Teen who is really down

First thing, I would call that occupational therapist’s boss and tell her that employee is in the wrong business! Imagine, telling a client something like that!

Also, I have a friend from church who had polio as a child, and her left arm is so limp she can only use it to brace something like a stack of papers held in the other hand. She had two babies (never dropped either of them on their heads as far as I know) and raised them to adulthood. She has been able to drive with a somewhat modified car, so she apparently doesn’t have the depth-perception issues your daughter has. (Oh, and my friend’s name is Linda.)

However….my sister lost the sight in her left eye in an auto accident when she was 18 (she’s 50-something now), and she has been driving ever since even with limited depth-perception. I was driving us both somewhere several years ago and was having a lot of trouble trying to parallel park on this hilly street. After a couple of attempts, she barked at me, “Get out of the car!” and slid over into the driver’s seat, parking the car properly on the first try. She says she has learned a few tricks to compensate for the depth-perception issues. (Don’t know what those are, but she’s a good driver.)

Please tell your daughter not to give up just because the first comments have been, “You can’t do that” or “You’ll never be able to do that.” Those people are not God and do not have His say-so in the matter. Instead, she should immerse herself in God’s word to find what He says about faith and her future. Jeremiah 29:11-13 is a good place to start. The books that others have recommended to you are great, especially Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts.

Praying for your daughter,

Sue

Linda, Thinking of you and both of your daughters. May God give you all strength and discernment at this time! Hugs!

Praying for your sweet girl. “Lord, you know the plans you have for this sweet girl, plans not to harm her, but to give her a hope and a future.”

We JUST saw a movie that impressed us SO much last night.  We were really gratified to find it had a good Christian message in addition to an inspiring personal story.  It is called Soul Surfer and is the story of a competitive surfer whose arm was bitten off by a shark.  It followed her through the difficulties afterwards, showed her determination and hard work in learning to surf again with one arm, and also showed her as she volunteered in Thailand in the wake of the tsunami.  We all loved this movie!  The only cautions I could see in it are 1) Lots of girls in bikinis-we often eschew movies like this but decided the message here was good enough, and 2) the scenes during and right after the shark attack are intense.  Not terrible, but intense–there is blood shown.  It would disturb young and sensitive kids.  But it’s a good one for teens!!!