“The reason I feel beautiful every single day is not because I
look at myself in the mirror…but because I can see inside, and I can see
that I have these five beautiful children and a husband who loves me,
and that’s what makes me beautiful. Beauty is confidence, it’s
self-worth. It’s knowing why you exist – your children, what you
create. That’s what beauty is to me, and that’s what keeps me going.” ~ Stephanie Nielson
I read this wonderful book a few years ago and follow Stephanie's blog. Stephanie and Christian Nielson were in a horrifying plane crash almost
five years ago that killed their pilot and left them both with severe,
life-long injuries. The book is the story of her journey. It's a story of hope and a reminder of how strong the human spirit really
is.
It was on my summer Bucket List to hear Stephanie speak and that happened on Friday, July 5th!
It was a privileged for me to attend the Independence Through
Commitment conference, as part of Glenn Beck’s “Man in the Moon” weekend at The Grand American Hotel.
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Stephanie and Christian choose not to focus on the crash but, rather how much they grew in their faith and in their relationship after it, despite unbelievable obstacles. Christian said, “Everybody has something, everybody has a trial, you can go through trials beautifully, and learn from them. It’s all about helping each other through things."
After the crash, doctors determined that Stephanie had burns on over 80% of her body, and her husband 40%. She was in a medically induced coma for over three months and not expected to live. Christian, who woke up before his wife, was told that if his wife survived, she probably wasn’t going to have a nose, would never walk again, and may not have arms or legs — they might have to be amputated.
It was on my summer Bucket List to hear Stephanie speak and that happened on Friday, July 5th!
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Nielson family before the accident
Stephanie and Christian choose not to focus on the crash but, rather how much they grew in their faith and in their relationship after it, despite unbelievable obstacles. Christian said, “Everybody has something, everybody has a trial, you can go through trials beautifully, and learn from them. It’s all about helping each other through things."
After the crash, doctors determined that Stephanie had burns on over 80% of her body, and her husband 40%. She was in a medically induced coma for over three months and not expected to live. Christian, who woke up before his wife, was told that if his wife survived, she probably wasn’t going to have a nose, would never walk again, and may not have arms or legs — they might have to be amputated.
Christian talked
about the healing power of God, saying they are “witnesses to the fact
and reality that there is no medicine, no treatment, no doctor, no skill
in the healing arts that is any match for the healing power of the Lord
Jesus Christ.”
Stephanie said: “I believe with all my
heart that if you want something hard enough, you can make it happen. I
wanted life so bad, I wanted to be a mom…I wanted to make dinner, go on
dates with my husband…and I made every single one of those things
happen. You can do it through Jesus Christ only…you can’t do it alone.”
A little over a year ago, Stephanie gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. She said it reminds them that “every single day that God is good and miracles happen on earth today just as they did long, long ago, and we’re witnesses to that.” Stephanie concluded by saying, “I hope our message is of hope, that you can go out into the world and that you can change, you can be better, and whatever you’re going through will end.”
A little over a year ago, Stephanie gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. She said it reminds them that “every single day that God is good and miracles happen on earth today just as they did long, long ago, and we’re witnesses to that.” Stephanie concluded by saying, “I hope our message is of hope, that you can go out into the world and that you can change, you can be better, and whatever you’re going through will end.”
I was happy I got to meet Stephanie and Christian and...
that Stephanie signed my book!
Christian and Stephanie Nielson ~ Glenn and Tania Beck ~ C.L.
Bryant ~ Elizabeth Smart
I also got here other speakers, Glenn and Tania Beck, C.L. Bryant and yes, Elizabeth Smart. Elizabeth was so elegant and poised, and she smiled a lot! It's been almost ten years since she was kidnapped and help captive for nine months. I still remember how overjoyed I was to here the news she had been found and was alive!
I hadn't heard this part of her story, but Elizabeth said she understood that the twisted couple used religion to justify their actions, and told God she would never, ever do the same except for this one time, if He would only let it work. She knew that her best hope of rescue lay in Salt Lake City (they had gone to California), telling her captor (who went by the name “Emmanuel”): “I don’t know but I just have this feeling like, we’re supposed to go back to Salt Lake. I know that sounds crazy, God wouldn’t speak to me, but this feeling just won’t leave me alone! Do you think you could ask him, because I know he’ll tell you, you’re his servant, his prophet, you’re practically his best friend.”
The captor “prayed” on it, and they began the trek back after he unbelievably felt the same “inspiration.” The group was walking on the side of a road when police car after police car began surrounding them. But by that point, Elizabeth said, she had been so threatened every day that they would kill her and her family if she spoke out that she just gave the answers they wanted her to give.
“I wanted to scream, yes I am Elizabeth Smart! Save me! These people are crazy, we need to lock them up!” she said, but she was too afraid to speak out until all three were taken into the station, and she knew they couldn’t reach her family. Not long after she was taken to a room by herself, the door flew open and her dad ran in.
“I knew in that moment that nobody would ever be able to hurt me again in the way my captors had,” Elizabeth said. “No matter what lay in front of me, it was going to be okay, because my dad was there.”
“I wanted to scream, yes I am Elizabeth Smart! Save me! These people are crazy, we need to lock them up!” she said, but she was too afraid to speak out until all three were taken into the station, and she knew they couldn’t reach her family. Not long after she was taken to a room by herself, the door flew open and her dad ran in.
“I knew in that moment that nobody would ever be able to hurt me again in the way my captors had,” Elizabeth said. “No matter what lay in front of me, it was going to be okay, because my dad was there.”
After she arrived home, Elizabeth said her mom gave her the best piece of advice she’s ever received. “My mom said, ‘Elizabeth, what this man has done to you is terrible, and there aren’t words to describe how wicked and evil he is…but the best punishment you could ever give him is to be happy. Move forward and follow your dreams and do exactly what you want to do. You may never feel like justice has been served, but you don’t need to worry about that because in the end, God is our ultimate judge, and he will make up every pain and every suffering that you’ve gone through. Those who don’t receive their just reward here will certainly receive it in the next life, so you don’t have a reason to hold on to that.’”
“If you relive it, you’re only allowing him to steal more of your life away from you,” she said. “That’s the best piece of advice I’ve ever been given, and I have tried to live it every single day.”
“We always have a choice to move forward, to make a difference,” Elizabeth said. “I like to think that we’re not defined by what happens to us…because so many times they’re beyond our control. I like to think that we’re defined by our choices and our decisions.”
Elizabeth is happily married now and she concluded her remarks by saying, “I know God won’t give me anything I can’t handle,” then smiled and roughly quoted Mother Teresa. “Sometimes I just wish he didn’t trust me so much.”
Thanks Christopher!
