Posted on January 25, 2015 at 12:25 AM For the past two days this memory keeps returning quite vividly to me. From experience I have discovered that when a memory keeps nagging at me, as this one does, I know it's time to take a break and listen to what the Lord is trying to remind me of at this time in my life. This memory comes from a time in elementary school before my foot was amputated. I had to wear this horrific brown shoe with a brace that would squeak when I walked. The shoe had a solid 3 inch lift on the bottom and due to the misshapen foot that it held inside, it was worn down on one side and it tilted to that side. There were bars that were attached to both sides of the lift and they came up over the shoe. These bars were also attached to a brace that wrapped around my calf and knee and were secured by velcro. Definitely not a fashion statement by any means of the word. It was one of the most ugly contraptions that I probably had ever worn, and I had worn many. Every step I took was incredibly painful and by the end of my school days I was physically exhausted from fighting the pain. My foot wasn't developed and one leg was much longer than the other. What should have been a foot was just a purple pile of skin wrapped around some misshapen bones. Despite many corrective surgeries, countless hospital stays and hours of physical therapy, the foot was useless. The foot never developed or grew and I struggled to walk daily and to keep up with my peers. On this particular day we were assigned to walk/run the track and as usual, I was trailing behind the others. An individual in front of me turned, looked me up and down and stated to another student walking next to them, "she will never make it". I can vividly recall this student's face, demeanor, eyes, lips, especially when the student looked down at my foot and lingered there. Then their words, "she will never make it". At first I felt the sting of their words and I am not sure which hurt worse, their words or the pain I felt as I took a step as they stared and spoke. But I do recall, somehow, someway, something took hold inside of me. It was as if something just "clicked'. And though I felt the pain physically and emotionally, at that moment, I determined to use it as a motivator and I made it around the track. I finished! (And I finished not too far behind the student who made the comment.) I remember shaking with pain but smiling because I knew my personal triumph and victory. I never said anything to anyone, until now. If anything comes from sharing this, let my memory be a testimony of encouragement for you. You see that student, unbeknownst to them, motivated me with their negative words toward me that day. I could have let their words hurt me and stop me in my tracks on the track. I could have let them define me. But I chose to define myself and chose not to be a victim of someone's opinions or words. I chose that day to push past pain, physical and emotional, and I received victory. A victory that they are absolutely unaware of which makes it even sweeter. It’s was just something glorious between me and the Lord. Today, I am even more thankful for the memory from the track that day. I am glad God has brought it to my attention. It reminds me that if I could push past the pain then, I can push past the pain now. If I could over come others opinions then, I can overcome others opinions now. If I could not let others define me then, I can overcome others defining me now. If I kept walking then, I can keep walking now! If I could smile while shaking then, I can smile while shaking now! If God strengthened me in my weakness then, He will strengthen me in my weakness now! So, a little encouragement for anyone reading this today: God is no respecter of persons, He shows no partiality! So if He can strengthen a little girl to walk on a track, He can strengthen you in your circumstance, wherever you are at today! (Check out Job 34:19) From me to you - If anyone has flippantly or purposefully said in your direction " you will never make it". Let me remind you, "you can make it". Keep going! Take those negative comments and use it as a springboard to move you on until you "finish the race" and hear "well done". If I would’ve listened that day on the track, what would I have believed about myself? I would have believed then (and many times since) that I was disabled, handicapped, crippled. I would have quit. But I chose to not see myself that way. We all have limitations, it's true. But in Christ, He has a plan for our lives, and in His strength, not that of our own, there are no limits! (Check out Phil. 4: 13) So, see yourself beyond physical limitations. See yourself beyond emotional limitations. See yourself beyond the limitations of this world. See yourself the way God sees you. See yourself by the way of your soul. How you see yourself is how "you will make it"! Keep walking, keep running, keep moving forward! Don't sit down, don't quit! Sometimes the pain in life is there to simply remind you that you're alive. One day things won't hurt anymore. One day someone's words will be a memory of your triumph -not your failure. Others may not understand the triumph of the task that you've accomplished, and that's ok, it's between you and the Lord. You will know in your soul that you finished and you did well. You may not finish first but you and God can glory in the truth that you finished. You will be able to say one day, "I made it!" And I want to say, "I made it with you!" -Sheila "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." (Psalm 139:14) “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.” (Genesis 50:20)
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