Wesley is in high school, and it's Saturday night. Wesley gets out of cross country practice, which is his favorite activity, and heads home. He and his best friend are going to the movies tonight. Usually they have their moms drop them off, but tonight is different. Tonight is the night they've been dreaming of. It's the night every kid dreams of. Tonight is the night when they became older, wiser, cooler kids. Last week, Wesley's friend got his license, and tonight is the night they drive themselves to the movie theater. Tonight is the night they are not riding in the mom mobile.
On the way back home, Wesley is pulled over by a police who is patrolling the area. This doesn't come as a surprise because police are always around here. Wesley gets out of his car and answers some questions. A split second later, Wesley and his friend are hit by a car.
They go to the hospital, and Wesley's friend is okay, but Wesley is told that he might have to get his leg amputated. This comes as a shock to anyone, but to Wesley, a runner, this is traumatic. It's horrifying. Unfathomable. Wesley had 7 surgeries in attempt to heal his leg. And after recovering from his 7th surgery, Wesley was told that he no longer needed an amputation. In fact, he could walk just as well as he did before the accident.
Wesley wanted to somehow repay the doctors who healed his leg. He wanted to be able to share that same joy with someone else. Wesley decided to be a doctor. He would heal others, just as he was healed. Wesley, better known as Dr. Wesley Desselle, spoke to my class a couple days ago. He first worked as a trauma surgeon and then as a community surgeon. Now he owns and manages his own small practition in Florence, AL.
While this accident was a terrifying part of Wesley's life, he took something positive from it. Dr. Desselle used this hard time in his life to find hope. If he never had hope, his leg might have never been healed. He might have never become a doctor, never saved a life, never returned his same joy. Sometimes life hits us with the unexpected. But we can't let it get us down. We can't let it defeat us. We can't let ourselves quit. We should take every experience we are in and find the positive, find hope in it. Every experience in life can be positive. Those that seem negative are just making us turn down a different path. Sometimes our future has to hit us in the face and point us towards the right direction.
We don't know where life will take us. We can't see the big picture. So when you find yourself in a bad situation, look for the positive. It's ahead somewhere. There's always something positive waiting for us past the hard times. Never give up. Be inspired. Rise above the circumstances. Maybe your future is hitting you in the face.
"In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will."
Ephesians 1:11
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