Anything is possible! Make serving others a priority and a portion of your life.
Myself and 3 other guys were a Life Group/Accountability group. All of us in or around our fifties. We had been meeting for 5 or 6 years. The other three men had some experience riding motorcycles and suggested that we take a slow ride west for an overnight stay. I took a motorcycle safety course and obtained my motorcycle license in preparation for our trip. We rented motorcycles for the morning of December 8, 2012. Ninety minutes into the ride I was unable to negotiate a curve at 65 mph and was ejected from the bike. Within the hour I was on a life flight helicopter on the way to the hospital. I had experienced a spinal chord injury at the C-5/C-6 vertebrate and was paralyzed from the middle of my chest down.
God carried me through
This was the moment that I experienced a crisis of faith. How much did I believe there was a God and how much did I believe in God? My faith and experience grew as I went through 14 weeks of inpatient rehab. There was a lot of motion and ability that I did not have YET. God carried me through some very tough adjustments as you can imagine.
Amazing experiences and blessings
I was certified with Christopher Reeves Foundation to mentor SCI patients and began speaking with newly injured people, supporting their new normal. Amazing experience and blessing. I was able to participate in shooting a commercial and becoming a part of the hospitals marketing campaign. Amazing experience and blessing to share my appreciation for the staff at Baylor Rehab in Dallas, TX. My wife and I were supported by a non profit organization - Neuro Assistance Foundation - geared toward helping SCI and SC disease patients to get home and establish their new normal. My wife and I became board members and I chair an Annual Golf Tournament that supports the foundation. While all this was going on I was trained and certified to drive in my chair. The independence was so freeing. The three men and I that are in the accountability group endeavored to write material for a book manuscript call Guysdoinglife. We have had 25 guys go through this devotional that causes men to reflect on the priorities in their lives. It encourages men to allow other men into their lives and to establish other men as accountability partners for life. I have also been connected to a half-way ranch in the Texas Juvenile Justice Department and was recently voted as President of their Community Advisory Council. The Ranch as up to 50 young men that are in need of mentoring to focus on life skills and decisions.
We are not defined by our disability
I list all of this to suggest that we are not defined by our disability. There are groups out there in everyone's community that need support and we can contribute. When we turn the tables and serve others we are blessed. I encourage others to serve others in some shape or form. Make serving a part of your new normal.
