My Visit to Philly
Most of you who would be reading this know that I was in Philly last night visiting my friend Josh. It was an amazing visit - not at all what I expected it would be - and I felt the need to put it into words, to share with others and just to help me remember as well. So, for any of you who are interested, follow the link.
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Faith. I thought I knew what that word meant. I have faith and I’ve participated in many discussions on the subject over the years. I’ve come to realize that I never truly understood the meaning of the word until last night, when I witnessed first-hand how strong Josh’s faith is.
Yesterday my friend Sarah and I drove to Philly to see Josh for the first time since his accident. Sarah is from southern Virginia and had originally come up this weekend to attend a graduation party for 2 other friends of ours, Nick and his sister Sam, both are amazing people and really good friends of ours. Sam is also Josh’s girlfriend. Sarah decided there was no way she was going to leave the state of Pennsylvania without seeing Josh, and since we couldn’t go on Saturday we had to go yesterday. When we got to Philly we met up with another friend of Josh and Sarah’s, AK, who lives near Temple University. Then the three of us took the subway to the spinal clinic where Josh is staying for his rehab.
It was so good just to see Josh, to see him smile when he saw us coming, and hear his voice and just see and know that, although he’s in a wheelchair, he’s okay. I had heard that he was pretty optimistic and that proved to be true. He told us he had been praying God would give him a challenge, and here it was. Not what he was expecting, but a challenge nonetheless and he was going to overcome this one like he would have any other challenge. Josh also explained his injury more. He fractured his C6 vertebrae, which normally means little to no movement below his neck. He shouldn’t be able to use his hands, or move his arms as much as he can. However, for some reason, the signal malfunction doesn’t begin until the T6 vertebrae, so he as a lot more movement than he should.
We spent a lot of time talking about random things, how the food was, what he’s been doing, what his rehab is like, etc. Then, he looked at AK and Sarah and said, “Do you remember what I said at Staff Training last year?” (side note: By Staff Training he was referring to the 2 week training period in the beginning of June at the summer camp we have all worked at at one time or another. We haven’t all worked there at the same time, but this is how we met, and there’s a large group of us that have remained close over the years)
Sarah and AK just kind of looked at him, and since I wasn’t there last summer I had no idea what he was talking about, so he explained. When speaking with the group during a session they were having, Josh shared that he felt like God was telling him to walk. He said he had no idea what it meant at the time, he thought maybe it would mean mission work or something, all he knew was he felt that God was telling him that he had plans to make him walk. You can imagine how it felt to be sitting there hearing this. Here is my friend, who has backpacked in Kuai, who climbs and hikes and camps any chance he gets, sitting in a wheelchair with no ability to move anything below his chest, telling us that God told him a year ago he was going to walk. I had chills. Later, on the way home, Sarah told me she remembers the day Josh said that, everyone just looked at him like he was crazy.
Now, I’m not one to be preachy or anything. But I will say that this is possibly one of the most powerful experiences of my life. The visit on the whole was incredible, but this moment is one I’ll never forget. When the day comes that he can walk up to me and give me a hug, I will remember this moment. Josh's faith was inspiring, and he's just at the beginning of his journey. I can only imagine how inspirational his story will be when he can walk again. I saw "when" not "if" because Josh truly believes he will walk again, and I refuse to believe any different.
This was just one of the many reasons our visit with Josh was incredible. Here we are, three people going in to visit Josh and try to be encouraging to him, but it turned out he was the one encouraging us. He told us about several of the other patients he has meant, and asked us to make sure we pray for them also every time we pray for him. And the entire visit was just encouraging because every time he discussed the future it was a future without a wheelchair. He is determined to walk again. And I believe he’ll do it. If anyone can overcome this and walk again, it’s Josh. He also mentioned that he might consider becoming a nurse to work with patients with spinal cord injuries. One of his nurses has recovered from a similar injury, and Josh likes having someone around who has actually been through what he’s been through, and he thinks it would be cool to be that person for other people too.
Of course the whole night wasn’t serious discussion. We had a lot of fun talking. And Sarah and I got after Josh for trying to tell Sam he would understand if she didn’t want to continue their relationship. Sam, bless her heart, smacked him, called him an ass and told him she was not leaving him. I love that girl. But Josh, being the person he is, wouldn’t have been able to live with himself if he hadn’t at least given her the option. That’s when he told us he told Sam the minute he can run again they were going to elope, though he promised a large wedding afterward.
We stayed with Josh for about 2 hours. It was amazing. I know Josh has a long road ahead of him. It may take years for him to be able to walk again, and there will be many bad days along the way, but if he can maintain his current optimism I know he’ll do it.
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Faith. I thought I knew what that word meant. I have faith and I’ve participated in many discussions on the subject over the years. I’ve come to realize that I never truly understood the meaning of the word until last night, when I witnessed first-hand how strong Josh’s faith is.
Yesterday my friend Sarah and I drove to Philly to see Josh for the first time since his accident. Sarah is from southern Virginia and had originally come up this weekend to attend a graduation party for 2 other friends of ours, Nick and his sister Sam, both are amazing people and really good friends of ours. Sam is also Josh’s girlfriend. Sarah decided there was no way she was going to leave the state of Pennsylvania without seeing Josh, and since we couldn’t go on Saturday we had to go yesterday. When we got to Philly we met up with another friend of Josh and Sarah’s, AK, who lives near Temple University. Then the three of us took the subway to the spinal clinic where Josh is staying for his rehab.
It was so good just to see Josh, to see him smile when he saw us coming, and hear his voice and just see and know that, although he’s in a wheelchair, he’s okay. I had heard that he was pretty optimistic and that proved to be true. He told us he had been praying God would give him a challenge, and here it was. Not what he was expecting, but a challenge nonetheless and he was going to overcome this one like he would have any other challenge. Josh also explained his injury more. He fractured his C6 vertebrae, which normally means little to no movement below his neck. He shouldn’t be able to use his hands, or move his arms as much as he can. However, for some reason, the signal malfunction doesn’t begin until the T6 vertebrae, so he as a lot more movement than he should.
We spent a lot of time talking about random things, how the food was, what he’s been doing, what his rehab is like, etc. Then, he looked at AK and Sarah and said, “Do you remember what I said at Staff Training last year?” (side note: By Staff Training he was referring to the 2 week training period in the beginning of June at the summer camp we have all worked at at one time or another. We haven’t all worked there at the same time, but this is how we met, and there’s a large group of us that have remained close over the years)
Sarah and AK just kind of looked at him, and since I wasn’t there last summer I had no idea what he was talking about, so he explained. When speaking with the group during a session they were having, Josh shared that he felt like God was telling him to walk. He said he had no idea what it meant at the time, he thought maybe it would mean mission work or something, all he knew was he felt that God was telling him that he had plans to make him walk. You can imagine how it felt to be sitting there hearing this. Here is my friend, who has backpacked in Kuai, who climbs and hikes and camps any chance he gets, sitting in a wheelchair with no ability to move anything below his chest, telling us that God told him a year ago he was going to walk. I had chills. Later, on the way home, Sarah told me she remembers the day Josh said that, everyone just looked at him like he was crazy.
Now, I’m not one to be preachy or anything. But I will say that this is possibly one of the most powerful experiences of my life. The visit on the whole was incredible, but this moment is one I’ll never forget. When the day comes that he can walk up to me and give me a hug, I will remember this moment. Josh's faith was inspiring, and he's just at the beginning of his journey. I can only imagine how inspirational his story will be when he can walk again. I saw "when" not "if" because Josh truly believes he will walk again, and I refuse to believe any different.
This was just one of the many reasons our visit with Josh was incredible. Here we are, three people going in to visit Josh and try to be encouraging to him, but it turned out he was the one encouraging us. He told us about several of the other patients he has meant, and asked us to make sure we pray for them also every time we pray for him. And the entire visit was just encouraging because every time he discussed the future it was a future without a wheelchair. He is determined to walk again. And I believe he’ll do it. If anyone can overcome this and walk again, it’s Josh. He also mentioned that he might consider becoming a nurse to work with patients with spinal cord injuries. One of his nurses has recovered from a similar injury, and Josh likes having someone around who has actually been through what he’s been through, and he thinks it would be cool to be that person for other people too.
Of course the whole night wasn’t serious discussion. We had a lot of fun talking. And Sarah and I got after Josh for trying to tell Sam he would understand if she didn’t want to continue their relationship. Sam, bless her heart, smacked him, called him an ass and told him she was not leaving him. I love that girl. But Josh, being the person he is, wouldn’t have been able to live with himself if he hadn’t at least given her the option. That’s when he told us he told Sam the minute he can run again they were going to elope, though he promised a large wedding afterward.
We stayed with Josh for about 2 hours. It was amazing. I know Josh has a long road ahead of him. It may take years for him to be able to walk again, and there will be many bad days along the way, but if he can maintain his current optimism I know he’ll do it.