Doro Explorero's Quest to Travel Around The World

An automobile accident ten days before his high school graduation Shane Vermoort classified as a quadriplegic. A friend was killed in the accident. All of his life, Shane had wanted to be a doctor. But was it still possible for him as a quadriplegic - or was it really the impossible dream? Shane went through a year of rehabilitation and then went to Southern Illinois University, where he received a B.A. in physiology. His goal was medical school, but he was rejected time and again by medical schools all over America. Eventually, he was accepted at the Medical College of Georgia. He excelled in his preparation and received the Clinical Neuroscience Award, was elected president of the Medical Honor Society, and became the first student to graduate from the college in a wheelchair. Shane reflects, "People have a tendency to reflect on what we don't have. If people would just look in the mirror and focus on the good things, they would be a lot better off." ...

To look at him today you would find it difficult to believe that in August, 1974, Clarence Gass awoke unable to breath. However, the forty-one-year-old eventually regained his breath. His breath problem that August night was no mystery. He was going through three and a half packs of cigarettes and twenty-four cans of beer a day. He stopped weighing at the 265-pound mark when he had a forty-three-inch waist. That very morning, after his frightening experience, Clarence Gass got down on his knees and asked God to help him.  He quit drinking and smoking. He began to walk and then jog every night. Before the year was out, he was jogging four to five miles a day. Clarence went from more than 265 pounds to 150 pounds. His blood pressure dropped from 150 over 100 to 120 over 72. He has now run in ten marathons.  According to Gass, "It takes more courage than you can imagine for a fat person to get out and run in front of other people. It's a slow process and you must be...

Train your eyes to see evidence of God's presence, not evidenceof His absence. If you are looking for God's absence, you will conclude that this world is a God-forsaken place! On the other hand, if you are looking for evidence of His presence, you will soon see that He is with us even in the darkest of moments. Sometimes we have a mistaken notion of spirituality. When stricken by this disease, once-stalwart Christians become pharisaical at best. This malady can infect any believer, but it more often strikes older Christians who have been in church for five or more years. The veterans seem to be the most prone and susceptible. One telletale symptom heralding the presence of the disease is that we begin to think our own spiritual maturity is measured by how many faults we can detect in others. If I spot more faults than anyone else, then obviously I'm more spiritually mature.  But watch out! Because if you are looking for cursing, curses will find you! He also l...

One evening, when my son, Dreyson, was in grade school, I arrived home from work just in time to tuck his sister and him into bed. I pulled out a sports devotional and began to read it when he stopped me. "Dad, I need to tell you something," he said a bit reluctantly. "I got called to the principal's office today at school." Dreyson certainly had my attention. I tried to remain calm on the outside without fully revealing my shock on the inside. Now, being called to the principal's office was the norm for me when I was a kid. In fact, people called me "Dwight the Fright" because I got into so much trouble as a kid. But a trip to the principal's office was totally out of character for my compliant, respectful, well-mannered son. Trying to appear as cool and composed as possible, I commented in my best psychologist voice, "Tell me about it, Son." "Dad, she asked what you do for a living, and I told her yo are a...