My Necklace (A stolen idea.)

So the other night, I was asked about my necklace. So here's the story of St. Christopher:

His life is shrouded in mystery, but the most common story goes that a man named Reprobus converted to Christianity, and asked a monk the best way for him to serve God. The monk, seeing Reprobus' great size and strength, told him to go to a raging river near by and help people get across by carrying them on his shoulders. So he goes and starts to carry people across, and then one day he goes to carry a small boy across the river, but realizes that the boy is far heavier than any other person he had carried across. So he carries him across and the boy then tells him that he is Jesus, and the reason why he is so heavy is because of the weight of all the sins that were laid upon Him. So Jesus then baptizes Reprobus in the river, and renames him Christopher, meaning "Christ carrier" in Greek (Christos= "Christ", pherein= "to bear.") Some time later it is believed that a ruler soon imprisoned Christopher and later suffered a martyrs' death by being beheaded. Today he is the Patron Saint of travelers.

So why do I wear the necklace? One of my favorite preachers is Matt Chandler, and he once told a story about how he wears a St. Chris necklace to remind him of the choices he makes everyday that effects his children and others around him. He says that he's in the middle of the river, with his kid on his back, and the choices he makes can either get them across the river or be swept downstream. The weight can be heavy, but he can overcome. So that story, that idea really hit me hard, and so I thought, "if I really care about what God wants for my life, if I really care about my future kids, then I will take steps in the right direction. So I wear the necklace to remind me of my everyday decisions that affect not only today, but tomorrow, and not only me, but many around me and that may one day be around me.

I know it's kind of gay that I would steal someone else's idea, but it fits to good to where I'm at right now. Plus because of my accident, that's kinda cool that I got his necklace. Anyways, I don't pray to St. Christopher or anything, it just helps to remind me.

By the way, if your interested, you can hear Chandler's sermon online by clicking here. It's one of the best sermons I have ever heard! No lie.