Chapter Seven part Two of Sharon Wyatt’s book
“Where To From Here”
….As the owner of a large tool and die factory, it made for the perfect place for him to institute his many ideas for inventions for the paralyzed, and many of his clever devices are still being used today. So we can look at his accident as a blessing in disguise, for all the good that came about from his clever innovations that are even used in hospitals and made easier the lives of people in wheelchairs.
So with all the good that came from his misfortunate accident, it is difficult for me to lament his decision to go up on the roof, for so many have benefited from his feeling the necessity for improvements for those in his condition. The wonderful part is, he saw it this way as well. He was a man of great faith and felt that it was up to him to make machinery and clever gadgets to make life that much better for the physically impaired. He said that he would have never even thought of any of these creations had it not been for the fact that he had a need for them himself. And so it is, even out of adversity God can make the best out of these situations.
But unfortunately, not all decisions and subsequent events turn out so well. Even with all the good that came from our inventor’s mischance, as his ability to accept it so nobly, his wife and daughters were never the same. They took it all in stride and understood the spiritual side of the incident, but it was their father and for his wife her husband who had to undergo so much. As time passed there was little awareness and rarely any mention of any inconvenience that arose on a fairly regular basis. My friend’s sister began to show changes that were disturbing to the other three, and once she graduated college she moved several hundred miles away and made very few visits home. But my dear friend remained a dutiful daughter and an ever constant help to her parents. I never heard any of them get angry at God as many people do under dire circumstances. No, quite the contrary they took a very philosophical view when analyzing any feelings that they were experiencing. My friend’s mother paid several visits to see my parents just to talk when this casualty first happened, but after a few months had passed she would visit not so much to seek sympathy and even have a good cry, but to talk about the future and all the things she and her husband would do when he came home from the hospital.
Only once did she, on a visit to our home with my friend, say how she wished she had been able to keep him from going up on the roof. She wished she had protested enough to keep him from making that fateful decision.
I have used this story to illustrate to so many people how God can use misfortune to a great advantage. My friend’s parents may now be gone from us, but they live on in so many ways, and much to God’s glory.
I am often times asked to help someone make a decision. I am more than pleased to be asked and hopefully we will all be happy with the outcome. Weighing all the possibilities good and bad is foremost in coming to a conclusion. My concern is that I do not lead them astray, but present to them a sensible and practical approach to the dilemma they no doubt are probably in. Albert Camus once wrote “To be happy, we must not be too concerned with others.” I simply abhor that quote, it is awful for the selfishness and unChristian message it conveys. Sadly there are too many people who live their lives that way. But then there are the ones who are considered meddlers, neither would I want to have as a friend for neither one can be a true friend.
So, in the decision making process we have to remain calm and level headed. To be otherwise could spell disaster and lead to a life filled with remorse and regrets. The decision process is not to be thought of lightly, a small decision could affect a bigger one to be made in the future, and because of the ill advised smaller one, you now have a colossal problem on your hands. Decisions are a basic fact of life…..
(Continued next moth with part three of Chapter 7)
