Step By Step

It's been a while since I have given an update on my walking, so here's a progress report:

Since I finished my physical therapy in December, I have continued to work on walking at home, and my legs are getting stronger. Each day, I make this confession of faith: "I am stronger today than I was yesterday." And, with the Lord's help, I see it happening. I'm walking more and farther than I was just two months ago.

I wear my leg braces most weekdays now. I park my scooter next to my recliner in the living room and from there I can walk to the computer room or the bedroom. I can go almost anywhere in my apartment with my walker. I haven't walked outside yet because my balance is still shaky sometimes, and I don't want to risk falling outside.

I haven't fallen in several weeks. Even then, it wasn't really a fall. Sometimes, my legs just get tired and I go down on my knees. I'll rest a few minutes and then I'm able to get up and continue on.

This just shows that nothing is impossible for God! It's nothing that I have done, but it's God's power that has given me strength to start walking again. It has now been a full year since I moved to Pampa. When I first came here, I would fall while trying to get from my scooter to the recliner. I would have to call someone to come and help me get up.

I am much stronger now. If I do fall, I know that I can usually get up by myself. I am amazed at how far God has brought me in one year, and I know He's not through with me yet!

***** ***** *****

I took advantage of the 70-degree weather yesterday to do a little off-roading on my scooter. I didn't actually plan to go off road. It just happened that way.

There's a little park about a block from my apartment. But there are no curb cuts around the park to let me get on the sidewalk with my scooter. I have to go to the next park over to get up the curb and then go under a bridge to go back to the first park. Yesterday, I decided to take a shortcut and cut across the field instead of going all the way over to the trail.

My scooter goes pretty good in the grass, so I didn't have any trouble and it was kind of fun. It was an adventure anyway.

It's odd that the city doesn't put curb cuts at all the parks. I've found several parks that are inaccessible or only partially accessible. Maybe that will be my next mission: To petition the city for curb cuts in all city parks. We've come a long way toward making places more accessible for the disabled, but there's still a lot to do to make it a barrier-free society.