This is today’s #bloganuary topic. One of my favorite things about myself is that I love making new friends, and I think that it is easy for me because I have never been a shy person. I try to be one of the first people to say hi to someone new at church and in life group. I’m also a good listener, and I’m willing to be there for my friends and family when they need me.
Author: Marie Nicole Zimmerle
Hi I’m Marie Nicole. I’m 43 and I have cerebral palsy. I love sharing the story of what God has done in my Life and I hope I can use my story to inspire and encourage you to follow him and his plans for you and your life.
I’m not a shy person, but there have been many times when I stepped out of my comfort zone.
The most recent was last July, when I signed up for Rollettes Experience 2021 to attend virtually for two days. I’d spent most of my life avoiding gatherings of people who looked like me, but in mid-2020, my perspective started to shift, and while attending RE21, I made friends and found out that I wasn’t alone in what I felt. I’m happy to have stuck with the Rollettes community. It had had a significant impact on me in such a short amount of time.
Another example of stepping out of my comfort zone is my love for singing. In 2019, I auditioned for and got the first solo I would perform since I was 13 years old.
When I was younger, I wasn’t afraid to let people hear my voice, but a moment changed everything. A young woman used to go to our church back in my mid-college years, and I let her beauty and talent make me self-conscious.
Yet another time I stepped out of my comfort zone was when I told someone how I felt about them. I first felt that feeling of OMG! I’m too much. I’m being silly, but I went against my doubts and spoke what was in my heart because life is short, and people who matter to you should know how you feel about them.
An Enduring Faith is a Faith That…
1. Comes to Jesus with it’s doubts
But Thomas, sometimes called the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We saw the Master.” But he said, “Unless I see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger in the nail holes, and stick my hand in his side, I won’t believe it.” Eight days later, his disciples were again in the room. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus came through the locked doors, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.” Then he focused his attention on Thomas. “Take your finger and examine my hands. Take your hand and stick it in my side. Don’t be unbelieving. Believe.” Thomas said, “My Master! My God!” Jesus said, “So, you believe because you’ve seen with your own eyes. Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.”
John 20:24-29 MSG
He asked the boy’s father, “How long has this been going on?” “Ever since he was a little boy. Many times it pitches him into fire or the river to do away with him. If you can do anything, do it. Have a heart and help us!” Jesus said, “If? There are no ‘ifs’ among believers. Anything can happen.” No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the father cried, “Then I believe. Help me with my doubts!”
Mark 9:21-24 MSG
2. Looks at Trials with an Eternal Perspective.
So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 MSG
Memory Verse
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33 NIV
3. Relies on others during difficult times
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
Mark 2:1-12 NIV
My favorite quotes are Bible verses
I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:13 NIV
This verse was the first verse I ever committed to memory in third grade
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV
These are the verses that I learned in tenth grade when I was going through recovery from surgery.
It’s strange yet comforting that I got this prompt from the #blogganuary writing challenge because 41 years ago today, my grandpa Joe passed away. He died the year before I was born. I would love to travel back in time to meet him and hug him.
There was never a moment in my childhood when I felt like I didn’t know him because every time I entered my Granny’s house, I would see a picture of my grandparents on the wall.
My Granny Ruth was also the best at telling stories about my grandpa. I miss those days of sitting in her kitchen and asking her for the millionth time to tell me the story of how they met.
Granny was a widow for 25 years before she passed away. I’m convinced that they are both watching over me right now
Today is the #internationaldayofacceptance
Accepting myself has been a journey, and I don’t think it will be one that has an end. I am grateful for the community of women I’ve found.
I’m looking forward to growing and creating new goals in the near future. Thank you, God, for leading me here.
Hey, I hope you’re having a beautiful blessed day. What are you doing today? Today we are babysitting a little cutie pie.
Before I go, I wanted to tell you about my jewelry. The cross that im wearing was given to me by my cousins Yvonne, Oceann, and Skye. The rope chain that it was originally on was very long, so I recently replaced it with this shorter rope chain. The earrings that I’m wearing were our grandma’s so I feel like I’m surrounded by guardian angels today. ❤
The book I am currently reading is Becoming a master communicator.
The book that I recently listened to the high five habit by Mel Robbins
The book that is similar to my life: A
The chance to fly by Ali Stroker.
Telling people what Jesus has done in my life
I’m passionate about telling people about Jesus and what he has done in my life because he is why I am still alive. Even before I accepted him as my Lord and Savior, he was at work in my life, and he is still working on me today.
Getting people to stop using the words Disabled, Disability, and able-bodied
I have had a back and forth, up and down relationship with how I view myself and my cerebral palsy. I will admit that I started calling myself differently-abled when I came home from a week in Sacramento after graduating from high school. I was chosen to attend the governor’s committee of people with disabilities. One of the first nights there, we were shown a documentary that chronicled the history of how people with disabilities were viewed and talked about. The documentary said that the proper way to speak about a person with a disability was differently-abled.
Now that I am older and I am healing more every day from what people around me, honestly, primarily strangers, thought I should be. I have chosen not to use the words disabled, differently-abled, or disability as it relates to me personally. I have decided to say I use a walker or a wheelchair because I don’t see those things as part of my identity. They are equipment, and I am someone who uses them for assistance.
I am proud to be associated with people who use the term disabled community. Still, the reason why I do not like these terms is that they go against the things that these amazing people stand for. The word disabled means not able, yet I know tons of people who are kicking butt in life, so yes, they are able! And if you think of the word differently-abled, Everyone in the world is differently-abled because we were all created unique, not one of us is the same.
Furthermore, the word able-bodied is one of the most heartless words I have ever heard. I believe that it implies that people who are not equipment users or that are viewed as living without struggle are somehow better than those who use assistance and have to do things in life at a different pace
If I am asked, I will tell you that my name is Marie, and I have cerebral palsy, and I would be happy to give you a short explanation of what it is if you wanted me to
I am not Disabled
A Shared Faith is:
1. A Faith lived out in community
For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
Romans 12:4-5 NIV
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Acts 2:42-47 NIV
2. A Faith that tells it’s story.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 1:8 NIV
3. A Faith demonstrated by service.
“Students are not better than their teacher. Servants are not better than their master. Students should be happy to be treated the same as their teacher. And servants should be happy to be treated the same as their master. If those people call me ‘the ruler of demons,’ and I am the head of the family, then it is even more certain that they will insult you, the members of the family! “So don’t be afraid of those people. Everything that is hidden will be shown. Everything that is secret will be made known. I tell you all this secretly, but I want you to tell it publicly. Whatever I tell you privately, you should shout for everyone to hear. “Don’t be afraid of people. They can kill the body, but they cannot kill the soul. The only one you should fear is God, the one who can send the body and the soul to be destroyed in hell.
Matthew 10:24-28 ERV
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