Who Took My Wheels?

In this blog entry, I’m gonna tell you about my crazy week.

Last Friday night, my electric wheelchair stopped working. As I am utterly dependent on my wheelchair, you can understand how freaked out I was. Well, I was definitely freaked out for the first five minutes anyway. Then I realized there was nothing I could do. Unfortunately there is no such thing as a 24-hour wheelchair repair shop. And it being the beginning the weekend didn’t help either.

On Saturday morning, somebody from Cox Home Support came to take a look. However, all he was able to determine was he couldn’t fix it. He called the number in the manufacturer’s manual, and they told him they don’t have anybody there on the weekend. So I was going to be at least two days without my wheelchair. During those first two days, my electric wheelchair was basically just a 300 pound nonelectric wheelchair. Still, I was thankful I could at least stay in my chair to drink water and eat.

On Monday, first thing in the morning, my Dad took my wheelchair into the shop. Without my wheelchair, whether it’s running or not, I have no other way of sitting up comfortably and safely. So I had plenty of time, while I was basically confined to my bed, to lay there and reflect on all the people in the world who don’t have a wheelchair as nice and convenient as mine. With my wheelchair, I’m mobile and far more independent. It’s only when I’m forced to go without, do I realize how much I have to be thankful for.

Around 1:30 in the afternoon, I got my wheelchair back. I was more than a little excited to have it under me. However, after two minutes, it stopped working again. My mother fidgeted with the wires and was able to get it going. Obviously, the chair was not at 100% just yet. I still tried to manage, but ultimately it needed to go back to the shop. So, on Wednesday morning, my Dad took it back and they recalibrated the joystick.

We weren’t quite out of woods, because on Thursday morning, there was an error on the control panel that read malfunction in the motor on the left side. My brother, this time, messed with it and forced it into gear. Then, an hour later, while my brother was out grabbing a drink from the Quik Trip, I decided to take my usual stroll outside. Once I reached the end of the driveway, I heard an awful screech and my chair like a failing robot lurched to the side and died. Due to my condition, it’s not good for me to be exposed for any length of time to extreme heat or cold. Thankfully, there was a nice breeze on that particular day. Even with the breeze, it wasn’t gonna be good, if I was stranded there too long, underneath sun. So, giving it my all, I tried to attract someone with my feeble shouts for help. I’m not the loudest guy you’ll ever meet. When I go for these strolls, I like to play music on my mp3 player- aloud for all the world to hear. On this particular day, I had Disciple, a rather loud Christian rock band, playing, which I’m sure canceled out any attempt I might make to yell for help. I don’t mean to beat a dead horse, but that’s exactly what the neighbor was doing, except beating his drumset, which made it virtually impossible for anyone to hear me. So I prayed to the Lord that somebody might hear me. And then, about a minute later, another neighbor came out and got my Mom. At the same time, my brother pulled up. Between my Mom and my brother, the two of them were able to get my chair working again. Once we were inside, my Mom called the repair shop and described the problem and they determined that my chair would need one more part to be fully operational.

It’s Friday night now, and there hasn’t been anymore problems, thank the Lord. I give glory and praise to the Lord Jesus for getting me through this most difficult week.

This whole episode has reminded me that we should remember to pray for those less fortunate than us. Everybody, in some way, can benefit from prayer, and God’s help. In addition to prayer, there are other ways we can help. Ways you might not even think of. You can give money, or your time, or your unused goods, to those in need. The smallest sacrifice may make the biggest change in someone’s life. So don’t underestimate what you can do. But remember, it always starts and ends with prayer.

It is also important to give thanks for things you do have. I was very thankful for the time people took to help me out. I’m especially thankful for John, the technician, who was able to resurrect my chair from the dead, by reprogramming the control panel and putting in a hundred lines of code and all that other difficult things to make my chair right again- for the most part.