As I strive to improve and rebuild my physical abilities, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed at times. There are so many areas where I see the need to gain ground, and I know that I can only focus on specific things at specific times. Everything will not happen all at once, nor will it move as fast as I would like—because nothing in my recovery ever has. That simply is not the way things work out. Real progress takes intentional thought, steady effort, and patience to make true gains, and I am more than willing to put in the hard work required.
To make those gains, I attend the gym regularly and engage
in one-on-one training designed to target my specific needs. Right now, I am
also about to begin incorporating a TENS electrical stimulation unit for my
right arm. There are so many physical goals I am eager to reach, such as
lifting weight in a steady, controlled way over my head. Currently, my right
wrist struggles to maintain the correct form, and my elbow has a tendency to
kick out during the movement. Identifying these exact physical habits gives me
a clear starting point for where to focus my energy.
Bringing the Work Home
Progress cannot rely solely on the time I spend at the gym.
I cannot slip by just working on things when I am at a scheduled session. To
support this ongoing effort, I keep a small basket filled with my at-home
weights and recovery tools so I can practice those daily functional skills
right in my own living space.
This mindset of intentional movement carries over into
everything I do throughout the day. When I walk, I am continually thinking
about form—mindfully focusing on the correct way to move so that my body learns
to allow proper movement to happen naturally.
Synergy in the Team: Reconnecting Broken Pathways
One of the most moving parts of this journey is seeing how
people who help me in various capacities all end up on the exact same page
together. Whether it is a trainer, a therapist, or a healthcare provider, having
a unified team that shares the same ultimate goal is profoundly encouraging.
Together, we are all working toward the same objective: to
reconnect the lines of communication in my body that have been broken down or
have remained unused pathways for so long.
At times, it feels like an overwhelming amount of
information to process all at once—remembering to breathe deeply, aligning
this muscle, avoiding that habit, and holding form. Yet, even when it feels
like a lot to hold in my mind, I want to do it all. Every single detail
matters, and I know that this layered, intentional discipline will yield
lasting results.
"Forget Not All His Benefits"
When the path ahead feels long or the daily discipline feels
heavy, it is vital to pause and remember. This past week, my pastor preached a
powerful sermon on Psalm 103, focusing on the instruction to
"forget not all his benefits."
Psalm 103:2-4 "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and
forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth
all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee
with lovingkindness and tender mercies;"
Now, those benefits are not the reason why I love God
or serve Him. My love for Him comes from who He is. But oh, how amazing His
benefits truly are!
When I reflect on His benefits, gratitude immediately
replaces overwhelm. First and foremost, it is a miracle that I am even alive
today. When I was ejected, flying through the air and landing hard enough to
lose a contact lens from the impact, it is nothing short of God redeeming my
life from destruction that I broke only one bone—my back—rather than sustaining
multiple catastrophic fractures.
Even as I acknowledge my current physical limitations and
the effort needed to rebuild strength in my right arm compared to my left, I
look back on my time in Georgia in 2009 and early 2010. I remember those early
days when only my left arm would respond, leaving me to navigate simple,
everyday tasks with just one functional side. I recall trying to put on a
jacket, line up the zipper, or push a single button through a eyelet—a task
that could take up to two painstaking hours for just one button.
Remembering all of that intensive occupational therapy and
where I started reminds me that unused pathways can be awakened, lines
of communication can be restored, and the God who sustained me through
those two-hour buttons is actively sustaining me today.
Rivers in the Desert: Provision in the Wilderness
There is a passage in Isaiah that brings such profound
comfort whenever I consider the long road of recovery:
Isaiah 43:18-19 "Remember ye not the former
things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now
it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the
wilderness, and rivers in the desert."
Whenever I ponder God making a way in the wilderness and
rivers in the desert, my mind goes straight to the Israelites as they wandered
through the wilderness for forty years. Think about that kind of daily,
sustaining care: He provided manna from heaven every single morning without
fail. That kind of miraculous, steady provision is a true river in the
desert.
Even more amazing is what Moses reminded the people in
Deuteronomy—that during those forty long years in the desert, their clothes
did not wear out, nor did their feet swell, nor did their shoes wear out. I
dare say there has never been a pair of daily-wear shoes in modern history that
lasted forty years without wearing down to nothing! Yet God made what they had
sufficient for every single step of the journey.
In recovery, it often feels like a wilderness where progress
is slow and demanding. But just as He sustained their bodies, clothes, and
shoes day by day in the desert, He makes my strength and resources sufficient
for each day's work.
Setting Up Ebenezer Markers: Names and Memorials Matter
To stay grounded in this truth, setting up spiritual
"Ebenezer" markers is essential. In the First Book of Samuel, after
the Lord delivered Israel, Samuel did something intentional:
1 Samuel 7:12 "Then Samuel took a stone, and
set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying,
Hitherto hath the LORD helped us."
The word Ebenezer means "stone of help."
Memorials, markers, and names matter deeply to me. They give tangible form to
intangible victories.
Surviving that accident with only one broken bone is an
Ebenezer in my life. The memory of overcoming those two-hour struggles with a
single button in 2009 is an Ebenezer. Even my small basket of at-home weights
sitting in my living room serves as a daily memorial—a physical sign that says,
"Hitherto hath the LORD helped us."
Every time I look at those markers, I am reminded that the
same God who brought me through the wilderness of 2009 is making a way for me
today. He is reconnecting the broken pathways, providing daily strength like
manna in the desert, and guiding every single step forward.
Throughout Scripture, we see moment after moment where God’s
people built tangible altars to mark places of remembrance. When Noah stepped
off the ark onto fresh ground, his first response was to build an altar of
worship. When Jacob encountered the divine presence in a dream, he set up a
pillar and named the place Bethel—the house of God.
These were not just physical piles of stones; they were
dynamic markers in the landscape. They served as visible, enduring reminders
meant to direct future generations back to the precise spot where God moved,
healed, or delivered. They declared: God met me here.
These sacred locations remind us that praise is never out of
season; worship is always in order.
That truth hits with profound weight when I reflect on the
lyrics of the song I Have Been Blessed, particularly the line that
speaks of having legs to walk, hands to raise, and a voice to speak.
“Arms that will raise, a voice that can talk
Hands that can touch, legs that can walk
Ears that can listen, eyes that can see
I've got to praise Him as long as I breathe
I have been blessed”
When you have walked through a season where those basic
functions were stripped away—when there was a time you simply could not—those
words cease to be just lyrics. They become a personal altar. The sheer
gratitude and emotion that well up during that verse stem from knowing the
magnitude of the miracle performed in my life. Standing on the other side of
that struggle, I never want to miss an opportunity to build my own altar of
praise, ensuring I never fail to give Him the worship He is due.
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