Hank Smith:                      00:03                   Welcome to followHIM Favorites. This is where John and I share a single story to go with each week’s Come, Follow Me lesson. John, we are in Genesis 42 through 50. Same story as last week, Joseph of Egypt. I have a story for you that fits one of the overall messages of Joseph of Egypt, and that is you don’t quit. When things go wrong, you just don’t quit. And how many times do things go wrong for him?

John Bytheway:               00:30                   Yeah.

Hank Smith:                      00:32                   He tries again and again and again, and eventually it works out. Well, John, you and I both have a friend. Her name is Meg Johnson. When Meg was in her early 20s, there was an accident in St. George. She was up in the red cliffs of St. George and fell off of a cliff. Terrible accident, paralyzing her. She becomes a quadriplegic, which means she loses the use of her legs and a lot of the use of her arms. She, of course, goes through surgery after surgery after surgery, attempting to save her life, and then to give her some sort of mobility. She eventually, and through a series of honestly, miraculous events, makes it home. She is now confined to a wheelchair. Well, John, she said there was one day where she was learning how to drink a glass of orange juice again. Here’s a woman that was in college, that was dating, having the time of her life, and now here she is just trying to learn how to use a fork again or to pick up a glass.

                                           01:37                   She told me this. She said there was a moment, I think she was sitting outside on the deck. Her mom had wheeled her outside. She said, you know, I had to make a decision. I could spend the rest of my life wanting my old life back. I could. I could sit every day and want my old life back. Or, she said, I could get busy building my new life. I think Joseph of Egypt hit a couple of those moments when his brothers sell him and he could spend the rest of his life wanting his old life back, but he builds a new life in Potiphar’s house. And then he gets betrayed by Potiphar’s wife and he could just want either one of those old lives back, but he doesn’t. He builds a new life. Every time he gets knocked down, he says, am I just gonna sit here hoping for my old life back or am I going to build something new? Well, Meg decides she’s gonna start her new life.

                                           02:43                   Boy, did she ever. She has started wonderful organizations for girls in wheelchairs. She becomes Miss Wheelchair Utah. She now speaks all over the world as a corporate speaker and as a youth speaker. She changes lives, and it was because she made the decision that she wasn’t going to sit and look and say, oh, what if things had been different? She decided instead of looking backwards, she’s gonna move forward.

John Bytheway:               03:12                   One of the first things she did was lose herself in service. She went to an elementary school and said, can I help you? Right. Principals like, you wanna help us? She helped teach children to read because she could read. There’s a movie called Falling Up, the Meg Johnson story just on YouTube, if you wanna see who we’re talking about, but that’s a great example, Hank. She said, the Lord told her once, don’t envy what you do not have anymore because I have given you more. And you’re like, whoa, what? Really? Great attitude about taking life on and trying again, like you said. So we love Meg.

Hank Smith:                      03:52                   Yep. And she has a wonderful life. She has a wonderful husband. She has wonderful children. She’s doing very well. A lot like Joseph of Egypt. She took something very painful, very difficult, and you know what, said, this is my life now, and I’m gonna make something of it, and boy has she ever. We hope you’ll join us on our full podcast. It’s called followHIM. You can get it wherever you get your podcast. We’re with Dr. Stephen Smoot this week, he is an Egyptologist, and if you wanna see how an Egyptologist takes on the story of Joseph of Egypt, come over there and join us on our full podcast, and then come back here next week. We’ll do another followHIM Favorites.