"There is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are" (2 Nephi 2:14).  That is my testimony.  That is the reason I take pictures.  Taking pictures helps me find ways to see and remember that there is a God and that I am a daughter of God.  Taking pictures helps me to see all the ways that He shows me His love for me that I might not notice if I were just going about my day to day routine.  I know we can see the love He has for each of us if will take the time too look a little each day.  Take time to "Be still and know that {he} is God" (Psalms 46:10).  The evidence is all around us.

I love the lyrics to this song:

Try and put your arms around the 100 yr old tree
Climb upon a horse and let him run full speed

Take a look out at the world from 30,000 feet
On your next flight

Watch a flock of birds against the morning sun
Close your eyes and listen to the river run

Catch a firefly in your hands 

Or a raindrop on your tongue

That's right

Plant a seed and see what comes out of the ground

Find the heartbeat on your baby's ultrasound

In a few years hear him laughing
And don't it sound like a song?

Stop and think about what you don't understand
Things about life and love and how the world began

Hear the doctor say he can't explain it
But the cancer is gone

Science says it's all just circumstance

Like this whole world's just an accident

But if you want to shoot that theory down

Look around, Just look around

There is a God

There is a God

There is a God

How much proof do you need?

Here's the "proof" I found today.....

It's Spring.  Messy?  Yes.  Beautiful?  Absolutely.

 Awake, my sons; put on the armor of righteousness...

...be men, and be determined in one mind and in one heart, united in all things...(2 Nephi 2:21,23)

*Don't mind the food...it was the only way I could keep her still for me. :)

In My Daughter's Eyes

In my daughter's eyes I am a hero

I am strong and wise and I know no fear

But the truth is plain to see

She was sent to rescue me

I see who I wanna be

In my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes everyone is equal

Darkness turns to light and the

world is at peace

This miracle God gave to me gives me

strength when I am weak

I find reason to believe 

In my daughter's eyes

And when she wraps her hand

around my finger

Oh it puts a smile in my heart

Everything becomes a little clearer

I realize what life is all about

It's hangin' on when your heart

has had enough

It's giving more when you feel like giving up

I've seen the light

It's in my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes I can see the future

A reflection of who I am and what will be

Though she'll grow and someday leave

Maybe raise a family

When I'm gone I hope you see how happy

she made me

For I'll be there

In my daughter's eyes 

Lyrics by James Slater and sung by Martina McBride

Chasing ants with those chubby hands and delayed reactions?  Why not give it a try?  You just might catch one!

“If you are helpless, he is not. If you are lost, he is not. If you don’t know what to do next, he knows. It would take a miracle, you say? Well, if it takes a miracle, why not?”

-Boyd K. Packer (quoted in Ensign May 2010)

Light, light, light...

"That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day." (D&C 50:24)

This is the verse I came across today in my study that stood out to me: 


And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness (1 Nephi 17:3).


I know that this should be no-brainer.  We do what we are supposed to, we get the reward.  What I learned today is nothing new, but it is what I needed to be reminded of.


I know for each of us, there are specific things we stand in need of.  We ask for them.  We yearn to have them.  We wonder if we can go on without those blessings that we so desperately seek.  Maybe we don't wonder if we can go on, but how we might go on.  How will it all work out?  While we are here in the "wilderness" we find the joy of reaching the "promised land" hard to comprehend.  Remember in my last post how I talked about only seeing one piece of the puzzle at a time in the big picture?  That fits in again...


In the same chapter in 1 Nephi it talks about how Nephi is commanded to build a ship that they might continue on their journey.  Build a ship.  With no tools?  Might seem a tiny bit hard, perhaps?  Yes, I would have to say so. I was thinking about the situation I am in and thinking about some of the things I have been praying for lately in relation to how Nephi responded to this commandment.  


He didn't say, "Lord, I have no tools.  I am sorry, but I can't do the thing which thou has commanded me until I receive the tools."  It wasn't "Where can I find the tools that I might build the ship?"  No.  It wasn't any of that.  However convenient it might have been to be given the tools or even skip right to the "Where might I find the perfect pieces of wood already perfectly assembled that I might be able to put together a ship?"  Nope, those weren't his responses.


Instead, Nephi started at the beginning with "Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto me (1 Nephi:9)".  He started as square one.  He was willing to do anything that was necessary to do that which the Lord commanded him.  He asked the Lord how to start.  Where to begin on the journey that will help him fulfill the things which he was commanded to do.  We have each been commanded things to do.  The tasks before us might seem insurmountable if we just look at the "big picture" as a whole.  If we step back and look at one piece at a time and maybe change the way we are asking our Father in Heaven for His aid, perhaps we will be given the answers of where to start so that we may begin taking the steps down the road in our own wilderness that will lead us to our promised land.  


The promise for doing so is great...


"I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led (1 Nephi 7:13)."


As the journey progresses, as our eyes are opened and the events of the unknown fall into place, it becomes easier and easier to see that we were led by Him every step of the way.

"I will also be your light...I will prepare the way before you...and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led."

I am a planner.  Always have been, probably always will be.  Not a bad quality to have most of the time.  At times, though, there is a different plan in store for me that I can't see because my plans are set in stone.  A bigger picture you might call it.  A bigger picture of which I can only see a piece.  That picture is probably more beautiful than I can even imagine.  Not probably.  I know it is.  The task then is to put aside some of my plans and let Him doing the painting instead of me insisting that I perform every brush stroke on my own.  For it's then that the pieces of the picture fall into place and I can see beyond the one little piece...  

I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things (1 Nephi 11:17).

I set out to take my pictures for the day.  Today’s assignment-fruit.  Why you ask?  Lehi’s dream was the focus of my scripture study today.  I was learning about the tree of life and the fruit that was placed before Lehi.  The fruit of the tree of life.  Fruit.  There you have it.

To start, I set up my perfect little "orange"ment in my studio, the kitchen.  I didn’t even get a shot snapped until I realized what was missing.  Light.  I needed more light.  I grabbed my fruit, grabbed my professional green paper plate to add some color to the shot and headed outdoors.  “Come, on Mikayla, let’s go outside!”  Mikayla came racing behind me, crawling as fast as she could.  I set up my beautiful, newly peeled orange and took the first shot to figure out lighting.  Lighting.  Still trying to find the perfect light.  I started playing with the settings on my camera and the next thing I knew, a pair of chubby little hands were reaching for my oranges.  “Wait, Mikayla, NO!”  I grabbed the oranges, put them back on the plate and went to take another shot.  Before I could click the button, the cutest little chubby hands I have ever seen were back in the shot.  Half the orange.  She had half the orange and it was heading toward her mouth.  I couldn't even think about taking it away before that orange was in her mouth and she was taking as big a bite of it as she could.  If a little of a good thing is good, why not make it great by enjoying more of it?!

It was then that the juices started squirting everywhere.  I mean, EVERYWHERE.  Every time she'd take a bite, the juice exploded everywhere. They were running down her arm, squirting both me and the sidewalk four feet away with every bite she took.  The best part?  The look of complete and utter shock on her face.  Shock that HER orange would squirt HER in the face.  I couldn’t help but laugh and it was the deepest good old belly laugh that I’ve had in forever. 

I couldn’t get enough of those chubby hands holding her oranges and then crawling around on the sidewalk with them in her hands, leaving splotches of sticky orange juice everywhere she put her hands.  And giggling.  Yes, giggling and pleased with herself the whole time.

I started snapping pictures as fast as I could.  I didn’t care what the exposure looked like or if the white balance was good.  I didn't have time to make it perfect.  All I was praying for was to hopefully capture one little glimpse of the moment.  One little expression on Mikayla’s face to capture her complete satisfaction or the excitement in her eyes as she would take a bite out of the orange and it would spray her.  I didn’t care about the mess.  I didn’t care that my "perfect" little studio set-up for the day was completely ruined.  I had a better set up.  I had my daughter playing with me.  I had my daughter enjoying life.  I had a reason to smile and even better, a reason to laugh out loud.  I had a beautiful Spring day.  I had a camera to capture those memories.  I had reminders of a husband who encourages my photography as if I were the best photographer in the world and that he loves my pictures, even if no one else ever does.  I had a Heavenly Father’s love shining down on me reminding me that he knows and loves me and that all my blessings and talents I have are from him.  I received a tender mercy from Him to remind me that life is good.  Not only good, but amazing.  Yes, I had the perfect set up. 

It didn’t take me long to realize the reason that I felt impressed to take pictures of oranges today had little to do with oranges.  It was about the lessons I was to learn and the memories that I made with my daughter.  Those six minutes were some of the happiest I can remember.  The thoughts, impressions, promptings, whatever you want to call them came flooding into my mind. 

My photography isn’t about the pictures.  It’s about what taking the pictures teaches me about life and how my faith grows through those lessons that I am taught.  What you expect to find isn’t always the answer.  What Heavenly Father has in store for you is so much better than what you expect.  One word keeps coming into mind over and over again...perspective, perspective, perspective.  In photography you learn that changing the angle of a shot changes everything.  I would compare choosing the angle of a shot to choosing to have an eternal perspective in life.  It changes everything.

Besides the memories that fill my mind, all that’s left now of my moment with Mikayla are the pictures I have (how ever blurry they might be!).  The moment was fleeting.  It would’ve been easy to miss, just like so many other moments in our lives.