natalie’s blog

Our church has an Upward Sports League and both Naomi and Joey play on a basketball team. During the halftime of each game, volunteers from the church share a devotional. Naomi volunteered to share the halftime devotional for several of the games last Saturday. I asked her the week before what her topic was and she said she was still praying about it to see what the Lord wanted her to say. During the early part of last week, she asked me to read the paper she had written on her proposed topic, Be A Light in the World, based on Matthew 5:16. It needed some tweaking, but overall was pretty good. A couple of days later I asked her how the speech was coming and she said that she felt the Lord impressed on her that she should change her topic. She had begun working on a devotional titled, What It’s Like to Have C.P. I was very impressed at her sensitivity to the Lord’s leading and even more impressed at the quality and depth of what she had to say.

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the games, but Mom recorded it so that I could watch it later. Naomi gave me permission to post the video here, along with a transcript below. May you be blessed by the faith of one of my amazing little sisters, who has taken to heart the words of Paul, “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” (1 Timothy 4:12) She truly is an example to me!

YouTube - Link to Naomi’s Halftime Devotional

 

What It’s Like to Have C.P.
by Naomi - February, 2007

Hi! My name is Naomi. I have played Upward for 5 years; sadly, this is my last year, but as the Lord allows, I hope to stay involved in Upward.

I know some of you have wondered, and have even asked me why I have this brace on my left leg; well, here’s why! In June 1994, the Lord brought me into this world – about 4 weeks early – with a birth defect called Cerebral Palsy (CP). In my case it’s a disconnect between my brain and the left side of my body, which causes my left side to be weaker than my right. My Mom and doctor figured this out soon after I was born.

There have been some discouragements, but my parents have put Deuteronomy 6:7 into practice following the Lord’s command to teach me every day and along with lots of other great things they’ve taught me, they’ve helped me learn how to strengthen my left side. Their example of obedience has influenced my life and showed me to thank the Lord for what he has blessed me with rather than feeling sorry for myself because of my CP. My parents have taught me to work hard at everything I do, and that has helped me learn to do some physical things that are harder for me because of my CP. So I try to work hard every day to strengthen my left side.

My Mom has told me, “You can do whatever others do if you just put your mind to it,” and I have treasured that in my heart. Yes, I have gotten discouraged, and even angry at times, because it’s so hard for me to do some things, but the Lord has taught me that He has His own good reasons for allowing me to have this disability.

I do think about, though, what it would be like not to have CP … For one thing, if I was able-bodied, I wouldn’t be able to encourage people the way the Lord allows me to. The Lord does have purposes for why He does things, and they’re perfect. So, I have no regrets that I’m disabled, because the Lord has used me to shine His light in ways I couldn’t if I did not have CP.

Each of us has strengths and weaknesses. The Lord gives these to us to glorify Himself, so let’s learn to appreciate them and work with all our hearts to use these gifts. (Colossians 3:23) You may think, how can I do that, work at things with all my heart? Remember these verses, and they will help answer your question: (Philippians 4:13, Isaiah 41:10). These verses have helped me in hard situations, and they continue to give me strength when I need it.

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