Inspiration

Everyone who attended CYC this weekend saw a man speak by the name of Robert Reed. Robert is a huge inspiration to me, as I'm sure he is to everyone who has ever heard him speak. If you have never had the opportunity to hear Robert, I think you will be truly inspired by his story...

His hands are twisted and his feet are useless. He can’t bathe himself. He can’t
feed himself. He can’t brush his teeth, comb his hair, or put on his underwear. His shirts are held together by strips of Velcro®. His speech drags like a worn-out audio cassette. Robert has Cerebral Palsy.
The disease keeps him from driving a car, riding a bike, and going for a walk. But
it didn’t keep him from graduating from high school or attending Abilene Christian
University, from which he graduated with a degree in Latin. Having cerebral palsy didn’t
keep him from teaching at a St. Louis junior college or from venturing overseas on five
mission trips.
And Robert’s disease didn’t prevent him from becoming a missionary in Portugal.
He moved to Lisbon, alone, in 1972. There he rented a hotel room and began studying
Portuguese. He found a restaurant owner who would feed him after the rush hour and a
tutor who would instruct him in the language.
Then he stationed himself daily in a park, where he distributed brochures about
Christ. Within six years he led seventy people to the Lord, one of whom became his wife,
Rosa.
I heard Robert speak recently. I watched other men carry him in his wheelchair
onto the platform. I watched them lay a Bible in his lap. I watched his stiff fingers force
open the pages. And I watched people in the audience wipe away tears of admiration
from their faces. Robert could have asked for sympathy or pity, but he did just the
opposite. He held his bent hand up in the air and boasted, "I have everything I need for
joy."
His shirts are held together by Velcro®, but his life is held together by joy.(Peace That Defies Pain, Max Lucado)
-Colton Scott

2 Thessalonians 5:16-18 "Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."