make good photographers and many photographers are not artists, but have a very good eye for what makes art.

With photography, you either have it or you don’t; you either have the eye or not. I don’t believe anyone can be trained to have an “eye”.   It is the ability to see the brilliant in the ordinary, to feel the emotion of the scene or the meaning of the seemingly meaningless.It is a talent that drives the artist to keep painting or drawing, or the photographer to keep taking pictures. 

There are many different reasons why artists become photographers. For instance, Norman Rockwell, had the “eye” from childhood back in the early 1900’s when cameras were not really available to the general public. But as a boy he knew he wanted pictures of the emotions and humor he saw in people and events. So he began to draw from his own models and props. Later when cameras became available, he found that drawing and painting from pictures rather than live models was much more convenient.  Thus, he became a very good photographer in his later years.

I like to do this also. Although, I have never tried to do live models.  I was always to shy and afraid to ask anyone to stand still for me that long.

You can see more of my art and photography at www.symplyrosie.com

Alex through my Eyes

He is amazing! he makes my heart beat faster. With him I don’t need to go to Africa to feel the beat.

Yes, I am talking about Utah’s very own Alex Boye. When I hear a hit on the radio I cannot wait to hear it from Alex in “African Style”!. The rhythm moves me, makes me incredibly happy! Makes me want to pa-a-arty!

The rhythm of music has always been in my head and my heart. When I was a child I just couldn’t get into the church music.  It never matched the beat that was always going on in my head.  I know it always made my mother unhappy when I was always urging her to speed up the music when she lead the congregation in church.  There was a movie that came out in 1965 called “Billie” with Patty Duke where she would run track in school and when they asked her what her what her secret was as to running so fast and she said “well there is a rhythm always going on in my head and if I want to go faster I just speed it up”.  I totally related to that!  I heard it when I was only about 5 years old but it stuck in my head and when I would run or dance it was always to the rhythm in my head. Then when I turned 16 disco came along. OMG this is all I wanted to do!  Dance and feel the beat of the music! 

I have always wanted to go to Africa and be surrounded by the music. One day my Dad found some old bongo drums while making one of his runs to the dump and thought of me.  He cleaned them up and had new skins put on them. I was so over joyed when he brought them home.  Now I could play the beat that was in my head!

Alex’s voice, his music, his rhythm, stirs and awakens my heart.  I want to sing with him, I want to dance to his music.  

But do you know what really puts the sweet frosting on the cake?  When I listen to and watch this amazing artist perform, the burning in my heart tells me that he is my brother and we share the same sweet testimony that Jesus is the Christ and Savior of the world and that music is one of the main powers of creation that he used to create us and this beautiful world and we both belong to his church.

Thank you Alex for bringing me the music that makes my heart swell with emotion and makes me sing and dance with joy

~Rosie.

Star Wars

I recently watched the new Star Wars with great enthusiasm. I loved Star Wars back in the 70's! The battle between good and evil.  Even though evil looks at times like it is stronger and winning, In the long run good always prevails, and where we as individuals end up is based on what side we choose through our choices in life.
I am now watching the Star Wars series from the start and I have visualized so many similarities to LDS (Christian) beliefs. I decided to ask Google "Is George Lucus  Mormon or have Christian influence?" This is what I found.How-Star-Wars-was-Influenced-by-a-Mormon