Imagine waking up one day without your hands and legs. Doing things without it like being not able to use your phone or to provide and do your basic needs and especially not to get to touch or hug your loved ones. As we enter this world, our parents already pictured us as to what we are gonna be in the future. They taught us how to talk, to close and open our hands and of course to walk. But what if you were born without your hands and your feet? Meet Nick Vujicic, born in 1982 without arms and legs and was from Melbourne, Australia. The early days were difficult for him, he did just not struggle with thy typical challenges in school but he also struggled with depression and at the age of 10 he attempted to commit suicide by drowning himself to the bathtub and the only thing that stopped him is the thought of his parents. He did not want to see his parents having the guilt that they couldn’t have done more. Nick had been constantly wondering why is he born like that and why is he different than all the other kids, he even questioned the purpose of his life, or if he even had a purpose.
But at some point, Nick realized that he’s not the only one that is struggling in the world. Everyone is fighting their own battles in life that you just to be brave enough to deal and overcome it. At the age of 15, he then experienced a turning point in his life when he surrendered his life to Jesus. He said “I said to God that if He had a plan for that blind man (referring to the Gospel story where Jesus healed a man born blind) I certainly believed that He had one for me.
I totally let go of the ‘needing to know the plan’ and began to trust Him one at a time”. Nick then gradually learned how to live his life without limits, he does now things that a physically complete human is doing. He figured out how to write using the two toes on his left foot, how to get a glass of water up to combing his hair. He said that the victory over his struggles and as to where his strength and passion came from can be credited to his faith in God.
And also his family, friends and the people that he met along his journey have inspired him to carry on with this life. He’s now known as a speaker, a writer, and author and evangelist-often speaking from the perspective of his Christian faith. His first speaking engagement is at the age of 19 and up to now he has traveled around the world to share his story, to inspire and touch the hearts of the millions of people listening to him. He had accomplished a lot of things than most people achieve in a lifetime and he also has a wife named Kinae Miyahara and is blessed with four children. From Australia, Nick made a long journey from southern California in 2007. He founded “Life Without Limbs” a non-profit ministry in 2005, and the “Attitude is Altitude”, a community of motivational speakers, in 2007. Up until now he’s still traveling around the world, inspiring people with his story, in stadiums filled to capacity, speaking to range of diverse groups such as students, teachers, businessman and church congregations of all sizes.
“If God can use a man without arms and legs to be His hands and feet, then He will certainly use any willing heart”, Nick said. It is truly inspiring to know the story of Nick, on how he battled his struggles and still went on with his life, despite having no arms and legs. It saddens me how teens nowadays can’t even appreciate themselves, contentment is nowhere to be found in this generation. People are seeking more without knowing that there are some people who are less.
This generation is so immersed with social media that we sometimes forget how to live our lives and just pray and thank God for what we have. Why not be an instrument of God and make a change, it is not necessarily mean to make a big step, but doing simple little steps can make a huge difference. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “You must be the change you want to see in the world”.
