A testimony from my friend, Melissa. May it be an encouragement and inspiration to you as well..
I developed Hemiplegia Cerebral Palsy before birth. The doctors did not detect cerebral palsy until fourteen months after birth. Hemiplegia means that I have choreoathetosis, or uncontrollable movements. The words "cerebral palsy" by themselves mean brain damage. Cerebral palsy affects your fine motor skills. Most people with cerebral palsy are unable to walk, talk, write, or do any of the other things that a normal person can do.
Since my disability was undetected until I was fourteen months old, it was at that time that my parents were told that I would never be able to walk. However, created in the image of my Heavenly Father, He has a plan for me. Since He has a plan for me, I was only unable to walk for the first six years of my life.
When I was seven, God performed the greatest miracle of my life. My family and I were at one of my brother's soccer games. It was not quite time for the game to start, so my brother carried me over and sat me down next to the field. He then went over to the playground and started playing with my sisters. I was fine by myself for a few minutes, but then a desire started to grow deep inside me to be with my brother and sisters. As a result of that desire that started to grow deep inside me, I got up from where I was sitting, took two steps, and fell down. I did not give up. I got back up and started all over again. With every two steps that I would take, I would fall down. I still did not give up. Taking it two steps at a time, I eventually made it to my brother and sisters.
I moved from Charleston, South Carolina to Greenville, South Carolina my seventh grade year, and at the time, I had a dislocated kneecap. As a result of my dislocated kneecap, I could not walk at all and needed surgery. After I had the surgery and had recovered enough to start walking again, I was praising God and thanking Him for my ability to walk again.
One of my favorite verses, Jeremiah 32:26-27, says this: Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: "I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?" This is one of my favorite verses because it reminds me that there is nothing in this world that is too difficult for our Heavenly Father to handle. There is nothing too hard for Him.
Since we all fall short of the glory of God, we need to try to remember that He gave us forgiveness through the Ultimate Sacrifice, His one and only Son, Jesus Christ. Romans 3:21-24 states: "But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."
Our Heavenly Father forgives and still performs miracles today. His love for us conquers anything that the devil tries to throw into our paths. When we rely on God's strength, nothing will be impossible for us to accomplish when we believe in ourselves.
The Bible says in Deuteronomy 4:37-38 that "Because He loved your forefathers and chose their descendants after them, He brought you out of Egypt by His presence and His great strength, to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today."
When you have your mind set to doing something, believe in yourself and you will find that nothing is as hard as it seems. Learning how to walk all over again after I had my knee surgery took a lot of hard work, but it has paid off. I have noticed that when I have a surgery and have to sit in my wheelchair, it drives me up a wall. Life is full of overcoming obstacles and hard work. If we are never trying to overcome obstacles and work hard, we will never get anywhere. Allowing certain things to happen in our lives is God's way of showing us how much we really need Him. So I give God all glory for the events that have happened in my life. I pray that you will find Him in your circumstances too.
Since my disability was undetected until I was fourteen months old, it was at that time that my parents were told that I would never be able to walk. However, created in the image of my Heavenly Father, He has a plan for me. Since He has a plan for me, I was only unable to walk for the first six years of my life.
When I was seven, God performed the greatest miracle of my life. My family and I were at one of my brother's soccer games. It was not quite time for the game to start, so my brother carried me over and sat me down next to the field. He then went over to the playground and started playing with my sisters. I was fine by myself for a few minutes, but then a desire started to grow deep inside me to be with my brother and sisters. As a result of that desire that started to grow deep inside me, I got up from where I was sitting, took two steps, and fell down. I did not give up. I got back up and started all over again. With every two steps that I would take, I would fall down. I still did not give up. Taking it two steps at a time, I eventually made it to my brother and sisters.
I moved from Charleston, South Carolina to Greenville, South Carolina my seventh grade year, and at the time, I had a dislocated kneecap. As a result of my dislocated kneecap, I could not walk at all and needed surgery. After I had the surgery and had recovered enough to start walking again, I was praising God and thanking Him for my ability to walk again.
One of my favorite verses, Jeremiah 32:26-27, says this: Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: "I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?" This is one of my favorite verses because it reminds me that there is nothing in this world that is too difficult for our Heavenly Father to handle. There is nothing too hard for Him.
Since we all fall short of the glory of God, we need to try to remember that He gave us forgiveness through the Ultimate Sacrifice, His one and only Son, Jesus Christ. Romans 3:21-24 states: "But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."
Our Heavenly Father forgives and still performs miracles today. His love for us conquers anything that the devil tries to throw into our paths. When we rely on God's strength, nothing will be impossible for us to accomplish when we believe in ourselves.
The Bible says in Deuteronomy 4:37-38 that "Because He loved your forefathers and chose their descendants after them, He brought you out of Egypt by His presence and His great strength, to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today."
When you have your mind set to doing something, believe in yourself and you will find that nothing is as hard as it seems. Learning how to walk all over again after I had my knee surgery took a lot of hard work, but it has paid off. I have noticed that when I have a surgery and have to sit in my wheelchair, it drives me up a wall. Life is full of overcoming obstacles and hard work. If we are never trying to overcome obstacles and work hard, we will never get anywhere. Allowing certain things to happen in our lives is God's way of showing us how much we really need Him. So I give God all glory for the events that have happened in my life. I pray that you will find Him in your circumstances too.
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