He is Risen Indeed!!!

Believe that He is Alive. The tomb was empty on the first Easter morning:

“But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” ~ Luke 24:1-7 (ESV)

Happy Easter!!!

Current Mood: Forgiven †

I just noticed something; this is my 1,000th post! You would have thought I hit this mark earlier, since I have been blogging for 6 years. Well, Happy 1,000th post .

This week’s Good to WOW challenge theme is faith. I wanted to think outside the box; not photographing again another Cross. So, what does it look like to show my faith? The first thought that came to mind was that I believe that the Bible is God’s Word; I believe what it says and it tells me about Christ’s resurrection.

Here are my two entries for this week’s theme:

Not sure what I will do with both of these photographs; the first one I probable will just brighten the background a little. We will see what I come up with.

To find more Good to WOW, please visit my friend Jill Samter at “Jill Samter Photography“.

Thank you for stopping by today. Remember: don’t be shy sharing about your faith; even if it is not popular with the masses (or even with friends).

Current Mood: Blessed † & Playful

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. ”

~ John 14:26-27 (ESV)

My sweet friend Debbie from “Heart Choices” chose a quote for IOWT that struck a cord with me…

Do you take vitamins? There is one set of vitamins that I take every day, Bluebonnett Stress-BComplex. Yeah, stress complex. Do they reduce my self-inflicted stress? Not sure, but they don’t hurt …

Most times I inflict my own stress; I cannot say “no”. Today on my way home I thought why I cannot say “no”. I could not come up with an answer. One thing I do know for sure: I have a hard time shutting down and relax.

I also stress out when I think I do not do enough. I know I should exercise more; somehow I do not  find the time for it. I beat myself up because I do not pray hard enough. No matter how often I pray the same prayer, some prayers are not answered. I get annoyed with myself because I am not bold enough when it comes to my photography (I do not have an ‘a-type’ personality).

There is only one place in the world where I feel totally comfortable sharing my daily hurts: at Jesus’ feet. I have mentioned numerous times that I love music (listing and singing). Currently my favorite song is “At Your Feet” by Casting Crowns (Album: Until the Whole World Hears).

“And I am free (here at Your feet)
All I need (is at Your feet)
I find peace
We’re at Your feet
We’re at Your feet
We’re at Your feet
We’re at Your feet”

Yes, I am free at His feet. I find peace when I gaze on Him and take my eyes off of myself. When a day does not go well, I turn up the music, worshiping Him with all my heart – singing out (very) loud: “Here at Your feet, I lay my future down, All of my dreams, I give to You now, And I find peace, I find peace”…

Thank you for stopping by to read my ramblings tonight. To read more thoughts on this week’s IOWT quote, please visit Debbie’s blog “Heart Choice”.

Current Mood: Okay

Oh, and I worked on my photography skills. I shot a few photos – 12,178 to be exact. Since I had so many photos (some good, some not so good, some really bad), I thought that I create an inspirational calendar for 2010.

You can get your own copy if you are interested . The cost is $20 (including shipping within the US). I am offering this calendar not for personal financial gain. Any proceeds from this calendar will go to “Samaritan’s Purse“. Not only will you get a handcrafted inspirational calendar, but also help others.

Here are some sample pages of the calendar…The first page is the cover:

The next page is from the month of March (which is actually my personal favorite):

Here is the last page of the calendar (did you know that the first Advent candle stands for “HOPE”? Thus the Scripture passage from Romans):

BTW, there will be no logo on the real calendar. Also, the calendar has some Christian holiday I added, for example “National Day of Prayer”. The verses are taking from the ESV (English Standard Version). The materials I used are from Mystique Designs, Lily Designs, MAG Designs, Newlife Dreams, and Michelle Pieters.

So, if you are interested in the calendar, all you have to do is leave a comment (make sure you leave a valid email address so I can contact you) or use my contact form (again with valid email address).

Thanks for stopping by today…

Current Mood: Blessed † & Happy

Desktop November 2009, originally uploaded by eph2810.

November – wow!!! 2009 is flying by…some days I don’t know what happened this past year. Maybe I need to sit down to write out what 2009 was all about.

One thing I know for sure is that the Lord has been faithful. Do be honest, sometimes it is hard to wait patiently on the Lord. I still like to run in front of Him. Looking back over the past year I can honestly say that when I waited, things turned out for the better.

Lord of Heaven and Earth. Help me to be more like Your servant David. Help me to wait patiently. Only You can give me comfort and peace. Lord, help me to be more encouraging to others. You are my rock, my redeemer. In the precious name of Jesus ~ Amen…

If you are interested in downloading the desktop for your computer, please click on the photo above. It will take you directly to my Flickr account and you should be able to download it from there. The materials are by Newlife Dreams Design available at Shabby Pickle. The photo I took this past Spring at the Salt River — looks different when you have a went spring .

Have a super blessed weekend. See you on Thursday

Current Mood: Okay

“But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.” ~ Matthew 14:27-29 (ESV)

The people who know me in real life can attest to that I am really a shy person. Some might even think that I am a snob; I really don’t mean to be…I am just quiet until I know the person for a little while. After the first ice is broken, I can be quite funny …

Please read the rest of my devotion this morning over at…

Blessings on your day…

Current Mood: Blessed †

Ah, yes…October is just around the corner and I finished the desktop for the up-coming month.
As I was searching through my photos to come up with a theme for this month, I came across a photo I took in Miami (Arizona). There is a church with a beautiful prayer garden. Not sure if you can see in this small version of the photo…on top you can see a foot…guess WHO’s …

Peace is something that I can only get when I am close to Him…He truly gives me a peace that this world can not give. If you are pulled in so many directions, or you loose heart, remember His words from John 14:27…

The kit I used is by Newlife Dreams Designs called “Autumn Splendor“. If you are into scrapping, I suggest to check out this kit…It is huge, and the papers alone are amazing!!!! The photo action I found at PanosFX.com – totally love it!!!!! I believe that this action is also available for PS Elements.

Okay, enough babbling…I hope you enjoy my October Desktop. If you click on the photo, it will take you to my Flickr Page. Again, this is created for a wide-screen monitor. If the size does not work for you, let me know and I will re-size it for you (just let me know in the comment section)

Thanks for stopping by today…Be blessed today and always…

Current Mood: Okay

And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. ~ Matthew 8:26

They’re talking layoffs at work, slowdowns in the economy, flare-ups in the Middle East, turnovers at headquarters, downturns in the housing market, upswings in global warming…Imagine your life, wholly untouched by angst. What if faith, not fear, was your default reaction to threats? (text taken from Max Lucado’s website)

To find out more about the book itself, please visit Lori from Lori’s Reflection. She read the book so she can share her thoughts with us: Fearless by Max Lucado.

To be honest, I can’t wait to get my hands on this book. This spring I listened to Max’s teachings on topic of fear. Yes, I admit, I do fear (plane trips for one). But when fear is starting to overtake my situation, I remember His promise that He will never forsake or leave me (Hebrews 13:5)…

Now to the niddy-griddy part of the giveaway (LWG writers are not eligible to enter – sorry, girls ). The package includes: Fearless – Hard Cover, Fearless – DVD Study, and the Fear Not Promise Book. You have four chances to enter your name into the drawing. Wondering how to get your name four times into the drawing — pretty simple…

• Share the giveaway with your friends on your Blog, Facebook, or Twitter
• Follow Laced with Grace on Twitter
• Follow Laced with Grace on Facebook
• Become a member of the Laced with Grace Blog Frog Community

Head on over to Laced with Grace to leave comments on the entry…The giveaway will end next Tuesday, September 15th (midnight – EST) with the winner to be announced on Saturday, September 19th.

Remember, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7)

Thank you for stopping by today…blessings to you and yours…

Current Mood: Blessed † & Okay

“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” ~ John 15:15 (ESV ~ emphasis mine)

Did you know that Jesus calls you ‘friend’? Isn’t that cool? I am so thankful that God sent His Son to make us His friends. Not only did Jesus came to teach us about our Heavenly Father, but He also laid down His life for His friends…

If you have a chance, connect also with other women that are not your immediate friends from church or your neighborhood. There will be a blogger meeting in Florida this fall. Angie and Marsha (two other ladies from LWG ) put together a blogger meeting in October. To find out more about it, please visit their special site “Free to Be Me“. Really, there is nothing more exciting to chat in real life with blogging friends.

What are you thankful for this week? Please do share with us by leaving your link to your post below.

Thank you for stopping by today. Remember: you have girlfriends around the world with your best Friend ever as your ‘Connector’…

Learn more about Thankful Thursday here.
View More Thankful Thursday Participants
Get The Code

Powered by… Mister Linky’s Magical Widgets.

Current Mood: Blessed † & Esctatic & Thankful

America is celebrating its Independence today. Although I live in this country for the past 18 years, I still have my German citizenship…

I contemplated on freedom this past week…a different kind of freedom. I am glad that I am set free by the Truth that John describes in his Gospel.

What does freedom mean to you in this day and age?

Thank you for stopping by today. Have a blessed and safe 4th of July weekend…

PS: If you click on the above image, you can download the desktop (for personal use only ~ do not claim this as your own creation)

Current Mood: Blessed †