Kar’s Korner….time for reflection, venting, and fun!

On my drive up to the OC on Saturday, I was so encouraged by this story that my dear friend Raleigh passed along. She heard it at a Shane & Shane concert from a pastor that spoke there (his name escapes me now). We’ll see if my words can do it any justice – probably not, so make sure you’re ready to visualize this

He was speaking about his wedding day. The guests had been watching his face as he prepared to witness his bride walk down the aisle. All of a sudden, the back doors opened to reveal the bride – the guests’ attention quickly shifted away from him and towards her. As soon as they beheld her, the congregation gasped. The bride was stunning. Absolutely breath-taking. Without being prompted or choreographed, all the witnesses had the same reaction – an audible loss of breath, loss of words. Left speechless and captivated.

We are the bride of Christ. As His followers, we wait eagerly for the return so that we can celebrate the Marriage Feast of Christ and His Church – a celebration that eternity isn’t even long enough to contain! As His bride here on earth, are we taking people’s breath away? Do people see something so obviously different and beautiful that they are left speechless because they have experienced some of Christ through us? When they witness our lives, are they astounding with what Christ is doing in us?

Unfortunately, I fall very short of this. Oh, how I desire to be His beautiful bride!

So, April has been a whirlwind of a month with guests from near and far! When I went to look at my calendar to see what dates everyone was here, I realized just how far behind I am because the calendar is still set to February! So, here’s a shout out to all you who have blessed my home by visiting: Thank you so much for your friendship! It means so much to me and us here at Casa Schneple that you would take time out to come hang out with us! And, an encouragement to those of you who have not yet experienced Casa Schneple up close and personal…do it; everyone is!

4/2-4/5 – My friends/teammates from Texas came in town – Natalie and Didi
4/5-4/12 – Jojo’s friend from Texas came in town – Gilby
4/5-4/8 – My friend/coworker from Los Angeles came in town – Acosta
4/10-4/12 – I went out of town to San Fran to see my sister and company
4/9-4/20 – Our Casa Schneple friend came in town from Texas – Jennifer Vargas
4/14-4/19 – My friend I met studying abroad in Spain from Michigan came – Trisha
4/23 – Our friend from Orange County came in town for the day – Steph
Upcoming:
4/24 – Bestie from Middle School days and since – Lindsay
4/29-5/3 – Rachel’s Mom will be coming in town from Idaho!

So, there you have it folks! A fun-filled month as usual! And, I’ve just been reminded via the OC Marathon website that I have 9 days and 17 hours until my first half marathon!

Found it in my notebook; seemed timely at the end

It’s an interesting place to be-
Barely recognizing the old me.
Memories are fading as the days go on,
And I wonder what it was that took so long.
Why was I so committed to captivity?
It seemed so unlikely to be set free.
Praise the Lord for His steadfast love
That helped me understand the victory spoken of!
It’s incredible that this is offered to us all-
But we choose to deny and let ourselves fall.
Entangled in webs of deceit and lies
That we can’t see what’s before our very own eyes.
We’re so caught up in the devil’s evil schemes
We don’t escape to see what it all means.
So many years wasted on myself
Building this kingdom of my own hell.
But, He’s brought us a glorious freedom-
That we can now know where we’ve come from
And now we’re able to realize where we belong,
In the presence of our Savior’s sweet arms.
Why do we choose the bondage and the sin
When He’s paid the price for what we live in?
We’re so ignorant to think worldly knowledge is the way-
When He’s come, He’s lived, He’s died, and is risen to this day.
The power of His love in uncontainable;
The effects of His death are unbelieveable;
The results of His life are utterly remarkable;
The proof in our life absolutely undeniable.
So choose to be set free in this life that we’re in
And walk confidently in this freedom from sin.
Rest assured that the debt is forgiven-
And there’s amazing victory in the fact He is risen.

HAPPY EASTER!

Hello there! So, I have enjoyed quite the perfect day up here in San Fran. Flew in last night on an uneventful, albeit late, flight. Enjoyed a delicious veggie burger at the local diner (although, the veggie burger from the Coronado diner probably wins due to the amazing bun) and had an early night hanging out with my sister and her friend.
This morning, I woke up at 12:15pm. Yes, good people, 12:15. I guess I can’t even say I woke up this morning. I got more than a solid twelve hours of sleep. And, let me tell you, with all the lovely visitors we’ve had and the running around we’ve been doing, this was much needed! I leisurely got ready and headed down to the coffee shop to enjoy the city’s best chai tea and a pb&j bagel. Enjoyed it all while basking in the sun. Decided to walk down the park and enjoyed time with Jesus in the Word, in prayer, in reflection. Even more needed than that sleep He blessed me with! After a few hours which included reading three of the four gospel’s accounts of Jesus’ death, it was off on a run I went. These hills are killer, but I made it. I can’t believe my half marathon is in three weeks – okay, I literally just calculated that and got a little nervous!
Anyways, spent the rest of the day hanging out at the park with my sister, her roommate, and friends and then drove to In & Out for dinner. Currently, just listening to music while others nap and we enjoy a quite evening in. I’m really praying to become even more aware of this time of year and what it all means. Jesus’ life. The Cross. His Death. The Resurrection. Mind-blowing, awe-inspiring, breathtaking. Happy Easter.

April 9, 2004. Five years ago. If you would have told me I would be where I am now, I am not sure I could have seen much further past the next week to be able to believe you. Five years ago, I was devastated. Broken, lost, confused, lonely. And without my best friend. Today marks the fifth anniversary of Kisha Gentry’s death.

It’s interesting how we can think we’re doing better and handling it all well, and wake up crying on days like today. It’s interesting how I can be accutely aware of God’s presence in my life, but still be consumed by my emotion. It’s interesting that a life of a mere 21 years can leave such an impact on so many.

Over the past few months, the Lord has been revealing so many contrasts – these seemingly paradoxical relations, that only through Him, make perfect sense. I’m reminded of the peoples’ prayer in Nehemiah. It was a prayer of confession – the people were desperately aware of their wandering ways and their need for God. However, in confessing all of their brokenness, they were made even more aware of God’s majesty. Most of the poem speaks countless Truths about God’s character rather than focusing on their own shortcomings. I also think of my love for God. Although it has grown more consistent over the past few years, it still remains relatively unstable when compared to His love for us. He CHOSE us. His love is a CHOICE, not an emotion. An action, not a feeling. Something unchanging. Despite my changing emotions, my wavering choices, my indecisive nature, He has made His choice loud and clear.

So, today, rather than being totally consumed by my selfish desire to have my best friend back, I will rejoice. I will celebrate her life and mourn her death, but I will remain joyful because the joy of the Lord is my strength. And, He is unchanging. So, even though my circumstances change, my job changes, my decisions change, and I change – He NEVER changes. I’m so grateful for such a constant and secure source of joy, peace, strength, and love. May you be comforted today as well by His presence.

If you don’t know God’s story in Kisha’s life, check out:

http://karskorner.wordpress.com/2008/04/09/in-his-hands/

As I listen to one of my roommate’s singing “‘Cuz I am your lady…and you are my pug” (her own rendition of “I’m your lady” by Celine Dion, if you didn’t catch it), I decided what better time to catch up in the land o’ blogs?!

WHEW! It has been a fun few weeks! Between the Nehemiah trip, birthday festivities, beginning a new job, and attending school…it has been a blast! March and April are also the month of Spring Breaks which in the land of teachers makes San Diego a perfect vacation spot Even though Natalie and Didi (UNT teammates of mine) work in corporate America, they still wanted to join the fun and pretend otherwise so took a day off work and made a weekend trip to San Diego from Dallas….and what a fabulous time it was! I ran them around, as to be expected, and I’m quite certain their airplane seatmates are enjoying the musical sounds of their respective snoring right now

Thursday, they arrived around 7:30pm. Due to a near starvation situation, we immediately headed to dinner. My friend Cari was working at Sammy’s Woodfire Pizza that night, so we visited her to receive wonderful service, delicious food, and of course a Messy Sundae to boot Afterwards, it was back to the house to collect Irene and additional roommates and to ‘Sports Bar’ it was. A trip to Mira Mesa just isn’t complete without frequenting this gem. So, we played darts and hung out with the locals and called it an early night.

Friday, it was off to school we went! We headed to Horizon for a brief devo and then it was off to Park Chapel to do random things around the church and had a blessed time getting to talk to Eric and others around the church. After school, I got to go to work so Jojo took Natalie and Didi out to the beaches to get a little taste of SD. Thankfully, my boss let me off a few hours early and I got to meet up with them to search the thrift stores for 90’s outfits for Mistie’s Birthday party later that evening (think Friends, Blossom, 90210, etc.). We headed back to finish preparing for an HSE party at our house that evening. My class hosted a party for the incoming HSE class and we had about 65 people show up to our home Friday evening! It was a wonderful turn out and we enjoyed conversation, food, and worship Afterwards, we briefly headed to Amy’s to attend the 90’s party we had already purchased appropriate attire for The party was winding down, but it was nice to sit and just be able to talk and catch up. Then, off to bed it was!

Saturday morning I attended a job fair for a potential teaching job next year (there were literally like 800 people applying for various positions!) while Natalie and Didi got to sleep. Upon return, we loaded up the Tahoe to head to Mission Beach for some sun! We all got in some rest and had fun throwing the football around…I even got in the cold water! Love it! We rounded up the troops and went to LA Fitness to play a little 3-on-3 and, I’m proud to say, UNT alum dominated! Well, maybe not dominated, but came out victorious nonetheless! Saturday night it was off to dinner with Heather, Stacey, her teammate Des, and a few of us. Then it was out on the town for a couple of hours until we were tuckered out!

Sunday morning, we had full intentions of heading to church; however, that snooze button got the best of us! So, we woke up and got to enjoy one of my most favorite things to do on the weekend: family breakfast. I cooked a great batch of monkey bread, some eggs, and prepared a fruit salad for eight of us I love getting to laugh, talk, listen, and enjoy food together! While a few of us cleaned up, Natalie and Didi packed up and it was off to the airport A short but sweet visit and I’m certain they can’t go home saying they didn’t get to enjoy San Diego!

As for me, I’m looking forward to a relaxing afternoon full of organizing, cleaning, laundering, washing the car, running, and an evening at church followed by some homework for the week! I’m excited because tomorrow Adrian comes in town for a visit before I head up to San Fran for Easter

You just let me know if you want to come visit and I’ll let you know Casa Schneple’s availability You can come spend some time with this lovely face along with many others: