4thmaninthecar.com

Written by Karisa Grizzle

Senior at Raceland High School, Raceland, KY   

(Karisa is on the left, with her sister Kelsey,

 a student at Bellarmine University, Louisville, KY)

FAITH

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith... Ephesians 2:8

Faith-firm belief in something for which there is no proof

Grace- unmerited divine assistance given to humans

      At the age of eight I was saved by the grace of God through my faith in Him.  By believing in something that I could not see, I was given freedom from sin.  According to the definition of grace, even though I didn't deserve to be forgiven, I was.  I agreed to follow God no matter what.  There have been times in my life where I have been tempted to loose my faith and to doubt God.  I look around the world and see so much pain and suffering and wonder where God is.  Bad things happen and I wonder why a God who loves the world so much could allow it.  Then something happens and God reveals his plan and I feel so small and wonder how I could ever doubt God.  One experience in my life at first made me wonder how a God of love could be in control.  Yet in the end I know that God is not only in control, but that He is everything because He loves me so much.  If I try to control everything, I screw it up.  But God's plan is perfect and if I ever doubt it, then I think of Clark.

     I was at home with my Mom on a Saturday night when I got the call.

     "Clark has been in a really bad accident and I don't think that he is going to make it,"was all I heard, the rest is a blur.

     I didn't want to believe it, of course.  It was just too awful.  Thirty minutes later I was at Cabell Huntington Hospital.  It was the worst that it could possibly be.  There was severe bleeding in his brain, he was unresponsive, and they didn't think he was going to make it.  He was in a coma for what seemed like forever.  Finally he woke up, but only to have a long struggle to get well ahead of him.  He couldn't talk, couldn't eat, and his leg was so broken that he had to have a big bolt put in it.  The hospital stay was difficult and seemed endless, but finally it came to an end.

     Being home wasn't easy either for Clark.  He wasn't talking and it was necessary for him to have around the clock care.  No one knew if he would ever be the same as he was before.  It was harder and harder as the days went by to imagine that things were ever going to be normal again.  I thought to myself, why did this happen?  He was only sixteen and getting ready to start his Senior year.  He had so much living to do; yet he had a long road of recovery ahead before that.  Life is hard enough without extreme circumstances like he was going to have to face.

     Just two days ago Clark beat me at Guess Who three times in a row!  Then he proceeded to thump his friend Paul at video games.  It was like the accident never happened.  The bold in his leg is gone and the scars are beginning to fade.  He might not be completely back to his old self, but he is well on his way.  He is no longer a victim but, but rather a survivor!

     From a medical standpoint Clark should not be here today.  There was a time when the emergency team thought that they were not going to get him out of the car.  It seemed that the injuries that he sustained were just too great and the car was too mangled for him to survive.  God made a way when there was no possible way!

     I know without a doubt in my mind that the only reason Clark is here today is God.  When Clark was in his accident I was devastated.  Yet now I truly believe that God is still in the business of performing miracles.  Miracles aren't just  something out of Bible times, they happen today too.  Clark is a miracle and I am reminded of that every time I see him.  God is so huge and powerful.  He is bigger than anything I cold ever imagine.  I am still amazed that even though I am so unworthy, He answered my prayers and sent a miracle.  I am saved by grace through faith.  Yet I don't have to believe in a God that I can't see.  He is with me all the time and I know that now.  I can no longer ever doubt that God is good and in control.  I know  what He can do and I want to be a part of it.  Life may be really hard, but God is really good.