God at Work "HE WAITS UNTIL WE’RE READY" By Brad Karja

My early childhood was a typical one. I went to church with my family, the same church where I was confirmed. My problems started at age 12. I worked with an older friend at Raceway Park in Minneapolis doing odd cleaning jobs. This friend got a bottle of whiskey from work and I stole it from him. I got drunk and passed out. I continued to work at the Park stealing liquor and getting hammered. I drank frequently and started using marijuana. But I finished Junior High anyway.

 When I was 16 and a sophomore in high school I bought a 1968 Impala. Without informing our parents, a 15- year-old friend and I left for Florida using an old map from my dad's car. We were stopped by police as suspects in a bank robbery. My father was contacted and he flew down and drove us home. By age 17 I was a functional drunk and marijuana addict, but I was still able to hold down a job. Soon I started using cocaine, acid, and angel dust. By 11th grade my parents could no longer control me or my actions. I left for California thinking I could get away from drugs but ended up spending a year dealing drugs to get money.

Once on a trip through Texas I ran out of money and gas and called my dad for assistance. He told me to “Work your way home, son”. Then in 1980, at age 21, I took my Harley and set off for Sturgis. I had a saddle bag full of beer to share with other bikers. I don't know what happened, but I woke up battered and bruised, finding out later that I had crashed. But some how I was alive. To this day I am convinced that the Lord sent angels to protect me. One day I looked in the mirror and saw myself bleeding from the nose. This was the result of frequent cocaine use. That was when I asked God to help me quit.

I continued on this path until I was 28 years old. With the help of the Lord I had short periods of sobriety. When I finally started to listen to the Lord, I went to 90 AA meetings in 90 days. A longtime friend led me to KTIS radio station and I began to listen to Christian radio. I also got involved in my church, Lutheran Church of the Master. I started attending a men's Bible study with the pastor and other men from the church. This is where I truly started to make significant changes in my life. I made a commitment to Jesus with the men in my Bible study.

I met my wife Shelley at an AA meeting. We supported each other, got involved in church, and attended a weekly Bible study. We were continually seeking the Lord's assistance. We both rededicated our lives to Jesus Christ at a Billy Graham crusade in the 1990s. I found that going to AA meetings was essential to sobriety but was troubled by the amount of swearing, smoking, and women-bashing at these meetings. Shelley and I found a Celebrate Recovery group. Our experience was so supportive and faith building that we wanted to start a Celebrate Recovery group at AEFC. We got the training needed and then started a group here at the church.

I met my wife Shelley at an AA meeting. We supported each other, got involved in church, and attended a weekly Bible study. We were continually seeking the Lord's assistance. We both rededicated our lives to Jesus Christ at a Billy Graham crusade in the 1990s. I found that going to AA meetings was essential to sobriety but was troubled by the amount of swearing, smoking, and women-bashing at these meetings. Shelley and I found a Celebrate Recovery group.

 Our experience was so supportive and faith building that we wanted to start a Celebrate Recovery group at AEFC. We got the training needed and then started a group here at the church.

Celebrate Recovery is based on a number of key beliefs. The first three are:

1) Admitting we are powerless over addiction, that our lives are out of control. Romans 7:18 says “For I have the desire to do what is good, but cannot carry it out.”

2) We must come to believe that a greater power than our self is essential to sanity. Philippians 2:11 says "For it is God who works in you to will and act according to his good purposes."

3) We must make a decision to turn our lives and will over to the care of God. Romans 12:1 says, “Therefore. I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

Twelve years ago I fell off the wagon. I was on a special construction project in Arizona which took me away from Shelley and my support group. When I got home I told her what happened. She said, “I will not allow the devil to have you again.” With the help of my wife Shelley, the CR group, and most importantly the Lord, I have stayed sober.

Today Shelley and I have a successful business, reconciled with our families and God, and have a very supportive family at AEFC and Celebrate Recovery. My story is proof of God's love. No matter how long we stray or how far we fall, when we believe and place our trust in our Lord and Savior, he will rescue us.