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.
Faith, Dance, Books, advocacy

Silent Night

Christ The Savior is Born

In those days, Caesar Augustus made a law. It required that a list be made of everyone in the whole Roman world. It was the first time a list was made of the people while Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone went to their own town to be listed. So Joseph went also. He went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea. That is where Bethlehem, the town of David, was. Joseph went there because he belonged to the family line of David. He went there with Mary to be listed. Mary was engaged to him. She was expecting a baby. While Joseph and Mary were there, the time came for the child to be born. She gave birth to her first baby. It was a boy. She wrapped him in large strips of cloth. Then she placed him in a manger. That’s because there was no guest room where they could stay. There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby. It was night, and they were taking care of their sheep. An angel of the Lord appeared to them. And the glory of the Lord shone around them. They were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news. It will bring great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you. He is the Messiah, the Lord. Here is how you will know I am telling you the truth. You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.” Luke 2:1‭-‬12

Christ The Saviour is born to:

1. Reveal God’s identity

No one has ever seen God. But the One and Only is God and is at the Father’s side. The one at the Father’s side has shown us what God is like.
John 1:18

The Word became a human being. He made his home with us. We have seen his glory. It is the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father. And the Word was full of grace and truth.
John 1:14

2. Relay God’s message

“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.
John 5:24

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
John 14:6

I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.
John 12:46

3. Redeem God’s people

For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”
Luke 19:10

Memory Verse

but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!
Luke 2:10‭-‬11

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Faith, Dance, Books, advocacy

Joy to the world

There is Joy When:

1. The King is received

Joy to the world! The Lord is come. Let Earth receive her, King! Let every heart prepare Him room And Heaven and Nature Sing

Joy to the World

He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.
John 1:10‭-‬12

2. The Savior reigns

Joy to the World! The Savior reigns.

Let men their songs employ

While fields and floods

Rocks, hills, and plains

Repeat the sounding joy

Joy to the world

People who receive Christ but don’t let him reign are usually not very joyful

“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.
Matthew 6:24

3. The curse is reversed

No more let sin and sorrow grow.

Nor thorns infest the ground,

He comes to make His blessings flow

Far as the curse is found

He rules the world with truth and grace

And makes the nations prove

The glories of his righteousness

And wonders of His love

Joy to the world

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:12

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work

1 John 3:8

Memory Verse

“I have told you these things, so that you can have peace because of me. In this world you will have trouble. But be encouraged! I have won the battle over the world.”
John 16:33

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Faith, Dance, Books, advocacy

My timeline of living with something the world calls a disability

This is how things were when I was growing up:

In 1987 the year I started kindergarten, I was a student in the occupationally handicapped class. This was how we were identified as a group until I graduated from elementary school.

When I was in junior high school until I finished high school, our classes were known as special education/special day classes.

Entering college was the first time I had what has come to be known as a general education experience, which meant I was expected to do most of my work with the same guidelines as everyone else.

While I was in college, I joined an advocacy group called helping hands, a school club that promoted disability awareness and normalized using a piece of equipment.

Near the end of college, I met my best friend, Noel, who taught me to see my cerebral palsy as part of me , but not a disability.

Together, we concluded that; the word disability should only apply to things that can not move and not people because people are capable of thinking, having feelings, and loving others, so I’m on a mission to teach people to start saying I am an equipment user because people are not broken down machines

Faith, Dance, Books, advocacy

Oh Little Town of Bethlehem

The three Bethlehem teaches us.

1. God keeps his promises

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf.
Micah 5:2

2. God comes in person

At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child. And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.
Luke 2:1‭-‬7

This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.
Hebrews 4:15

3. God uses the least likely

Memory Verse

Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.
1 Corinthians 1:27‭-‬29

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inspiration

This man could sing the phone book

D. Scott Eads and the Swing Dolls

I am 100% serious when I say that this man could sing the phone book and I would buy a ticket! Every moment about my friend Scott’s show last night was phenomenal!  

That being said, the standout moments to me were:

  • We Need a little Christmas. That song took me back to junior high when I learned it for our first Christmas concert
  • Scott performed a beautifully sung version of Twas the night before Christmas
  • The Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth, which was originally performed by Bing Crosby and David Bowie in 1977. Scott performed this with his friend Todd Murry
  • Lastly, the songs that he sang with a group of women called The Swing Dolls was amazing

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If you get the opportunity, you need to go see Scott. You will not be disappointed. This man could sing the phonebook, and I would buy a ticket to his show.

Marie Ncole Zimmerle

Faith, Dance, Books, advocacy

When My World is Falling apart

Memory Verse

He sang: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. He is my refuge, my savior, the one who saves me from violence. I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies.
2 Samuel 22:2‭-‬4

The Five Steps we need to take when our world is falling apart

  • Reorient the disoriented. Stay in a routine
  • Call out to God. It’s a sign of a healthy relationship with him. He wants you to talk to him.
  • Recall the story of God. Remind yourself of God’s faithfulness by reading his word and by reflecting on the ways he’s been faithful to you.
  • Claim his promises
  • Contend by his power. God is our Father, not a 🧞 genie, so when we ask him for help, he might ask us to fight alongside him.

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Faith, Dance, Books, advocacy

The Habit of Thanksgiving

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Darius the Mede decided to divide the kingdom into 120 provinces, and he appointed a high officer to rule over each province. The king also chose Daniel and two others as administrators to supervise the high officers and protect the king’s interests. Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and high officers. Because of Daniel’s great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire. Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy. So they concluded, “Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion.” So the administrators and high officers went to the king and said, “Long live King Darius! We are all in agreement—we administrators, officials, high officers, advisers, and governors—that the king should make a law that will be strictly enforced. Give orders that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions. And now, Your Majesty, issue and sign this law so it cannot be changed, an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.” So King Darius signed the law. But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God. Then the officials went together to Daniel’s house and found him praying and asking for God’s help. So they went straight to the king and reminded him about his law. “Did you not sign a law that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions?” “Yes,” the king replied, “that decision stands; it is an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.” Then they told the king, “That man Daniel, one of the captives from Judah, is ignoring you and your law. He still prays to his God three times a day.” Hearing this, the king was deeply troubled, and he tried to think of a way to save Daniel. He spent the rest of the day looking for a way to get Daniel out of this predicament. In the evening the men went together to the king and said, “Your Majesty, you know that according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, no law that the king signs can be changed.” So at last the king gave orders for Daniel to be arrested and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to him, “May your God, whom you serve so faithfully, rescue you.”
Daniel 6:1‭-‬16

The lessons we can learn from Daniel about talking to God.

Daniel’s prayer life was:

  • Unconditional
  • Committed
  • Consistent
  • Not hidden
  • Not flaunted

People around Daniel knew the commitment he had to God.

Ask yourself:

do the people around me know that I have a commitment to God?

Memory Verse

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.
Colossians 4:2