By Dick Stoddard

The Lord gives me some good assignments. Several years ago, I had the honor of being a "Designated Dad" for a lovely bride. Usually only mothers cry at weddings, but this one was different. As I was proudly standing beside my "daughter" at the altar, waiting to give her away to a fine young man, I don't believe there was a dry eye in the whole congregation. They were not tears of sadness because the bride was in a wheelchair, but rather tears of joy, due to the Lord's presence.

It was a beautiful wedding ceremony. Everything was perfect. However, there were a few moments of apprehension later at the reception. As you know, it is customary for the bride and groom to begin the dancing. As the band took their positions on stage, there arose a tension in the hearts of the people as they thought, "Who would begin the dancing?" and "How can anyone enjoy dancing when the bride is sitting in a wheelchair?"

The band leader stepped up to the microphone and announced, "The bride and groom will now begin the dance." A hush fell over the crowd as they thought, "Doesn't he realize that she is in a wheelchair?"

There was no reason for alarm, because this girl is not accustomed to being left out of things--especially at her own wedding. The music began, and suddenly the groom walked over to his bride, swooped her out of her chair, and, holding her in his arms, began dancing. Then the best man cut in and said, "My turn!" Soon there were men lined up, waiting to dance with the bride. The floor became crowded. People were having a good time, but no one danced more or enjoyed themselves more than the one whom the guests expected not to be able to dance at all.

Terri-Lynn Ackerman is her name, and she is living testimony to the fact that faith and courage produce happiness, regardless of the severe blows that life can deal.

At the age of nine, Terri-Lynn was riding in a car with her two sisters, her younger brother, her mother and stepfather when a large truck crashed into them, killing all but her. She remained unconscious for nearly six weeks. When she finally came out of the coma, she found herself paralyzed from the waist down due to a severed spinal cord.

Before long, she received another blow when she heard that her real father had fallen from a ladder, causing him to suffer permanent brain damage.

One night, as she was recuperating at the Albany Medical Center, she had a vision. A bright light appeared in her room, and she saw a figure in a white robe standing with outstretched arms, reaching toward her. It only lasted a moment, and she didn't know, at the time, who it was.

Two years later, at a Christian rehabilitation center, called Hope Town, she received the Lord into her heart. Then she knew that it was Jesus who had appeared to her in the vision, and that "He had been there all the time."

Since then, she has accomplished many things, including graduating from high school, going on to two years of college, and (as you already know) getting married. In fact, there is very little she can't do. She has learned to drive a car using hand-controls and now has a driver's license, and--listen to this--she has given birth to two beautiful little girls, which gave me the honor of becoming a "Designated Grand Dad."

I've never heard Terri-Lynn say, "I wish I could walk" or "Why did this happen to me?" Perhaps it is because she is too busy being a WINNER ON THE ROAD OF LIFE.