“Strides of Faith” seems to best reflect my life’s journey both past, present, and most importantly future. It symbolizes not only my desire for spiritual growth, but, also, my zeal for gaining physical strength. Sometimes these strides are large paces, other times baby steps, and occasionally they are backward slides. No matter what size the step, my goal is to continuously move forward.
Muscular Dystrophy has challenged me physically, but I’ve never considered myself disabled, nor have others around me. My strong faith in God, and the love of family and friends provided support to live a “normal” life. Even though I have lived the majority of life in a wheelchair, my health has never been physically compromised until I was 43. Pinching a nerve in my back landed me flat in bed, in constant pain. Waves of on and off misery usually occurred in 3 month interv,als, spanning a two year period. Limited movement led me to unwittingly lose weight and in turn muscle, going down to 95 pounds.
Luckily, even though my body was failing, my faith was still holding on. In my heart, I knew that God’s plan was much greater than the strength of my body. I read somewhere that it takes a traumatic event for a person to seek a higher path. For the first time, I was at a desperate point, my path unclear. I had to let God take total, not partial, control of my life. I had to learn to surrender my will and let God’s will be done.
The decision has blessed me. Living a more wholehearted life has opened me up to recognize and receive many miracles, both big and small. God’s grace has guided me to people and experiences that I would have never encountered on my own, (such as Dr. Cristina Robinson-Hartley, Kelley Shoquist, and the Elect Wellness team – Tom and Jamie Jensen, Bob Thorsell, and Kelsey Hampton ) while rediscovering and strengthening established relationships amongst dear friends and family. Over the past 4 years, my physical and spiritual strength has grown exponentially. This long journey continues daily. In writing this blog, it is my hope to inspire others through my physical strides, spiritual strides, and all adventures in between. And, when things don’t go as planned, I try to simply take it in “strides of faith!”
I must thank Tom and Jamie Jensen, owners of Elect Wellness, for sponsoring and creating this website. Without them, this blog would not be possible. I am extremely grateful and blessed that they are in my life!