More Than A Carpenter

Hey all!!! I know, I haven't posted in a while, but I guess I just am not as much of a blogger as some other people are. I try to blog when I can, and have the time, and hope you enjoy when I do blog. :)


Last Saturday night, we had a big snowstorm, got a lot of snow, and the power went out at about 11:30. We didn't get it back 'til yesterday at about 3:30. Yeah, it's a bummer not having heat, water, lights, etc. for 5 days. We take too many things for granted in this life, when they could be taken away from us, at any second (literally, it was just like that. Boom, and everything was gone). Thankfully, we did spend some time at my Nana's and Papa's house, and even though they didn't have heat or lights, they had water, and a stove to cook food on. (and a piano. We have a piano, but it is electric, so we couldn't even play it. :P)


One of the nights, that we spent at our house, I was wearing 2 shirts, 2 thick sweatshirts, gloves, 3 pairs of socks, and I was under 4 blankets. I was pretty warm, needless to say. Haha. But, God answered our prayers, and we now have everything back under our reach. It was so nice to be able to sleep in my own warm bed last night, and be able to take a shower today, in my own shower. :) DON'T TAKE THINGS FOR GRANTED!!! It is so not worth it. Don't put something off today, saying that you could just do it tomorrow. That person or thing may not be there tomorrow. Just saying. :)


Anyways, I have been reading More than a Carpenter for school.... Today I was finishing up the last chapter, and a story that Josh {McDowell} told in it, hit me in a hard way. I'm not sure why, but it did, and so I just wanted to share it with you all. :) Pages 126-128 (At this point, Josh is talking about when he got saved, and the impact it had on his life.)


There's another area of which I'm not proud. But I mention it because a lot of people need to have the same change in their lives, and I found the source of change: a relationship with the resurrected, living Christ. That area is hatred. I had a lot of hatred in my life. It wasn't something outwardly manifested, but then there was a kind of inward grinding. I was ticked off with people, with things, with issues. Like so many other people, I was insecure. Every time I met someone different from me, he became a threat to me.
But I hated one man more than anyone else in the world. My father. I hated his guts. To me he was the town alchoholic. If you're from a small town and one of your parents is an alchoholic, you know what I'm talking about. Everybody knows. My friends would come to highschool and make jokes about my father being downtown. They didn't think it bothered me. I was like other people, laughing on the outside, but let me tell you, I was crying on the inside. I'd go out in the barn and see my mother beaten so badly she couldn't get up, lying in the manure behind the cows. When we had friends over, I would take my father out, tie him up in the barn, and park the car up around the silo. We would tell our friends he'd had to go somewhere. I don't think anyone could have hated anyone more that I hated my father.
After I made the decision for Christ-maybe five months later-a love from God through Jesus Christ entered my life and was so strong it took that hatred and turned it upside down. I was able to look my father squarely in the eyes and say, "Dad, I love you." And I really meant it. After some of the things I'd done, that shook him up.
When I transferred to a private university I was in a serious car accident. My neck in traction, I was taken home. I'll never forget my father coming into my room. He asked me, "Son, how can you love a father like me?" I said, "Dad, six months ago I despised you." Then I shared with him my conclusions about Jesus Christ: "Dad, I let Christ come into my life. I can't explain it completely but as a result of that relationship I've found the capacity to love and accept not only you but other people just the way they are."
Forty-five minutes later one of the greatest thrills of my life occurred. Somebody in my own family, someone who knew me so well I couldn't pull the wool over his eyes, said to me, "Son, if God can do in my life what I've seen him do in yours, then I want to give him that oppurtunity." Right there my father prayed with me and trusted Christ.
Usually the changes take place over several days, weeks, or months, even a year. My life was changed in about six months to a year-and-a-half.
The life of my father was changed right before my eyes. It was as if somebody reached down and turned on a light bulb. I've never seen such a rapid change before or since. My father touched whiskey only once after that. He got it as far as his lips and that was it. I've come to one conclusion. A relationship with Jesus Christ changes lives.
You can laugh at Chrisitanity, you can mock and ridicule it. But it works. It changes lives. If you trust Christ, start watching your attitudes and actions, because Jesus Christ is in the business of changing lives.
But Christianity is not something you shove down somebody's throat or force on someone. You've got your life to live and I've got mine. All I can do is tell you what I've learned. After that, it's your decision.


Isn't that such a powerful story? I thought it was. :) If you have been changed forever by Jesus Christ, have asked Him to come into your life, and are a new creature in Christ, the old things are passed away. Hate is not apart of you anymore. None of your old self should be there. Everything has become new! (2 Corinthians 5:17). It doesn't matter what others have done to you (as you can see by the story of Elisabeth Elliot. If you haven't read her story yet, you definitely should! Through Gates of Splendor). You should still love them, pray for them, do good to them (Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:28). After all, aren't we trying to imitate our Saviour in everything we do? Look at Christ's perfect example. He died on the cross for the very people that put Him there!!! It's just amazing to think about, isn't it?? :)


Think about this as well. What kind of example are you being to those around you? Are you claiming to be a Christian, but not really showing it by your actions and deeds? What we do, how we act, and what we say to other people can have a profound impact on them and their life, as you can see by what happened in the story. Josh was such a great example of Christ, that his dad saw that change in him, and wanted what his son had!! Make sure you are doing all that Christ wants you to do today. Be a doer of the Word, and not a hearer only! (James 1:22-23)


Well, I have to go for now! Hope you all have a wonderful, cozy day, resting in the arms of our precious, and wonderful, amazing Saviour!!


In His Arms,
Karissa Noelle :)))))


Jeremiah 29:11-13


P.S. I have some pictures to upload soon, so be watching for them!!! :)