GOD and the Art of Wheelchair Maintenance

skip intro

INTRODUCTION to The Adventures of Vicky and the Purple Wheelchair

Go to "The Adventures of Victoria and the Purple Wheelchair"

Back when I was a teenager, or maybe in my early 20s, I read a book called Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It has been hailed since the 70s as a sort of enlightening, life-changing novel, although perhaps only useful during the time-period in which it was written. It did not change my life; in fact I found it depressing, though coldly spiritual.  It gave me the feeling of a lost soul drifting off into an empty universe, looking forward to nothing, but looking back from a distance toward unreachable pinpoints of light. Perhaps because I was not very old, and not very intellectual, the "truth" that I took from it was that of the duality, or balance between the spiritual and the practical.  This is a truth that exists everywhere in the human experience, for we are, and always have been, body, soul, and spirit, and as a result are required both to have faith and to show works, to trust and to act. This concept has been particularly present in my consciousness since Victoria came into our lives.

So why God?  And why the wheelchair maintenance? Well, when Victoria came along,we found ourselves in a completely helpless situation.  I could no more stop the premature birth of our tiny little girl than I could stop the sun rising in the morning.  As she lay day after day in the ICU, I became aware of how our Creator holds our lives in His hands, and gives us the breath we take for granted. As Victoria grew and developed, we were powerless to overcome the physical limitations which had been given her at birth.  But we had a choice to trust God that His way would bless her, and us, and others as well someday.  We also had a lot of work to do in caring for her, and helping her live up to her God-given potential. Joni Eareckson Tada, a talented and kindhearted woman who broke her neck in a diving accident in 1967 and has lived her life since then in a wheelchair, points out that "disabilities" often serve to remind us that the physical reality we see is not all there is.  Many able-bodied people are injured, twisted, or unbalanced emotionally, intellectually, or spiritually.  The physical challenges and limitations we see in people like Victoria remind us to look beyond the surface. Joni has also written a booklet called "Raising Up God's Special Kids,"  which talks about the importance of facing the responsibility that comes with parenting a special-needs child.  We do not just throw up our hands and expect God to vacate our responsibility.  We have to trust God, and at the same time "maintain the wheelchair." God gave us the little girl who lives most of her life in a wheelchair, and He also helps, guides, and directs us through that life with all its joys and sorrows we didn't plan or expect.  Victoria's existence has brought us to a greater dependence on our Heavenly Father, and a greater opportunity to experience His sufficiency in all things.

No Crib for a Bed (How it all started)

Places we went & might go to

Click to read "The Adventures of Victoria and the Purple Wheelchair"

This section of the website is Victoria's.  As we go to different places over summer vacation, Victoria will be creating pages and telling anybody who's interested about how accessible and/or fun each place is for a person in a wheelchair.  Check back each week to see what is new.  Maybe you'll see somewhere you might want to go, even without a wheelchair!

by Marilyn Gorgas Cahill

Links: Back to Mom's home page Joni and Friends

"Thus says God the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, who gives breath to the people in it, and spirit to those who walk on it:  'I the Lord have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand; I will keep you.'"  Isaiah 42:5 "...the God who holds your breath in His hand, and owns all your ways...."  Daniel 5:23 "God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is He worshipped with man's hands, as though he needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things."  Acts 17:24, 25 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God."  Romans 8:28