Although you thank God for the many blessings He's bestowed upon you, have you ever thought about how you'd react if God seemingly passed you by? Or, worse still, more than ignoring you, if He'd seemingly dealt you an overwhelming impediment for life? It wasn't until I met Nick that such thoughts ever entered my consciousness.
Nick Vujicic is a young man, 22 years of age, a resident of suburban Brisbane, Queensland. Nick has a positive approach to life, is outgoing and friendly, with a happy, cheerful personality. He has a smile that makes anyone feel comforted and at ease. But life hasn't been easy for him.
His parents, both lifelong Christians, had eagerly anticipated the birth of Nick, their first child. But when he arrived, all his mother could say was, “Please, take him away!”
Nick, although generally healthy, had neither arms nor legs.
There was no medical explanation as to why this should have happened, and they had no idea it was going to, so when his devastated parents were presented with a baby with such disabilities, it tested their faith, says Nick. They loved God, and, if God loved them, why would He let something this bad happen to them? they reasoned.
But parents' love being what it is, Nick was soon accepted, and became as much-loved as any family member, even though he required almost 24-hour care as he grew through infancy.
When old enough, Nick went to school like any other youngster, becoming one of the first with such a disability to be integrated into mainstream education in Melbourne. But things didn't go smoothly. In his loving Christian home and environment, Nick was surrounded and supported by family members. At school, he soon learned the difficulties of loneliness and trying to make friends. He suffered bullying, teasing and had his self-esteem all but destroyed. There seemed to be an assumption by some that people with physical disabilities also had some mental disability that rendered them senseless to taunts and hurt.
But having endured that, around age 10 and with thoughts of his own, he began an even more difficult period. He just couldn't see any point in living. He realised he was a burden to his parents and family.
