Looking Beyond Limitations

There was an article in the May 5, 2000 edition of The Denver Post, written by Linda Usrey Long from the Portales News-Tribune. It is a true story about a man named Lyle Bert, age 64. Mr. Bert has an associates's, bachelor's, AND a master's degree, and hosts "The Lyle Bert Show," in Portales, New Mexico.

There is a lot more information than what is being shared here, but the main gist of the article is about how Mr. Bert was in an accident in 1965, while handling a homemade rocket that exploded. He says:

"I lost both hands, the eyesight in both eyes . . . My jaw was broken . . . My face and lips were burned. I had 124 penetration wounds in my chest and abdomen. I almost lost my right leg . . . Pieces of device went through my leg and through my abdomen. They amputated my hands . . . and I lost two-thirds of my stomach."

While speaking to the Conference on the Handicapped a few years ago (in Santa Fe, New Mexico), Lyle Bert shared something very worthy of repeating:

• "A person who has no legs can still achieve great heights;
  
• A person who has no hands can still grasp an idea;
  
• A person who has no sight can still have great vision;
  
• And a person who can't move can still lead."

Bible verse:

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (ESV)

May each of us look beyond our "limitations" and see what God can do through us!