the season of easter... the season of Jesus!

wow. sometimes i just miss it. and sometimes i feel like the biggest idiot in the world. i have been so focused on myself this week that i've almost missed it. do you KNOW what tomorrow is? what this week is? this has been holy week. 2000 years ago Jesus laid down his life willingly... did you get that? willingly! for me!! for you... for us. why is it that sometimes we can get so caught up in life that we almost miss it? we almost let his sacrifice slip by unnoticed, for granted... and yet it's the single most important factor of life... any life and all life!! his death. he died that i may live. wow!
you know, for easter we all have different traditions and things we do to celebrate. at my house we set our shoes out and the "easter bunny" comes and fills them in the night with candies and goodies. we always wear our best on easter and we usually go to the sunrise service to remember the "dawn" when the women found the empty tomb. oh yeah, and then we have an amazing dinner... tomorrow will be ham. those things are all well and good, especially for little kids... something to look forward to, an opprotunity for parents to get them excited and then to tell them about the real reason behind the shoes and the candy and the ham. but i almost got lost this year in the midst of it all. i haven't even thanked Jesus for his sacrifice today. how could i? but it's not too late, huh? cuz easter isn't here yet... and i still have time to celebrate and praise Jesus for the amazing gift he gave to me. you have time too... even if it's after easter when you read this. shouldn't every day start by thanking Jesus for the life he gave through his death? i think my goal for this next year is not to get caught up in life and miss the significant moments that commemorate my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. he is, after all, the full meaning for the "season" easter anyways, huh?
thank you so much, Jesus for what you did... how you came into the world and lived a normal life and died a horrendous death so that i could be a part of you and live with you forever. thank you for your life. thank you that you hear me and you see my heart. help me to stay in tune with you and not get side-tracked by the things of this world, but to be ever thankful and grateful for your sacrifice. keep me near the cross, Lord Jesus, that i may follow after you. i love you.

we went to the good friday service last night at this church in ft. wayne and before we took communion the pastor read out of 1 Corinthians 11. it said, "Every time you eat the bread and drink the cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." it hit me as we were taking communion that people everywhere in churches across the world as they participate in communion are proclaiming Jesus... his life his death... what that means. some may not believe in Christ or what he did, but every time we partake of his body and his blood we proclaim that he died and that he is alive and that he is coming back again!! how amazing is that!?!

thoughts for today

so today are just some thoughts...
i read this passage today and then rachel and i went to a hymn sing tonight and this was an awesome song that we sang, i'm not sure if i'd heard it before. trust in Jesus today and be blessed! :)

"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."
-Mark 11:22-25


He Giveth More Grace

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater;
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase
To added affliction He addeth His mercy;
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

His love has no limit!
His grace has no measure!
His power has no boundary known unto men
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again!

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
WHen we reach the end of our hoarded resources,
Our Father's full giving is only begun!

His love has no limit!
His grace has no measure!
His power has no boundary known unto men
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again!


My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righeousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus name
When darkness seems to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace
Through every high and stormy gale my anchor holds within the veil
On Christ the solid rock I stand!
All other ground is sinking sand...
All other ground is sinking sand!

weekends at home are wonderful! :)

this weekend was pretty sweet. i went home to help jonathan lead worship on friday night for a benefit concert for susan (she's going to be moving to nicaragua in june) and on saturday night at a church in westminster, ohio.

GUESS WHAT!?! jennifer mc clure told me tonight that SHE'S COMING TO OLIVET!!!!!!!!!! WHOO WHOO!!!! i can't wait!! allison and i are jumping up and down!! it's gonna be hot! :)

here's picture of my daddy and me... and then we asked him to take one of anna and me and this is what we get...
i said, "dad you have to aim the camera at us!" he said, "i did!" but then he laughed and tried again...
much better, don't you think? my sister is so beautiful! :)
ha ha... this was sooo funny!! anna was pushing dad around on that chair carty thing. :)
here's me and my momma and sister nicole!! :)
i love my family!! it was so good to see them, to hang out with jonathan, to get smashed by caleb... to just "BE" at home for a day. i miss that. so know that i love you all... and i'll see you this weekend too for easter!! yay!! :)

I'M GOING
HOME
TOMORROW
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

freaky dude

A police officer sent this to me. It is not for
the faint of heart. If you have a weak stomach,
then don't look at the URL. It is a picture of the
demise of a suicide jumper taken shortly after
he landed. It shows him with his insides now
on the outside. You will see the look of horror
on the faces of the bystanders. The faces of the
bystanders is why I believe this is real...

Click here: http://home.att.net/~songs2/Jumper.jpg

amazing weekend!!

so this weekend was amazing!! meet brenda mohr... she's on the right... she invited me to an allnighter scrapbook party on saturday night. it was SOOO much fun!!! so we went to moon monkey cafe on saturday night to start off our big shin dig... me rachel jordan and brenda... joe and marc and marcus and levi all played. the girl on the left is katie sifferd... she's amazing. it was a great time. and dude, joe's original song was AMAZING!!! i can not WAIT to sing with him and josh this summer!! it's gonna be hot! :)
here's a couple of me and brenda... pardon my grossness. no sleep changes the dispostion of one's face. ;)

OH MY GOONDESS!!
so it's like 12:30 and brenda and i were gonna go to taco bell in the middle of the night but first, we get a knock on the door. it's tim and he wants brenda to come out and talk to him. crazy man. so she does, i'm inside on the couch thinking he's gonna egg her or something no way would he want to "talk"... i hear a scream, but can't really tell cuz the movie's up really loud. she comes back in and says... "Kara, you've GOT to see this!! are you ready? 1-2-3!!" and she throws open the blinds. all i see is tim, and i'm like... uh, brenda, it's tim... and then... there's two little white eyes starting at me. i TOTALLY FREAKED!!! and then... she makes me go outside and meet it...
this gorilla sasquatch monster scared me so hard. i could have wet myself.
it turned out to be a nice sasquatch and just wanted to hug me... but it was really scary, it chased me too...
but then i found joshie underneath, so it was ok. here's me and tim hugging the scary josh man. :)
and this is tim and his new found friend. thanks fellows for making our night officially more amazing than it was.
so one thing i am NOT looking forward to this summer traveling with josh and tim is that costume. i have a feeling that they are going to scare me more than once this summer. AHH!!! :) i guess it's all in the name of love, though, right? ;)

"when the wind blows..." oh wait, that song goes "when the rain comes" not "when the wind blows"! :) ha ha!

VERSE OF THE DAY!!!
(because it was so windy i almost blew over!)

Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
-John 3:5-8-