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Nick Vujicic was born without arms or legs. Here is his inspiring story that begs us to ask ourselves: do we see an obstacle or opportunity?

My van was in the repair shop for two weeks. Finally, I got the message that it was fixed and ready for me to pick up. Woo-hoo!

Happy to have our vehicle back, my daughter Helen and I loaded up the van with reusable grocery bags for a shopping run, several water bottles, a cooler bag packed with lunch, a backpack full of school books for Helen, and a bag filled with my laptop, my calendar, and 20 pounds of resource books for me.

By the time we settled into our seats and buckled our safety belts, we had just enough time to drive the 40 minutes to the campus where Helen is enrolled in a couple of dual-enrollment classes.

When I turned the key in the ignition, the van was dead as a stone. It didn’t even make a cough or a sputter.

I looked over at Helen and groaned. My daughter laughed. “This is kinda funny,” she grinned.

“No, it’s not,” I countered. “This is not funny at all.”

I have been fighting with the van on-and-off for months, and I am so tired of it not working. I am sick of having to scramble at the last minute to find transportation to a meeting or a class or a doctor’s appointment. I am tired of the desperate parking-lot prayers of “Please, God, let the van start this time!”

This morning, I called next door to Grammy and Granddad’s. “Sure, you can borrow the truck again,” Grammy replied. Again. I jogged next door and raced back with Granddad’s farm truck. Helen and I shuttled all our cargo from the van to the pick-up.

“You know, Mom, this actually is very funny!” Helen insisted as we pulled out onto the highway.

I shook my head. I did not see the humor in our situation, not at all.

I dropped Helen off at her morning class and drove to the bank. The checking account balance? Eleven dollars and eighty-seven cents. Somehow, that is supposed to cover groceries for the week. And I have 14 people coming to my house for dinner tonight!

I decided to forego the grocery shopping trip until I could come up with a more creative menu plan than the one scribbled in my notebook. I headed the truck back toward campus.

I am sitting in the university library now, trying to catch up on a couple of writing assignments while Helen is in class. I can’t breathe because allergies have turned my head into concrete. I have a wagon load of work to do, but reduced oxygen intake = reduced brain function. Aaargh!

On top of all the other aggravations of the morning, I am supposed to write an article about some guy I never heard of, whose name I can’t even pronounce.

Do I sound like Alexander, from Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day? Life throws some pretty ridiculous stuff at us sometimes, doesn’t it? Some days, it feels like we hit one obstacle or challenge right after another.

I believe that God is sovereign, that God is good, and that He loves me very much. My kids call this “Mom’s Big Three.” This Trifecta of Truth holds my world together when it looks or feels like everything around me is falling apart.

But even in light of these great truths, my spirits are flagging today. I am tired of dealing with an unreliable vehicle. I am tired of planning “creative” menus. I am tired of not being able to breathe and not being able to think.

“God,” I wonder, “why won’t you make life a little easier for me today?! I am really struggling down here…do you even care?!”

God has chosen not to interrupt the silence of the library with an audible answer to my complaint this morning. I guess I should quit complaining and just get to work.

So, who is this guy I’m supposed to write about, this fellow named Nick Vujicic? Time to do a little research….

Nicholas Vujicic is a man who loves Jesus and who has experienced first-hand the life-changing power of God. He began sharing his life story with others when he was only 19. Nick’s message, however, is not this: Trust God, and He will remove all the obstacles in your life.

Instead, Nick challenges listeners to discover how the obstacles we encounter in life can be transformed into opportunities to glorify God and to know Him and love Him more.

Nick Vujicic was born without arms and legs. His early years were difficult: in addition to the challenge of learning how to function with his physical limitations, he also dealt with loneliness, bullying, and depression. He wondered if his life had any purpose. He became so discouraged that at the age of 10, he tried to commit suicide: Nick thought life was not worth living.

What turned this hopeless young boy’s life around? Nick explains that one day, he was reading the Bible, and he came across this passage:

As he [Jesus] passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him,“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:1–3, ESV)

Nick reasoned that if God allowed the man in John 9 to be born blind so that the works of God might be displayed in him, then God had a purpose for his life, too. By God’s grace, Nick began to see his physical condition not as an obstacle, but as a unique opportunity for sharing the love of Jesus with others.

Nick Vujicic believes that every human being has value. He also understands that when we are facing trials, we need to be reassured that God has a plan for our lives.

Today, this passionate evangelist delivers his message of hope, encouragement, and the power of the Gospel to people around the world. Nick has refused to let his physical condition limit his lifestyle.

Originally from Melbourne, Australia, Nick now lives in Southern California with his wife Kanae and their two sons. In addition to maintaining a busy speaking schedule, he is an author, musician, and actor, and he also loves to swim, paint, and fish. Nick’s unique personal story opens doors for him to speak to people of all ages and backgrounds.

In 2005, Nick established the international non-profit ministry, Life Without Limbs, to help share the hope and love he found in Jesus with children and adults all around the world. He has also written a memoir, Life Without Limits.

Great Homeschool Conventions, sponsored by WORLD News Group and by the National Center for Life and Liberty, is pleased to have Nick Vujicic as a featured speaker for 2017 conventions in Fort Worth, Texas (February 23–25), and in Ontario, California (June 15–17).

It is exciting to think about the blessing homeschool families will receive from Nick Vujicic at these conventions!

This morning, when I am tempted to feel sorry for myself because of things in my life that I find difficult or frustrating, God drops an email in my inbox telling me that I need to meet a man named Nick Vujicic. God is so good.

One of my favorite Bible passages is Psalm 139:13–16:

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

The God of the universe not only made me (and made Nick Vujicic): He also authored every one of my days – every single one of them! – before I was even born. This truth assures me that God has a purpose and a plan for my life, even when things aren’t going the way I want them to go. The circumstances of my life are not a product of chance.

The God who knit me together cell by cell in my mother’s womb, that same God orchestrates the events of my life with intricate detail. Yes, He knows I struggle. Yes, He cares. And, yes, He is doing something beautiful in the midst of the difficulties I face. Best of all, in some way that I do not yet understand, God is using my circumstances to bring glory to Himself.

Nick Vujicic is a man who understands these truths. He says that, in light of these truths and in light of our circumstances, we have a choice: we can be angry for what we do not have, or be thankful for what we do have.