The plan for January 8th, 2011, seemed simple enough. Attend a meet and greet, speak with our congresswoman and be on our way. We arrived early, met several of the congresswoman’s staff, and signed the registration list. My wife, Doris was number two and I was number three. We had just started talking with our representative when there were some loud bangs and a whirlwind of air. The first two shots were a blink of an eye apart, then a flurry of shots began and I found myself lying flat on my back, looking up at the roof under which we had been standing.

I was shot twice. The first bullet struck my upper right chest, knocking me backwards. The second bullet entered and exited my lower right leg. The shooter had emptied his extended clip of 33 rounds in less than 20 seconds.

As I lay on the concrete sidewalk waiting for the emergency responders to be allowed access to the scene, a verse of scripture came to mind: “For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” (Romans 14:8). The verse was as comforting to me on that morning as it had been two years earlier when my doctor told me that I had cancer. Later, as the ambulance turned into the driveway that led to the emergency room entrance, I remembered the verse my wife and I chose for our wedding day: “Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but to your name give glory, because of your mercy, because of your truth.” (Psalms 115:1).

After I was moved from ICU to a private room, I could identify two choices that my wife and I would have to make if we were going to heal and make any sense of what we’d been through. They were: (1) could we still trust God, could we thank Him despite what took place, could we trust Him for the outcome? And, (2) could I forgive the shooter for what he did to me?

The bullet to my upper right chest blew a two-inch section from my clavicle, sending bone fragments into the brachial plexus nerve bundle and severing many nerves to my shoulder, arm, and hand. The second bullet entered and exited my lower right leg as I was falling. Because I lost a great deal of blood from both wounds at the scene, the doctors worried that major arteries had been punctured.

I began a personal “faith check” to review everything I had learned over the years about God’s character, purpose, sovereignty, justice, love, and forgiveness. Several passages of scripture stood out: “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised . . . Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” (Job 1:21b, 2:10b). “You have heard it said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?” (Matthew 5:43–46a).

I couldn’t have done anything to prevent what took place. But that made me think about the broader issue, what can we control in our lives? I believe the only thing we really have 100% control over in life is what we think. I have been taught that our thoughts—and what feeds our thoughts—will lead to our actions:
Thoughts -> Words -> Actions -> Habits -> Character -> Reputation.

The ramifications for our lives are so great when we realize that this chain reaction originates in our thoughts! Previously, one of the things I heard Nick Vujicic say was “I have a Creator, and He designed me specifically for a purpose and if God can use a man without arms or legs to be His hands and feet, then what an awesome God we serve!” Besides scripture, Nick’s statement gave me confidence that the neuromuscular damage to my body would not hinder me in doing what God still planned for me.

Since the shooting incident, I have learned many things and have shared them with others. There are four key lessons that I found to be most valuable. First, faith and forgiveness are the result of choices—not the result of feelings or circumstances. They are based on the promises of scripture and not on experience. If I had waited for my feelings to line up with my desires, the healing would have been greatly prolonged or even delayed. In fact, I found that once I chose to believe what the Bible says regarding the placement of my trust and the extent of my forgiveness, the feelings followed! Second, I could undergo what I could not understand at the time. Third, God’s character, purpose, sovereignty, justice and love, never change. I chose to step out in trust and took God at His Word.

Lastly, God doesn’t waste a hurt. He doesn’t comfort me to make me comfortable, but to make me a comforter to others.