Gods Easter ~~

Easter Shows Us God's Amazing Love by Rick Warren

Today's Devotional is based on this passage:

"That's what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others' sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18 MSG).

Everything that Jesus did for you He did out of love. The Bible says that God made you to love you. The only reason you're alive is because you were made to be loved by God.

If God didn't want you alive, your heart would stop instantly; you wouldn't even be breathing right now. God made you and wants you alive so He can love you and so you can love Him back.

God didn't just say He loved you, He showed it. The Bible says, "God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners" (Romans 5:8 NLT). It says while we were still sinners. Before I even knew God, before I even knew I needed God in my life, Jesus died for me.

There's a myth that says I've got to clean up my act before I can come to God. "I've got to get it all together. There are a few things I've got to get right in my life first, and then I'll come to God." No! You come to God with your problems—the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Why do we do this? It's like when we brush our teeth before we go to the dentist to have a teeth cleaning; or when we wash the dishes before we put them in the dishwasher; or when we pick up the house before the maid gets there! Why do we do this?

God says, "No, no! You don't have to clean up your act. Just bring it all to Me. Bring Me all your problems. I have the answer. I have all the answers." You don't wait. Jesus says, "Come as you are."

The Bible says, "He will send down help from heaven to save me because of His love" (Psalm 57:3 LB). That's what Jesus did on Easter. He sent down Himself from heaven to save us because of His love. So you bring your problems to God because He has the answer.

If you don't act on this news then the death of Jesus Christ and His resurrection is wasted for you personally. It makes no difference in your life. You may recognize the gift, but you still have to receive it.

The Bible says, "You will be saved, if you honestly say, 'Jesus is Lord,' and if you believe with all your heart that God raised Him from death. God will accept you and save you, if you truly believe this and tell it to others" (Romans 10:9-10 CEV).

God is not asking you to make a promise you cannot keep. God is asking you to believe a promise that only He can keep.

Easter: Jesus' Trial

Today's Devotional is based on this passage: "But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.  Again the high priest asked Him, "Are you the Christ,  the Son of the Blessed One?" (Mark 14:61 NIV)

What's so important about Easter? It's important because it proved that Jesus was who He claimed to be. He was God in the flesh, and He came to earth to save us.

Three events occurred in dramatic succession on that Easter weekend: the trial of Jesus, then the death of Jesus, and finally the resurrection of Jesus.

Jesus actually went through six trials. In that one night, he was brought before Annas (the father-in-law of Caiaphas), Caiaphas (the high priest), the Sanhedrin (the religious Supreme Court), Pilate (the governor of Jerusalem), Herod (the governor of Galilee), and then back to Pilate.

At the end of those six trials, what did they find to accuse Him of? Nothing. He had done nothing wrong. They brought in people to make up phony charges, but those didn't stick. Finally they convicted him on one count: claiming to be the Son of God. That's the sole reason Jesus went to the cross.

Everyone who has ever been presented with Jesus has already made some kind of decision about who He is. You either believe He's a liar, or you believe He's a lunatic, or you believe He's the Lord. It can't just be "I believe He was a good teacher." He couldn't be just a good teacher, because a good teacher would not say, "I'm God, and I'm the only way to heaven." A good person would not say that unless it was the truth.

Jesus claimed to be the Savior of the world. In John 12:47, He is recorded as saying: "I did not come to judge the world, but to save it" (NIV). He allowed Himself to be put on trial so there would be no doubt about who He was. He could have stopped the trial at any moment; he knew He would be proven guilty and put on the cross—but He allowed it to happen. It was all part of the plan.

Easter: Jesus' Death

Today's Devotional is based on this passage:

"That's what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others' sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18 MSG).

Easter celebrates an event that proved Jesus was who He claimed to be. He was God in the flesh, and He came to earth to save us. And that meant He had to die for us.

After a night of beatings and mocking, after being crowned with painful thorns, Jesus was crucified. Crucifixion is probably the most brutal and torturous death penalty ever devised by men. His hands were stretched out wide against the cross and nailed through the two bones in each wrist. As the nails went through this part of the flesh, they would strike the nerve that travels up the arm and cause excruciating pain.

If you hang this way for any period of time, the muscles around your chest cavity become paralyzed. You can breathe in but you can't breathe out. Death on a cross is really a simple matter of suffocation, except the Romans didn't want to make it that easy. They'd take a person's knees and bend them a little bit and nail the feet to the cross.

So a man would hang there in absolute agony until the pain in his chest was about to explode, and then he would lift himself up on his nailed feet to grab a breath. When the pain in his feet grew unbearable, he'd let himself back down again until the pain in his lungs became unbearable. It was an incredibly torturous event.

Eventually, the soldiers would break the legs of the criminal to hasten death by suffocation.

In the case of Jesus, they didn't have to break His legs, because He had already died. But just to make sure, they stuck a spear in His side. Water and blood came out of the chest cavity, which, doctors say, only happens if the heart rips. You can call it what you want, but Jesus died of a broken heart.

Why did Jesus have to die? Because He alone was able to pay for your sins. You deserved punishment, but Jesus paid the penalty for you: "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God" (1 Peter 3:18 NIV).

Check it out...Misty Rice Photography

Well I finally had my photography blog made over.  I still have some work and organizing to do on it, but I am very pleased with how it turned out.  So click HERE to go check it out and don't forget to grab your button if you like.

Let me know what you think about it.  Love to hear your thoughts.  

I hopefully have some upcoming news about Misty Rice Photography to share with you, but as I always like to say.... when the time is right.  For now this is my Photography blog, a place where I can share my pictures and watch my photography grow.  

Blog design by:

and she is having an Easter blog makeover giveaway, so click HERE to enter.

Cirrocumulus

One of my all time favorite things that I use to do as a kid living way out in the country lands of Texas, would be to lay out at night looking up at the sky and counting shooting stars.  I loved getting lost in amazement off the stars, clouds, breeze and sounds of crickets and frogs.  I know I sound so country just saying all of that, but I really, really miss those things.  

I grew up in the country, and although I have never really mentioned that much on here before, I am a country girl.  I like to call myself more like a city girl living out in the country, because I ALWAYS loved being in the city. Once I got old enough to drive into the city Dallas on the weekends, you couldn't keep me away.  I was fascinated by the city lights, buildings and vibe.  The energy could make any small town girl feel like a rockstar.  The 'city boys' weren't hard to look at either may I add. 

There are things I love about the country and I really find myself missing at times.  Last night I was reminded of one of those things.  Morgan missed her afternoon nap yesterday and so she went to bed early, allowing her daddy and I to watch an early movie last night.  We ended up watching Seven Pounds with Will Smith.  A GREAT MOVIE! Although, I am still a bit confused about the "Pounds" part of the title, I do recommend you check this movie out.  It will keep you guessing, in which for me is a great thing.  I am one of those people that can typically figure the movie out before it's finished. Its part of the fun for me, but lets just say now so fun for honey.

Anyways, after that movie I thought I would sneak in there and give Morgan a "dream feed" before heading off to bed myself.  By the way I meant to mention it before but like many other things on my 'to do list', I just haven't done it.  I went COLD TURKEY on Morgan last week.  First week of April, I decided to cut Morgan from her bottles.  I know that seems a bit harsh or dramatic, but let me tell you this... she hasn't complained once about it.  I think Hunter did the same thing, because as I was telling one of my friends the other day,  I can't remember that far back on how or when I had Hunter stop using the bottles.  I can't recall ever having to struggle with him over the bottle vs sippy cup.  I think, like Morgan, he just went right to sippy cup without missing a beat or thinking twice about it.  My little girl is growing up so quickly.  I give her a bottle twice a day.  Once for her first long nap of the day and one right before bed.  I do believe that I could cut those too, but for now I feel safer knowing she is getting in that extra amount of fluids that other wise she may not get enough of during the day.  Just to be on the safe side we give her those two bottles. 

After giving Morgan her "dream feed" and for those still confused as to what in the world a 'dream feed' is.  It's when a child is sleeping, and you don't want the baby to wake up in the early hours hungry, so you simply sneak in and feed the baby a bottle while s/he is asleep and quietly put s/he back to bed.  This will buy the parent additional hours of sleep time.  And let me tell you it really works.  Morgan normally would have been up and ready to go by 7:30 AM.  Especially since she went to bed at 8:00 ish last night.  However, because she was that tired and I gave her a 'dream feed' she slept in until almost 9:00 AM this morning, giving me and her daddy a couple of hours of extra sleep.  Woot! Woot!

Okay...okay.... after giving Morgan her 'dream feed', I went outside to make sure my kitties where both in before locking up.  When I did this, the dark beautiful sky captured my eyes and heart all over again.  I walked outside to have a nice chilled breeze blow on my face and through my hair.  The moon was so bright that it looked as though I could reach out and touch it.  The sky filled with these beautiful Cirrocumulus clouds.  I couldn't resist stopping in my tracks to take a moment to reflect on the beauty of it all. I called Mark out to experience it with me. Explaining to him how when as a younger girl, I would go lay out in the back of my fathers truck, taking a blanket and my radio to play Enigma via cassette tape with me.  Laying out there for hours just lost in the beauty and peaceful thoughts of the night sky. 

I always felt God's presence most either when walking on a quiet beach or at night starring at the stars.  

Mark, has never been one to even think much about the outter space, stars or galaxy.  He once said that it just never occurred to him to really think much outside of his own 'little bubble' (his world here in front of him).  At first when he said that to me, I wanted to look at him as if he was crazy and question how anyone could not be as fascinated by the world outside of our own as I was. But I didn't.... in fact, I simply felt a bit bad for him. Thinking about all that I believed he to be missing out on.  I wanted to show him and express to him how much I loved the stars, moon and sky.  I got him to sit outside with my for ...oh....about... 7 minutes before he claims to being attacked by mosquitos or 'biting bugs.'  They never seem to bite me, but Mark seems to the moment he steps outside.  I told him it was because he had sweet blood.  Ha! He went back in and I stayed outside by myself,  just listening to the frogs around the pond, the breeze blowing in the trees and amazed at the beauty of Gods creation in his sky.  His canvas.  Talking with my Father.  A last minute date with my creator with out it being planned or expected.  

I tried my best to capture what I could with the camera, but I am clueless at night shooting of any kind.  Although the picture above does it no justice,  just trust me -- it was worth posting about here today.  

Below is a little info about the different types of clouds.  In which a lot of us probably remember having to study these in school. And out of all the things I have forgotten over the years, I still remember the names of the clouds.  

 

Here is another image of the what the sky would look like if it where taken in the day.... but imagine this with the darkness of the night behind the clouds and only the brightness of the moon lighting them up enough to make them visible.  You can see this for as far as the eye could see.  

I wish I would do this more often.  I really do.  I look forward to those nights in which I can take Hunter or Morgan out and just relax under the stars, talking about the beauty of our galaxy and our God.  

Remember that Valentines gift of mine???

Well of course you don't remember it because if you do recall, I said I would tell you what it was when the time was right.  Right? 

Although that was so long ago now. In fact it seems like last year already.  O'well... The time is right, right now. 

Today I went on something new.  It wasn't an audition for a TV/film slot, or a casting for a print/catalog shoot and it wasn't even a photo shoot.  In fact, it had nothing to do with modeling at all. 

I went on a 'real' world job interview.  No, not REAL WORLD like the TV reality show, real world.  I mean what people would consider being in the 'real' world work place, because to most people modeling isn't looked at as a real job or profession.  That's another subject all on it's on that I'll have to post.  

I was contacted back in February regarding a sales position for a new company in which I will keep private for now.  I was asked about my interest in working outside of modeling and the home, as a medical sale rep.  

What?  

Me? 

Yes, me.  I know I was a bit surprised also. 

Why would anyone (other than looks) want to hire a model to be a sales rep? 

Your guess is as good as mine.

All I know is that I am appreciative for the opportunity to be considered and interviewed for this company.

So why would I want to consider working in the 'real' world of jobs, especially sales, when I have the lifestyle and career I have as a model? 

Why would anyone want to change their career?  Its new, its different and a change.  Modeling will ALWAYS be there.  I can and will ALWAYS model and be a model/actress.  However, in this economy modeling is feeling its pull just as any other work profession.  What is the first thing companies pull when finances are tight?  Advertisement!  Which means less work for the models. Anyways.... why not?  I don't want to always be known as just a model. I feel I have so much more to offer than just looks. Well, that's just my opinion anyways.  LOL.  Keep your comments to yourself .  *winking*

With that being said, lets get to the Valentines gift already.

If you recall I was in Chicago Valentines weekend and day, for Hunters hockey tournament.  I had both kids with me and hubby was left home alone.  I sent him on a hunt for his manly Valentine gifts... remember the clock, bottle of wine and movie? 

When I returned home my honey had a surprise for me waiting too. When I opened it, to my surprise it was an outfit.  

I know what you are thinking,.... so what is the big deal about that?  Did he buy a size too big as most men would or do?  Nope. 

First of all, if you knew my honey at all, he NEVER buys me clothes.  Never! But this wasn't just any "outfit".  He bought me an outfit to wear to my interview.  

Not only that, but my honey did get the right size, and I actually LOVED the outfit.  

Pretty cool right?

So all this time has gone by and I haven't been interviewed until today.  Today, I got to proudly wear the "interview" outfit that my honey got me for Valentines.  

The interview went great.  The gentlemen was honest and nice.  I probably did not get the job, so I won't need a second outfit for interview #2 (shucks),  but none of it will be taken personally.  After all, I don't have their kind of experience, education and knowledge to begin with, so the fact that they let this model in for an interview in the first place was sweet enough.  I will be most disappointed about not getting to go on a "new job" shopping spree.  Sigh. 

So here are a couple of pictures that I had my babysitter take just before I left.  Although the full length one didn't come out so great....and it doesn't really do the entire outfit justice, you get the idea. And most importantly you get to see how my honey rocked with picking out his first outfit for 'the wife'.  

Thanks babe for being creative, thoughtful and surprisingly stylish in your choice for my interview outfit.  Although I may not get the job, I sure did look good going in for it.  

This past weekend, our family was invited to a  basketball/pool party.  There were tons of people and kids there, splashing in the pool, eating great food and swinging in the hammock.  This lady was trying to get a picture of her and her husband, and it appeared she was trying to get her daughter to take the picture.  It wasn't going so well, so I offered to take the picture for her.  That's the photographer in me coming out.  In return she took a picture of me and Mark, and tagged it to me on Facebook. Gotta love Facebook. Not! But it served a purpose today, for I got this picture with my honey and what better reason than here today in this post to share it. 

I still think I want to go shorter with the hair, add more layers in it and maybe get a tan before I pop some brighter highlights back into it. 

What do you think? 

Winners!! Winners!!! Winners!!! and More....

I know this is over due...but its better late than never, right? Right! 

Here is the deal....

Since so many left comments on both my blog and Angie's blog @ 7 Clown Circus, but all didn't leave details on which item you were interested in, I am doing something different.  

If you left specific request, I put you in a drawing for that item(s) and drew them from a bowl and have posted those winners here.  

However, regarding the 3 girls dresses I put ALL person's who commented into the drawing.  

Why?

Well, because I have a fun idea that I think would allow these dresses to travel around the world into welcoming moms and little girls hands.  

So what's the catch?  

Nothing really.... its more fun for YOU than me at this point.  YOU get to have a GIVEAWAY on your blog.  Giveaway's are the "cool" thing to do these days it seems on blogs.  And, well, YOU get to promote your blog, with a giveaway at my expense.  

What do you mean at your expense?

Silly people.... I have the clothes, don't I? Then I would be the one to ship them, and it cost YOU or your winner nothing.  So, YOU get to giveaway an adorable dress to anyone YOU personally pick and or have a drawing from your own readers on your blog if you choose.  

What if I don't want the dress to giveaway or want to provide a giveaway on my blog?

That's totally cool too.  No worries!! Just send me an email from the 'contact me' tab above to let me know that, and I will find someone who would LOVE to either receive or giveaway the dress  you won.  

If you are a winner and you personally want the items, please email me your mailing info so that I can get it shipped out to you.  

Congratulations and thanks for showing some love either on my post on Angies blog, or on here.  It was fun stopping by visiting each and everyone one of your blogs.  Getting to meet you and your own families.  And it was most fun.... PAYING IT FORWARD.

Winners!!!  Winners!!! Winners!!!! 

1.  Lula @ Lulaville -   12 Month Girls Dress - Pink and Black w/black velvet trimming

2. Rhonda @ A Day in Rhonda's Life  -  0-3 Month Dress - White with flowers w/bloomers

3.  Sparkette @ He's Outnumbered  -   6-9 Month Dress - Yellow w/belt and bloomers 

4.  Mommaof4wife2r @ A Thorn Among Roses  -  Little toddler Nike sneakers!  

5.  Teresa @ Grammy Girlfriend  -  Boys Pokemon 

Don't forget to PAY IT FORWARD when you can!!!