Unseen Arms
Can you imagine being born without arms or legs? What would be the quality of your life? How would you cope? What would your attitude or personality be like? How about the depth of your humor, the level of your faith, or your compassion for others?
Meet the lovely Miss Amy Brooks.
Amy was born with an extremely rare condition called Tetraphocomelia-having no arms or legs. She was then left abandoned at the hospital by her birth parents where the staff was asked if they could "put her in a room and not feed her."
In her inspiring, humorous, and uplifting autobiography, Amy takes you on an amazing journey as she shares her life story and her enviable faith. All throughout, she will make you laugh. She will also make you cry a little. Most importantly, Amy will challenge and inspire you in a way that promises to change your life forever!
Amy Brooks is a joyful, exuberant, and faithful Christian whose vision is to glorify Jesus Christ by testifying to the unbeliever of His saving grace and by bringing encouragement to those who already know Him. Her writing honors her adoptive family and their unconditional love for her.
Jeff Ferris has more than fifty published articles with various publications and has written a book on evangelism. He is a contributing writer for Pathway Christian Newspaper in Toledo, Ohio where he resides with his wife, Ginny, and their three adult children, sons-in-law, and two grandchildren.
Excerpt from the Graduation Speech in Unseen Arms
"Ninety percent of life is showing up"
Feel free to jot that down in case you want to use it sometime. I really won't mind. It isn't my saying, anyhow; actor Woody Allen coined it.
You see, commitment and dependability go a long, long way. You might be surprised at what you can learn or accomplish if you simply show up and do what's expected of you.
To do that, you may have to discover better ways to do things, as I have had to do. Sometimes you have to invent them. That's been the story of my life, of which I am now sharing a portion with you.
I had to figure out how to do my schoolwork everything from opening my book bag to developing good penmanship.
For me, this was all part of showing up besides just being in class.
At home, for me "showing up" meant many things, including sneezing a lot when dusting with a Swiffer in my mouth. Or having to apply a rear naked choke hold to use a shop vac. Don't worry: that isn't as bad as it might sound. It's actually a legitimate martial arts maneuver.
And then comes the extremely essential tasks of life such as sending text messages. I have a friend in Ohio who has two perfectly good texting thumbs. He insists that I am merely faking it about not having hands because he claims that I text faster than he does. Though I sometimes use my arm for that like I do on my computer keyboard I mostly text with my bare mouth because I discovered that's what works best for me.
When I do so, I guess you could say that each message I send is sealed with a kiss. Consider it a bonus. But your bonus to yourself and to others is to show up.
