Hi! I’m Karen Musselman, owner of BeyondTshirts.net. Do you ever feel it’s difficult to express your faith out in public without offending someone?
Sometimes even family members and close friends get annoyed when you start talking about Jesus, especially if they’re still unbelievers.
I feel your frustration and sincerely empathize with how you may feel. It took me years to come around to the idea of openly sharing my faith. I found that it helped to have an ice breaker of sorts, like a t-shirt or tote bag or something to silently but visibly say I’m a Christian.
Most Christians are definitely happier people than unbelievers. We love having fun and we love jokes, which is why many of the designs in our shop are light-hearted and funny.
So how did I get here?
My Testimony: Getting Back to the Lord
I was Saved by Grace decades ago, but it took me a long time to really understand what it all meant. It wasn’t until my little brother was killed in a motorcycle accident in January 2017 that I felt the need to get back to church.
I started seeing a grief counselor but after one church service in November 2017, I felt the peace and comfort of the Lord and His Holy Spirit fall around me. I canceled my remaining appointments the next day.
Our worship team sang a song during one of our next visits with lyrics right from the Book of Numbers. I made a wall hanging for my living room because it speaks to how I felt getting back to church and dealing with the loss of my little brother.
“The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.”
Numbers 6:25-26
Yes, I still struggle with the emptiness that the loss of my brother left behind, but praying and talking with my new friends in Christ gets me through the downtimes.
Marrying Faith to Business
Like a lot of Christians today, and especially in today’s social climate, we can find it difficult to express our faith without offending someone, somewhere. And that’s where Christian t-shirts and other printed products come in real handy!
Our church is also rather non-traditional. Even our pastor wears jeans and t-shirts to deliver the sermons with humor and zeal. Laughter is something that’s important and we all love to laugh!
A lot of people at our church, regardless of age, wear t-shirts to church, too. I also noticed a growing trend in t-shirts and other products being faith-based, but not all of them were of a Christian and/or a conservative theme.
Using Your Talents to Serve Christ
The whole idea of a Christ-centered business designing t-shirts came to me a few years ago. I consulted with Christian business coach, Rev. Ron Gelok first, who agreed with me and even prayed over the business with me before I launched it.
I just had a feeling that this is where God was leading me based on my talents with computers and designing.
I get inspiration from other designs that I’ll recreate – not copy! – and many are original designs inspired by things I hear during church sermons. Our pastor has some good sayings!
Some designs are inspired by song lyrics and many of them come right from God’s Word. I prefer the New King James translation of the Bible and I find inspiration there.
I hope – and pray – that this little bit about me and my testimony inspires you, too, that you can share your faith and your testimony through printed products, whether you like wearing t-shirts or not!
Karen Musselman
