When my father first saw my broken body, he knew there was only one person he needed to turn to. There was only one person who could answer his prayers. Looking up, surrendering his entire life, he asked God to save his son. He said he would accept whatever He decided, but it was up to Him. My Dad, at that moment, felt a calmness travel across his body, and he knew I would be OK.
Jesus Christ didn't come to free me from the pain; He came to help me bear my difficulties. He came to show me the way!
After spending 19 days in the Intensive Care Unit at St. Luke's Hospital in Duluth, MN, I was transferred to Minneapolis. I arrived by ambulance at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, becoming a patient at the Sister Kenny Institute.
As my family was bombarded with uncertainty, what they didn't need was for someone to tell them there wasn't much hope. But that is what my first social worker did. It wasn't the attitude or the compassion they needed, so they fired that person and requested someone with more heart. So Liz is who we got.
It wasn't long before progress began to unfold and my journey came to life. I was in a coma for about 2 months, three of those weeks in Duluth. When I arrived in Minneapolis, October 15, I was still in a semi-comatose state. It was a long process; I didn't just snap out of the coma like they do on television. It took time. It took work; it took a lot of heart.
I couldn't talk, walk, write, or anything else that comes so easy to many of us. The bulk of my rehabilitation took about a year and a half. My physical self arrived much sooner so I was able to work, but my mind was slow and to the general eye, somewhat weak.
I returned to college, which my psychologist didn't recommend, in the Spring of 2000 at Normandale Community College, taking two very easy classes. Then in the Fall, I started my journey at the University of St. Thomas. It was here I learned about my purpose and God's Will for my life, particularly why I had been hurt.
Learning about life and learning about communication and meeting people became the foundation behind what I viewed as success and why bad things happen to good people and the power of faith and how we can influence the world. Life is, and always will be about PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS (ie. LOVE).
I realized that He will never abandon us, especially when we need him the most. When I talk about He I am talking about Jesus Christ. It took me long enough to see that this happened to me for a reason. This happened to me so I could help others. This happened to me, not because I was a terrible person, not because I did anything wrong, but because, as Harold Kushner writes, "Our responding to life's unfairness with sympathy and with righteous indignation, God's compassion and God's anger working through us, may be the surest proof of all of God's reality" (Kushner, When Bad... 142-3).
It was Bill McD who taught me about purpose and that the most powerful force in this life is LOVE. If I can look back on my life and forgive those who have been against me, my life will be saved. I have been blessed with a powerful gift, and if I can share that gift and story with others, this entire experience will not have been for nothing. It's for the greater good.
Remember, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE IF YOU BELIEVE, and that attitude will always be everything! Plus, it is never about the destination, is has always been about the journey!
Believe, Nicholas
