40-40-40 ... Day 23: Hope Heals

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In 2008, just 6 months after having her first child, Katherine Wolf suffered from a nearly life-taking stroke due to a congenital defect she didn't know she had. The next 10 years have been a series of hurdles that Katherine and her husband Jay have had to overcome. But their faith has led them to say: "Maybe healing just looks different than we think it does." Katherine's facial features were permanently impacted and she has to use a wheelchair to get around. But what at the time was the worst hard time of their lives, they can now say has led to the role they were meant to play -- an inspiration to others with disabilities, both those which can be seen and those which cannot. 

After speaking at a camp for people with disabilities, Katherine and Jay were inspired to start a camp of their own: Hope Heals Camp. Katherine writes:
At first, I didn't want to be the "miracle girl in the wheelchair", but after years of ministering with all kinds of hurting people, I found my external disabilities were a bridge to those with "invisible wheelchairs". I came to see there is a deeper, universal reality that we are all disabled – unable to do life without God or each other. 
Our story of disability is hard but good. We’ve been able to flourish within these constraints because of the spiritual resources and communal support we were given. Sadly, our story is the exception, not the norm. Most individuals and families affected by disability are struggling to live in a world not made for them...isolated, lonely, despairing.
We want to help change that and hope it forward by giving to those in need from all we have been given. 
I don't know if there is anything more inspiring than seeing someone turn what the devil meant for harm into something so infinitely good. 

In their book, "Hope Heals," Jay and Katherine write:
Don't wait to celebrate the life you have been given, even if it looks different from the one you thought you would have.
Why the name "Hope Heals"?
There is something profound about hope, something so meaningful when you cling to what is beyond anything you know and understand. When that happens deep in your head and in your heart, something shifts. Hope heals.
ACTION STEPS

READ "Hope Heals" by Katherine and Jay Wolf.
WATCH the documentary short film (22 minute) Hope Heals (with your Kleenex box handy!).
FOLLOW Hope Heals on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter or Pinterest. 
VOLUNTEER at Hope Heals Camp in Alabama.
DONATE to support the work of Hope Heals, or to send a family to Hope Heals Camp. (Quick, easy, secure. Thank you!)

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