On this day in history:
1633 Galileo was convicted of heresy
1861 The Civil War began
1945 President Roosevelt died
1981 The first space shuttle was launched

On this day in my history I had my first leg surgery. April 12th always sticks out to me. I've had other surgeries since, but this one was particularly altering in my life. I guess it marked the beginning of a journey, what looks like it will be a life long journey. Just a few months before the surgery, a neurologist told me that the nerves in my legs and arms were deteriorating. He said that they would continue to deteriorate throughout my life. Without the proper use of my nerves, my muscles would suffer greatly. My legs would never look right. I would have a hard time keeping my balance. I would fall a lot. Walking would always be a struggle. I would never be able to run or jump like other people. So far, the doctor's predictions have been very accurate. That surgery on April 12, 1995 was the first step in dealing with this disease. So I left the hospital in a wheelchair, legs dressed in hot pink casts, ready to face the world as a broken person. That's when it hit me: I would never be the same. I would have to deal with this forever. I would always have something wrong with me. So, how do you deal with the realization of permanent brokenness. I know I've have many ups and downs in my journey, but there is one thing that I am confident of: I may be broken, but God is not. He is so much greater than this disease. If I was perfect, I wouldn't need Him.

2 Corinthians 12
7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

I can delight in my brokenness because through my weakness God's power is made perfect. That's a God I can worship. That's a God I can have faith in. That's a God worth giving my life to.