Sometimes We Have to Get the Water

Posted on August 6, 2023 by Writing & Photography by David K. Carpenter

In the second chapter of John’s gospel, the old saint recalls the story of Jesus’s first recorded miracle–turning water into wine. As the story goes, the wedding feast was going great until the family ran out of wine. Rather than let a good party get ruined, Jesus’s mother asked Him to do something to rescue it. Since Jesus loved a good party, and since He was a good Jewish boy who obeyed His mother, He obliged, even though it wasn’t quite time for Him to start His ministry.

Photo by Al Elmes on Unsplash

He spots 6 huge stone water jugs nearby, and then comes one really interesting little aspect of this story comes next.

Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

John 2:7 (NIV, emphasis added)

Jesus could have filled the empty jars directly with wine. But instead, He asked some people to fill them with water. The various methods of Jesus’s miracles has always fascinated me. One time He heals a blind man with just a touch, but another time He makes mud to heal blindness.

So, there must be a reason why He uses different methods for His miracles. What could be the reason He asks some people to fill up the jars with water so He could then turn the water into wine, instead of just filling them up with wine directly? I mean, these jars held 20-30 gallons of water, so it probably took 2 people to carry each jar. Why make these poor, hard-working people do this extra work?

Because He wanted to teach us that sometimes, He wants us to participate with Him in His miracles. He doesn’t need our help, but sometimes He wants it so we can learn from it.

What could we learn from this?

First, that we should trust Him. Blindly, without knowing what the outcome will be, or the method God will use to answer our prayers. Mary knew Jesus could fix the situation, but she didn’t know what that solution would look like. She didn’t tell the servants to fill up the jugs–she only asked them to do whatever Jesus told them to do.

Second, that we should put in the work we feel like God is directing us to do. Yes, we should trust Him, but sometimes the way He answers our prayers is by blessing our efforts. So, if we don’t put in the effort, we may not get the blessing. The servants probably had no idea why Jesus asked them to fill up the jars with water–it must have seemed to them to be a strange request when what the party needed was more wine, not more water. But they did it anyway. And what happened? Jesus blessed their effort by turning the water into wine. They had contributed to saving the party and sparing their family significant public embarrassment.

Bottom line, we need to trust God like it depends on Him (because it does) but work like it depends on us (because with God, there are blessings and lessons mixed into our efforts). This is the way of the Kingdom.

Photo by Kyle Winkle on Unsplash
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Be a Pray-er

Posted on July 23, 2023 by Writing & Photography by David K. Carpenter

The word “prayer” is something that we probably think and say enough to have potentially lost a little bit of power in our minds. So, I wanted to look at the word in a little bit of a fresh way today.

Someone who walks is a walker. Someone who programs is a programmer. Someone who carpents is a carpenter (yes, I just made that up).

And someone who prays is a “pray-er”.

Why is this important? Well, if Jesus is to be an example for us–and I think He’s meant to be–then it must be pretty essential to our lives to be pray-ers. All throughout the gospels, we see countless examples of Jesus making time in His busy schedule to be alone with His–and our–Father in heaven. Jesus was a pray-er who prayed a lot.

Why do we need to be a pray-er? Why did Jesus? Because Satan opposes every good thing. He did not want Jesus to spread His message that we should all love God and love other people. He does not want us to be kind to strangers or forgive our enemies. He does not want us to raise our kids with values and morals. He hates love and loves hate.

And he’s coming after us. You, me. Our kids. Our nation. Our pastors and political leaders.

After witnessing the evil one at his most cunning, Peter gave us this stern warning:

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

1 Peter 5:8-9 (NIV, emphasis added)

This is language that should, quite literally, scare the hell out of us. Satan is not messing around, and he means to destroy us and everything we cherish. We cannot take this lightly.

If this freaks you out, then good. It should.

Thankfully, our loving God does not leave us to deal with this on our own.

But this is why we need to be pray-ers. Praying is our grace-filled opportunity to beg the Creator of the universe for His help. God is the only One with enough strength and power to defeat Satan. We cannot beat him on our own, but one of the tricks he uses is to give us enough pride that we think we can. He allows us to believe that we don’t need God. It’s another nasty pitfall, another way he deceives us so he can take us out.

Do not be fooled.

Be a pray-er!

Fight for yourself and everything you love and cherish. Fight back by asking God to defend you and your family.

You don’t need long-winded, fancy prayers to be a pray-er. It’s enough to whisper these few words: “Help me, Jesus! I can’t do this without you!”

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The Truth About Home

Posted on July 16, 2023 by Writing & Photography by David K. Carpenter

My wife and I just moved away from our home of 23 years and hometown of 30 years. We raised our three kids there. We made countless beautiful family memories there.

So, yes, it was hard to drive away.

But as I did, I reflected on the ghosts of good times past drifting through those rooms. Is that where they will stay?

No, I don’t think so.

We’re taking them with us. Our kids have each brought their own selection with them as they moved on with their lives.

The house is just a building. Home is in the love we share with one another. Our cherished memories live on in our shared family story.

The more challenging part is how far we have moved away from where our kids live–we moved from Colorado to Florida, but two of our kids are still in Colorado and the other is in Wyoming. However, we have overcome far bigger obstacles together and come out stronger on the other side. There’s no reason to expect we won’t tackle this one together, too.

We will keep home alive. We’ll keep it growing geographically and in the number of great memories we add to our collection. Home is on the move, and it will always be so. We will each of us carry it with us wherever we go.

That’s the truth about home.

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God is Working for Our Good, Even when it Hurts

Posted on July 2, 2023 by Writing & Photography by David K. Carpenter

When things are going well in our lives, it’s easy for us to believe that God is working for our good. That is, it’s easy for us to believe that when we think about it. Sadly, we probably don’t think about God nearly enough when life is working.

But when we hit a pothole in the road of our lives, we turn to God. In fact, we may shake our fists at Him. We wonder where He is and why He’s not helping us or someone we love.

But here’s the thing: part of the faith journey is believing God is working for our good, even when it hurts. Especially when it hurts. God wants us to trust Him, just like you and I want our spouse or best friend to trust us.

I know it’s easier for me to say this than it is to do it. But God will help us with this, too. I’ve been going through more challenges in my life than normal lately. Most of the time, I’d say I’ve been doing a good job of trusting God through these trials. But I also have to admit that there are times that I allow fear or anxiety to creep into my mind. This is one of the most effective tools that our enemy uses to try to disrupt our relationship with God. Borrowing what Satan said to Adam and Eve in Eden:

Did God really say you could trust Him in this situation?

Well, yes, He did. He promised we can trust Him in all situations. Just picture Jesus talking directly to you while standing on a mountainside. It’s a warm day, but there’s a nice breeze. You’re fidgety and restless because of the problems you’re dealing with, but His voice is calm and His pace is unhurried. He looks you in the eye and tells you:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Jesus, in Matthew 6:25-33 (NIV)

So, when I catch myself letting go of God’s hand and allowing fear or anxiety to enter into my thoughts, I ask God to help me return to trusting Him. Even though this doesn’t fix the problem I’m wrestling with, it fixes me. I regain my grasp of God’s hand, reassured that He is in control. I am comforted knowing that He is already working on a solution for me.

And sometimes, maybe that’s the point.

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God is in the Storm

Posted on June 25, 2023 by Writing & Photography by David K. Carpenter

So, I have had a tumultuous week. A little over a week ago, I learned that my contract with my employer was not being extended. This came as a total shock. At the same time, it is taking us longer to sell our house than we had originally anticipated. This all combined to make me feel like I was under attack.

And maybe I was.

Being a follower of Christ does not make us immune from difficulties in our lives. In fact, sometimes, following Jesus can invite difficulties into our lives.

Jesus warns us about this:

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Jesus, in John 16:33 (NIV, emphasis added)

So, the world is full of difficulties. But that’s OK. Why? Because Jesus has already overcome the world.

But, you may say, how can you say Jesus has already overcome the world? Look around you–it sure doesn’t seem like it most of the time.

It’s a fair point. Evil is rampant in the world. It’s hard to understand or explain how Jesus has overcome the world when the world is such a mess. The simplest thing I can think of to say about it is that we are caught in between the now and the not yet, between Jesus’s initial arrival (plus His death and resurrection) and His second coming.

But here’s the other thing: no matter how difficult our lives are, Jesus is right there with us. He promised us He would be:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Jesus, in Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)

What are we to make of this? Jesus tells us that there will be storms in our lives. He doesn’t tell us that He will help us find our way around the storms; He nevery promised we would experience problem-free lives. What He’s saying to us in Matthew is that no matter what happens in our lives, He will help us carry the burden. In fact, if we will but trust Him, He will make our difficulties seem easy and light.

How can that be? When we are battling problems out of our own strength, they can sometimes seem insurmountable. But when we give those problems over to Jesus in complete trust, He gives us His strength to fight the battles. It is not a problem for the God who created the universe and calmed raging storms simply by speaking to deal with the things we fear may overcome us.

I have a very close friend who is in God’s Word on a daily basis. Although he believes that the Bible is inspired by God, he also believes that the book of Job does not belong there. I understand where he’s coming from. I don’t really understand why God would allow Satan to have his way with Job simply to prove how strong his faith is in God. It’s also hard to grapple with the idea of God standing by and doing nothing while Satan does so many terrible things to Job.

On the other hand, I can also see why this book was selected to be part of the Bible. For one thing, even after Job has experienced the tragedy of losing all of his children and all of his wealth in a single day, he has this to say about God:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.”

Job 1:21 (NIV)

In God’s Kingdom, this is the appropriate–albeit entirely unnatural–response, even to terrible loss. I have to admit, when I got the shocking news that I had lost my job, I did not feel like praising God. And yet, I did finally come around to it.

And here’s the thing, both in Job’s story and in my own over this last week (which, of course, pales in comparison to what happened to Job): after clinging tightly to God in the midst of the storm, things worked out OK in the end. For Job, he was able to rebuild his wealth to an even greater level than it had been before tragedy struck. And although I’m guessing he missed his first set of kids terribly, he was able to have 10 additional children. For me, I was able to find a new gig within 1 week, which seems to be almost mariculous to me in today’s climate. Better yet, I was reminded that I need to cling to God every day, regardless of what’s happening around me or within me.

This past week was rough for me, but it has been a great reminder for me to really trust God. And I don’t mean trusting Him like I’ve loaned $5 to Him and I’m not worried because I trust that He’ll pay me back. I mean trusting Him like I’ve fallen off of a skyscraper and I’m not worried because I know that He will catch me in His strong arms. That’s what I mean by really trusting God.

That’s definitely way easier said than done. So, that’s why this was a helpful reminder for me to walk with God every moment of every day, and to lean into His grace.

What a treasure it is to have a God who will walk into the storm with us and help us come out the other side.

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Rock You to Sleep

Posted on June 21, 2023 by Writing & Photography by David K. Carpenter

I wrote this poem for my first daughter when she was 6 months old. Now her baby is 10 months old. Time doesn’t just fly–it’s supersonic.

Crying baby,
I wish you could tell me
What's troubling you.
My heart is swollen, 
Aching, overflowing with
Love for you.
A reservoir after a
Fierce rainstorm.
Barely contained.
As your dad, it’s
My job to mold the world
Into a smooth path for you,
To get the boulders out of
Your way.
I know I can’t,
But I’ll try.

You’re screaming so much,
Your little eyebrows are red.
I suspect that someday 
You will learn that
Being a little hungry or
Tired aren't really worth
Fussing about.
Someday, when you
Have a crying baby
Of your own,
You won’t remember
This moment, but
Maybe you will think 
The same thing about 
Your child.

How strange
That thought seems
To me now—my
Crying baby
Becoming a parent.

But that day will come
Too soon, too quickly.
But let’s not dwell
On that now.
In this moment,
Let me
Cradle you in my arms,
Quietly hum Brahms to you,
And rock you gently,
Softly, slowly
To sleep.




For Katy

Copyright © 2023 by David K. Carpenter

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The Ultimate Father

Posted on June 18, 2023 by Writing & Photography by David K. Carpenter

On this Father’s Day, I spent some time reflecting on how perfect our loving heavenly Father is. Of course, I wish I understood His ways better sometimes (a lot of the time), but my lack of understanding does not diminish His perfection.

One of the things I thought about today was what is famously known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Jesus tells this story in Luke 15 to paint a picture for us of what God the Father is like. In a nutshell, this story describes how an ungrateful son goes to his loving father one day and asks for his share of the inheritance, effectively telling his father he wishes he were dead. The father actually agrees to give it to him. The son takes the money and, through a whole series of bad decisions, loses it all. All out of options, he decides to go crawling back to his father to see if he would possibly consider hiring him as a regular worker.

One really beautiful part of the story comes, though, when the father sees his wayward son coming in the distance. Instead of waiting for his son to come groveling to him, this is what Jesus tells us the father does instead:

But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

Luke 15:20 (NIV, emphasis added)

Did you catch that? Despite how badly his son had treated him, the father ran to him and embraced him. It was considered very undignified in the ancient Jewish culture for a grown man to run. Yet the father ran to welcome his son home. He restored his son, who had been lost, but now was found. He forgave his son, even before his son had a chance to beg for forgiveness.

I have always loved my kids, so I tried to forgive them whenever they screwed up. But, of course, God takes it to a whole new level. He loves us perfectly. He forgives us perfectly. So, obviously, that’s way better than the imperfect ways I was able to forgive my kids.

I am so grateful that I have a perfect Father in heaven who does not condemn me for all the dumb decisions I have made. Instead, when I realize what a moron I am being, and turn around to head back home to Him, He runs out to greet me with a warm embrace. He invites me back into His home and celebrates my return with a feast.

I think whoever believes that God is a grumpy old man waiting to beat us up for the slightest infraction has not read the story of the Prodigal Son. They are missing out on the chance to know the real heavenly Father that Jesus knows so well and describes for us in this parable.

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there, and to our perfect Father in heaven!

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Busted but Liberated

Posted on June 12, 2023 by Writing & Photography by David K. Carpenter

I have been liberated! Jesus promised us that we would know the truth, and that the truth would make us free (John 8:32). That’s what happened to me at church this morning–I was reminded of the truth, and it set me free.

Here’s the foundational Scripture for the message at church:

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them [the spirits of this world], because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

1 John 4:4 (NIV, clarification in brackets added)

The sermon was given by Pastor Eddie Hoagland. The point of his message was that one of the ways the evil one tries to disrupt our relationship with our loving Creator is by feeding us lies via the spirits of this world. God gave us the Holy Spirit to protect us from these foul spirits, but we get ourselves into trouble when we listen to them more than we listen to the Holy Spirit, which is the presence of God dwelling in us.

It really felt like God was using Pastor Eddie to convict me with his words. The message shone a bright light into some darkness that has been creeping into my consciousness recently. It helped me realize that lately, I have been listening more to the lies from the spirit of this world than I’ve been listening to the Holy Spirit. This is not good, so that’s why it’s so helpful that God pointed this out to me.

I generally do fairly well at walking with God each day, which has often allowed me to be filled with His peace and joy. But the enemy opposes this and will do anything he can to disrupt it. One strategy he seems to resort to repeatedly is by feeding me these lies:

  • God has more important things to worry about than the circumstances of my life, so if I want to achieve the outcomes I desire, I’d better take matters into my own hands
  • I don’t matter to anyone

Thanks to today’s message, I’ve been able to recognize that these are lies from the spirit of this world. God has not been saying these things to me, and never will. And nobody I care about has actually been making me feel like I don’t matter.

I feel dumb for believing these lies, but I wanted to put this out there in case you have struggled with believing these or other lies. If so, you can take some consolation in knowing that you are not alone.

And now that God has pointed His spotlight on these lies and reminded me of the truths I should believe instead, my chains are broken. I am free! I can step out of the darkness and into the Light. I can once again bathe in the peace of God that transcends all understanding.

How great is that?! Thanks be to God.

P.S. I wrote a poem about a spiritual journey I went on today (part of which is described in this post). If you’re interested, you can find it here.

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I Am Not Who I Think I Am

Posted on June 11, 2023 by Writing & Photography by David K. Carpenter

(Escape from Pain, Waking Up Again)

Who is this “me”
I speak of and 
Obsess over so often?

This is me:
I am a man.
I hike, I breathe.
I write and take pictures.
I love some and
Laugh a lot.

Wait, no.
That’s not me.

This is me:
I think, so I am.
I solve business and
Technical problems.
Better yet, I
Anticipate them and so
Avoid them.
I lead teams,
Make them better than
The sum of their parts.
I plan, therefore I am.

Wait no.
That’s not me, either.

 
This is me,
The real me:
I am 
More than my body,
More than my mind.
I am
Transcendent in this sacred space.
I am 
Resting like an infant in
Your everlasting arms,
So, I am eternal.
When I am not my body,
Joy courses through
My ethereal veins.
When I am not my mind,
Peace permeates my being,
Renewed each time
Beauty touches me,
The real me—
A rose whose petals
Glow in golden afternoon light
Or hide in cool shadows,
Absorbing warmth but
Resting from the heat
Of the day.

In the arms of the
One who carries me
Into eternity,
Today cannot hurt me.
Tomorrow does not exist.
This is how I escape
From pain, from fear;
This is how I immerse myself
In a pool of Peace:
I reach for You and
I don’t let the “me”s who are not me
Get in the way.



David K. Carpenter

June 11, 2023
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Every Ending is a New Beginning

Posted on June 4, 2023 by Writing & Photography by David K. Carpenter

In the Daily Audio Bible this week, we finished the fourth and last of the Gospels–the book of John. It was a little sad to wrap that up since the eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ earthly ministry have loomed large in the New Testament since the beginning of the year. And now Jesus is gone.

Or is He?

Why not? you may ask, and I’m glad you did.

Well, for one thing, He appears in His resurrected form to the disciples in the first chapter of the book of Acts, before He ascended to heaven. And for another thing, even though He is not present in bodily form for most of the rest of the New Testament, His fingerprint is emblazoned upon nearly every remaining page.

For example, He trained Peter on how to lead this band of misfits, and Peter led them well. Jesus also planted His message on the heart of a young religious scholar named Saul, and that man–whose name He changed to Paul upon converting him–wrote most of the rest of the New Testament, imploring them to follow the real Jesus and not the savior they often wanted Him to be.

These are important new beginnings in the life of the church that would not have happened if Jesus had not ascended to the heavenly Father. So, even though some endings can be emotional, in the long run, they are usually OK since they lead to new beginnings, just like God planned them to do.

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