Inspired Genius

On Friday I received an injection in my right sacro iliac joint - which is located right above each of your butt cheeks….or more politely…your gluteus maximus. I came home, put some heat on the area to spread the miracle juices around.  I'm usually a horrible patient and try to resume normal activity too soon, so I was trying to be good.  By the afternoon I was bored out of my mind and decided to write the color of my wool.  Well, sitting in a chair upright proved to be a really bad idea.  Radiating searing pain began all across my lower back.  I actually had to walk away from the post to finish it later.  I needed to conserve the ability to sit upright because I was going to the movie later.  

There was a movie that came out in October and received so much success that we finally got our turn here in the middle of nowhere.  Although Pasco washington got the movie before we did and I would definitely call that the middle of nowhere over here…but anyway…  It is the Mormon movie about 2 missionaries from Russia who were kidnapped.  I love to go out and support stuff like this because I want more movie options with my values and I want them to come to my state.  

One thing that should be known about me that is probably not evident from this blog.  I am a hermit.  Big time.  I can fake it when I need to and be social, but if given the choice, I stay home.  I love things with a purpose, like serving, so I am seen more doing that kind of thing rather than hanging out doing girls stuff.  Example…I was planning on forcing myself to be social by attending book club….didn't quite happen….I forgot.  Oops.  

So my friend knew that I had a shot on friday and checked on me and wondered if I was going to see the movie I had been talking about because she wanted to go that morning.  I had already planned a date night with the hubs and invited her and her husband to go with us.  The husbands were both working so we didn't think we had time for dinner but managed to pull that off at the last minute.  

Here is where the inspired genius comes in….never thought I would get there, did ya?   By the time I needed to get in the car I had already discovered my little problem with sitting in a chair.  I decided to suck it up and press forward.  Mostly because I'm stubborn, then because I really wanted to see the movie, then because I have been a neglectful friend and didn't want to bail.  When I picked up my husband I warned him that I was near tears because of the pain- well when you tell someone that- you actually start crying- and that I was putting in my fun eyes and this was happening.  

I already hate movie theaters.  My legs are too short for the chairs which makes for a really uncomfortable experience.  While walking past the stack of boosters I decided to use one for a footstool.  Well, my friend has even shorter legs than I do so I got one for her as well (that's her in the picture).  It was genius!  I can't believe the thought had never occurred to me before.  It really helped, although I almost got up to stand for the last 30 minutes of the movie because my body couldn't take sitting anymore.  

I was so glad that I went.  It was like a stake reunion.  We got to see all kinds of friends throughout the stake and city.  When you live "in the mission field" there is something special about knowing that just about everyone in a movie theater is Mormon and you are there together.  It is a different kind of energy.  We joked that we wondered if the rest of the theater sensed there was something different because so many of us were gathered together in one place.  

I won't go into a review of the movie other than to say it took me about 20 minutes to let my guard down and get into the movie (a lot of "mormon" movies can be painful to watch because of bad acting etc..)  I loved it and there were some genius moments in it.  Moments that I still see and think about.  It had me thinking about all the things I've been thinking and writing about lately.  I seriously cried a lot during the movie.  I am a huge sap!  But it was spiritually uplifting.  If you walk away from that movie scared to serve a mission or think it was dark and scary, your eyes are scaled over and your heart is hard.  

I was thinking about the 2 elders and the differences in their personalities and what each of them brought to the table.  My husband and I talked about the elaborate symphony our Father in Heaven is orchestrating and how each instrument is vital to the overall symphony.  One of them struggled with thinking that the situation they were in was all his fault….sounds familiar to me, just look at my last post.  The other missionary had such positivity and charm.  Skills I wish I had and do not posses.  When I was telling my husband I was jealous of those gifts he teased me and told me that I needed to play the instrument I was given.  I keep looking at all the other instruments thinking mine is not very good and doesn't produce the sound I want.  It's like my son who decided to stop playing the trombone because they had the boring part of every piece.  Without the support of the "boring" trombones the piece is not complete sounding, it played a vital role.  I find it funny that I know that and I've told other people that a thousand times but when it comes to ourselves, we are blind to the things we know.  

So, besides the short leg genius solution, there were many other inspired things I learned.  So glad I didn't let my back win, and hey, I'm sitting in a chair today writing this :0)