Handicap accessible...on paper

I am happy to say that I was able to walk on my foot today without pain. Yippee! So long to the wheelchair. Well, I still have it for a month and may need it now and then, but for the most part my week long taste of the handicap world is behind me. A week that was full of new discoveries and everyday adventures.

For one I discovered that our beautiful campus at CTS is quite handicap accessible...on paper. A short building by building synopsis...Florida Hall: where I live. Elevator, yes, but you have to go through two doors to get to it and in my chair, I just fit inside. The ramp next to Florida Hall is a suicide mission for anyone or thing on wheels. The grade is way beyond safety in its steepness. Richards Center: where I eat and have one class. Elevator, yes, but it is on the opposite end of the building from the ramp and you have to go through four doors to get to it. Campbell Hall: where I have lots of class and work study. More of the same. Bottom line is I came to realize that Columbia could never have, in its current state, a fully handicap student. The campus is just dangerous and none of the doors are automatic requiring anyone in a wheelchair to have a trusty partner to push them. I'm not sure what this says about us, but it gave me a whole new perspective which is always a valuable tool for ministry and life.

And then there were the adventures. Wednesday as I was reading in my big comfy chair, I noticed something moving out of the corner of my eye. It was a spider and a rather large one at that. Really a cranberry with legs. It ran when I screamed, and seeing that I could not run after it, I called around to find a friend to come kill it. Thursday as I studied Hebrew, the fire alarm started going off in the building. Uh. What to do. Again, I called friends. Libby came for me, but the elevator doesn't work when the alarm is going off. No harm done. There wasn't a fire. Friday morning, the elevator had not been reset so in our own morning comedy routine, I hobbled and Sarah dragged the wheelchair down the stairs. Saturday Hana was gracious to go grocery shopping for me. I sat on the floor putting my sodas in the fridge only to discover an unopened yet empty Diet Coke can in my newly purchased 12-pack. Fantastic.

So needless to say, I am relieved to be back on my feet despite having 5 more weeks with the cast. I know the adventures will keep coming, because God has a fantastic, sometimes odd, sense of humor. And I hope the discoveries will keep on coming as well because I have a lot to learn about ministry and life.