Naturally, like most young people, we assume we have a good life ahead of us and don’t care about it. One proof of this is that they both love to ride motorcycles.
One day, while boy and girl were riding a motorcycle, they ran into a car. The accident was very serious. The girl was hurt but fully recovered. However, they injury was more severe. The back is broken.
Due to the accident the girl was paralyzed from the bottom of her arm down. Now she can move only in a wheelchair. Yes, her whole life, as well as the boy, suddenly changed.
Unanswerable Questions
Even before had the girl an accident, she had difficulty understanding such questions as: Why is there so much suffering? Why is there so much injustice in the world? she know that religious leaders generally teach that God rules this world and that what happens is according to his will. But it does seem to suggest that God is responsible for injustice and suffering. So, she assume that if there is a God and that all of that is true, then he is not going to get any worship. The disability even seems to reinforce that opinion.
And the more she think about the meaning of life and about injustice and suffering, the more she feel that maybe there is no God. She think the best thing for us is not to have any religion. So the girl became atheists.
A Change of Mindset
A few years later, she moved to Colorado, in the mountains. When she settled there, she discovered that the neighbor (he) moved in with them. Then they learned that he was one of Jehovah's Witnesses. She thought she had something to say to him something or more about religion, since she had spent a lot of time thinking, reading, and talking about that subject.
One day the neighbor visited. She thought: 'Now is the time. I'll just mention some of his beliefs to show him how wrong he is. ' But when he arrived, she discovered that he was not yet one of Jehovah's Witnesses. He was studying the Bible with them. So when she asked him a difficult question, he replied: 'Oh, I'm just beginning to study the Bible, and I don't know the answer yet. But why not come to us when I study, and ask the Witnesses yourself? '
And so she did. She soon told boy about the many things she was learning and how so many of difficult questions had been answered. A few months later she also studied.
It thrilled to learn about God's purpose to end this present system of things full of wickedness and suffering and replace it with a new system of things, including “a new earth,” such as of what the Bible calls it. ( 2 Peter 3:13 ) she learned the Bible's heartwarming promise: “The righteous one is thethemselves will inherit the earth, and they will reside forever upon it. ” - Psalm 37:29 .
It is also wonderful for her to know this promise about the near future: “And [God] will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. hirap pa man. The former things have passed away. ” - Revelation 21: 4 .
She soon understood what Jesus meant when he said: "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." ( John 8:32 ) For the first time in her life, she was freed from mental bondage to unanswered questions, doubts, wrong ideas, and from blaming God for wickedness and suffering. She was freed from not having real hope for the future.
The promise of a righteous New Order includes what the prophet Isaiah said about the disabled: “At that time the eyes of the blind ones will be opened, and the very ears of the deaf ones will be unstopped. At that time the lame one will climb up just as a stag does, and the tongue of the speechless one will cry out in gladness. ” - Isaiah 35: 5, 6 .
That’s fascinating to he! she look forward to the day she can ‘leap like a deer’!
What Can I Do?
When she went to her neighbor to attend a Bible study that her neighbor was conducting, it was a challenge for her to push herself there. But her neighbor helped. Also, she wanted to attend the meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses to learn more. Here, too, others in the congregation helped her greatly.
At first, they would pick her up and put me in their cars. She use her arm to sit in the car, and then the driver or someone else puts her wheelchair in the back of the car. When they arrived at the Kingdom Hall, they would help her get back into her wheelchair.
Then they bought a car with special hand controls for driving. When boy was working the night shift and he couldn’t come with her to the meeting, she would get in the car and put the chair behind her.
As she attended meetings and learned more about the Creator and his purposes, she wanted to share those good things with others. The Witnesses regularly visit their neighbors to help them learn more about the Bible, and she want to engage in that upbuilding work. But how could she do that, since she was confined to a wheelchair. Well, she was determined that it would not deter her. Boy felt the same way, so they both began to share in the ministry. Boy would accompany girl to other people's homes, pushing her in a wheelchair.
Desire to Do More
In 1967 Boy and Girl hey baptized together, and they desire to be more productive in helping others to learn what they had learned grew. Hundreds of thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses throughout the earth are engaging in the full-time ministry. They make that their main task. She want the same. But because of her disability, she thought it wasn’t for her.
One day a Witness who was in the full-time ministry accompanied her. She told: “Oh, I wish I could do this full-time job as well as you!” He replied: "Then why don't you do it?" She thought: 'Well, for obvious reasons!' But he was really positive about it!
Then, at a large assembly of Jehovah's Witnesses in Denver, a woman in a wheelchair gave an experience on the platform. Despite her disability, she is able to engage in the full-time preaching work. She thought: 'I can do it too, with God's help!' And she have done so for the past 14 years! For the past ten years boy has been with her in the full-time ministry.
What helped her a lot was the special vehicle she had. It was a medium -sized van or vehicle, but it had special controls designed by another disabled Witness. It has a lift that allows her to lift herself into the van. Then she move from her wheelchair to the driver’s seat. Of course, when she was with the others they were driving, and she would just sit in her wheelchair, and she could lift herself in and out of the van. The hoist is like a trapeze barswinging out of the van. She attach her chair to it with hooks and then press an “up” or “down” button. In this way she was able to go out and visit people regularly in their homes, and she was usually able to conduct many Bible studies.
Facing Challenges
In Colorado, and subsequently in Idaho where they moved, winters were a real challenge, with frigid days and weeks. They were finally invited to move to Alaska where they now live. Mention the cold, the ice, and the snow — most of the time! However, all of that can be overcome.
For one thing, they wore spare garments. Boy even bought her a traditional mukluks, which are very warm boots made of wool socks. And with a warm outer garment, she can withstand cold temperatures. In fact, during the first month they were in Alaska — that was December — the average temperature was 30 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (-34 ° C)! Nevertheless, they had a very productive month in the ministry.
She's not saying it’s all easy. Especially, on the ice the fit of her wheelchair is not good. She remember being on a beach talking to someone about the Bible, and her wheelchair started to slip. She kept falling to the shore! Suddenly she stopped at the bottom and fell upside down and the wheelchair fell on me! But she was helped to recover, and there was no harm done. In Anchorage, however, it is easier on city roads than in the mountains of Colorado and Idaho.
Enjoyable Years
She's often asked what motivates her to continue to visit others despite of her disability. For one thing, all these years of her efforts have been really enjoyable. The Boy and girl have met and helped many people to come to know the Creator and to know his will.
Also, it is gratifying to see so many people who are inspired to do more with their own lives when they see what she can do with this disability. That, of course, was more inspiring to her.
However, she can say that the main thing that helped her keep going was her love for God. Anything else other than that would be the wrong reason. Before she had any accurate knowledge of God, she was inclined to blame him for all the misery on earth. But after learning the truth about the Creator, she wanted to praise him. And as she do this, and help others do the same, she draw closer to God. So she was reluctant to give up my main purpose in life. It is a real privilege. Also, when she's busy helping others, she don’t have much time for self-pity!
Maintaining the Right Attitude
She know that it is very important for her to keep the right attitude to what she do and to hope for the future. So far, she's able to continue her work of helping different from her wheelchair. But she will admit that her condition seems to be deteriorating. That often happens to victims in wheelchairs.
However, if the time comes that she' less mobile, she will still do what she can. Some Witnesses who are unable to move help people by telephone or by letter. Sometimes Bible students came to their homes to study. Maybe someday she will do the same. But as much as she can, she face talking to people in their own homes. That’s what she really want to do.
No matter what happens in the near future, she know that in God's New Order she will get better physically. Then she can do more. In fact, she look forward to that wonderful time that the Bible speaks of when it says that “there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.” ( Acts 24:15 ) Imagine all the people who will return from the dead and be taught about God and his purposes! she really want to be a part of that, with her whole body.
No, don't feel sorry for her! she had a very productive and satisfying life. And she look forward to having a more productive and satisfying life in the near future when God begins to restore Paradise here on earth. ( Luke 23:43 ) - As told by Harriet Beckwith.
