Enable Brittany to help others!!!

If you don't know Brittany, you are missing out. She and I grew up together going to church and camps and such. Here is one thing I remember - I never heard her complain. Ever. She did not ask for this fund to be started, and I think it was difficult for her to accept, but she needs her village now.

Brittany grew up with mild cerebral palsy, which effects mostly her legs and mobility. If that wasn't enough, she has endured a physical assault encounter, and battled her way through an eating disorder as a result. Now, having overcome all of that, she is determined to finish graduate school so that she can help others using her counseling degree, and in her own words "holding others pain for them when they cannot bear it." What a blessed aspiration.

Here is the problem: Brittany's CP has become so taxing that it literally pains her everytime she walks. She is worn out by noon, yet she must keep a full time job, plus an internship for her degree, PLUS complete course work. She puts in 70-80 hours each week fulfilling just these committments. I approached Brittany about raising money, because I believe, and I KNOW that the Lord will be present in this campaign so that she may quit her job until she graduates in May. I cannot WAIT to see the LORD blow the top off of this campaign and to give Brittany the sweet rest that he promises us all in scripture.

Please see below for Brittany's full story, in her own words. Brittany, I cannot wait for you to visibly see God providing for your needs through the people that will donate to this campaign. Love you girl.

Brittany's story....
My name is Brittany and there are a multitude of intertwining reasons why I am accepting this help, which is something that I am NOT accustomed to. Firstly, I was born with Cerebral Palsy. It was a mild form and has only affected my legs. I have been fairly high functioning for the majority of my life and the disability was just something that was a bit different about me rather than something that I noticed. However, over the past several years as I've entered into my 30s, I have felt the pressure of the way my body moves start to catch up with me. I've been seeing a specialist over the past year to try and get a handle on the affects of the CP in order to keep my level of functioning stable (I would desperately love to be a mother someday, but I'll save that story for another time). I went through an incredibly invasive surgery at the beginning of this year, per the doctor's suggestion. It has not helped. Rather than increase my mobility, it has made every step I take excruciating and exhausting. By about noon every day, my body is done. I have other doctors working on some other diagnoses such as Peripheral Neuropathy (due to 30 years of strain on my nerves) and an autoimmune disorder. Needless to say, as this journey unfolds, I am left in constant pain. It is extremely difficult to express what chronic pain, along with a disability, does to someone both physically and emotionally. I often feel like half of a person, lazy and incapable; things I have never felt before and things that lead to emotional pain of feeling guilty, depressed, and invaluable.

The second part of this story is deeply emotional for me. I am currently working on becoming a clinical mental health counselor. The reason this is personal for me is because of what brought me to this field. Many think it's because of my disability, which is true, in part. However, in my early twenties, I survived a traumatic assault which perpetuated a severe eating disorder. I worked hard to recover and overcame!!! After years of recovery, I knew, with complete certainty, that I had survived all these things - disability, assault, and an eating disorder - to help others who have painful stories. That is what my work as a counselor will be: holding other's pain for them when they cannot bear it.

So how does all this intertwine? Over the past year, I have come to accept that my body can only handle so much. I currently work full time, have an internship client load that takes up about 20 hours a week, and then have about 10 hours of classwork/homework, depending on the load. So, right now, this all looks like a 70-80 hour work week, which would be difficult for an average person. So, what I am asking for is support to finish out my calling without having to work on top of it, which is just not an option anymore. I have struggled and fought to keep up this pace for as long as I can, but I don't foresee my body holding out for much longer. I'm trying to preserve my body for as long as possible while a diagnosis is discovered. I will be graduating next May and I need help getting to that finish line.

Please don't take a sob story from this. That is not how I see my life. I see every experience as a blessing in disguise that has led my to the next incredible chapter in my life. What I want you to see is that this is an investment in people who are hurting. I know that this is the work I was destined for. There are so many out there who are hurting. Will you help me, so that I can help them?