In 2011 Cameron Horner survived a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed and in a wheelchair. Like many others who have endured life-changing injuries, Cameron never imagined he would live without the full use of his hands and legs. He joins the podcast to talk about how God has filled him with strength and grace amid his suffering, which has led people to know Jesus and displayed God's power through trials.
In 2011 Cameron Horner survived a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed and in a wheelchair. Like many others who have endured life-changing injuries, Cameron never imagined he would live without the full use of his hands and legs. He joins the podcast to talk about how God has filled him with strength and grace amid his suffering, which has led people to know Jesus and displayed God's power through trials.
Cameron Horner Ministries began as churches, schools, and other groups began asking Cameron to come share his journey of faith and perseverance. Cameron has a unique take on suffering and desires for the church to grow in their understanding of how to relate to the pain that we all experience in life.
Cameron has a heart for helping churches with the topic of disability. He is a resource for churches and other organizations as they minister to the disabled community.
Hear Cameron share about his experience participating in the church as a person with a disability.
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Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Founded by Joni Eareckson Tada, we provide Christ-centered care through Joni's House, Wheels for the World, and Retreats and Getaways, and offer disability ministry training.
Crystal Keating:
This is the Joni and Friends Ministry Podcast and I'm your host, Crystal Keating. Each week we're bringing you encouraging conversations about finding hope through hardship and practical ways that you can include people living with disability in your church and community. As you listen, visit joniandfriends.org/podcast to access the resources we mention or to send me a message with your thoughts.
In 2011, Cameron Horner survived a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed and in a wheelchair. Like many others who have endured life-changing injuries, Cameron never imagined he would live without the full use of his hands and legs. And yet today, he joins us to talk about how God has filled him with strength and grace, which has led people to know Jesus and displayed God's power through trials.
It is Cameron's heartbeat to share the goodness of God through dark times, explore a unique perspective on suffering, and help others grow in their understanding of how to relate to the pain we all encounter. Welcome to the podcast, Cameron.
Cameron Horner:
Thank you so much, Crystal. I'm so excited to be here. Love Joni and Friends. Would love to pour into your audience this way.
Crystal Keating:
We are open hearts and open ears and I'm just so thankful. It's cool, Cameron, because I believe you were on Joni's radio program almost 10 years ago. You had been quad for, gosh, just a couple of years.
And I think... not very long. And Joni's remark was just what a blessing it is to meet other people in wheelchairs who have a ready smile. And that's you. So, so good to be able to talk to you today.
Cameron Horner:
It's funny that you say 10 years, as I think back on it. It doesn't seem that long ago, but it has been a little bit, but that was such a blessing to get to do with her.
Crystal Keating:
Yeah. I'm glad you got to do that. Well, Cameron, let's start this conversation by talking about what happened. Take us back to your family vacation that changed your life in a radical way. What happened when you took the dive that left you paralyzed from the chest down?
Cameron Horner:
Yeah. So I have a surprisingly similar story to what Joni actually has experienced herself. At 18 years old, I was on family vacation. I was actually packed for college at that time. I felt a call to ministry and had my car packed to be going to a small Bible college. But before I left, me and the family, we decided let's go to family vacation one more time. We had been going to this same lake for my entire life.
My family had been going since, you know, my dad was a child. So it was a long-standing tradition and so we're all very comfortable with this lake. Well, day two of the vacation, I ran down the dock as fast as I could. I had been doing shallow water dives, where you dive in and kind of skim the surface of the water for most of the vacation up to that point. But this one I decided I was going to do a dive, but I was going to do it a little bit different. I was going to run as fast as I could and still do a shallow water dive. I just assumed that's what would happen. But because I was going so fast when I jumped into the air, I spread my arms. It was looking good. When I hit the water though, because I was going so fast, basically, it just, I lost control and I went straight to the bottom. When I did, my head hit the bottom and all the weight of my 18-year-old body just came down directly on my neck, and my shoulders went up, my head went down, and my spine shattered.
And I had a spinal cord injury, and became immediately, completely paralyzed. Couldn't move anything. Now I actually have decent function of my arms, but in that moment, I couldn't move anything. So I'm just, you know, I'm just under the water, and I can't move. And I didn't really feel any pain to speak of.
A little discomfort. I just remember a shock through my body. And then the inability to move anything. And then just a little discomfort in my neck. So, you know, I like to tell people like, what do you do in that situation where you can't move? I was still under the water. I was just holding my breath and you have zero ability to help yourself. That's the situation I was in. But the cool God story to my story is that the Lord had really brought me to a spiritual awakening prior to this injury and really, I cannot put in words the spiritual awakening that God, brought me through before I went through this injury.
So while I was under the water in this moment of just serious helplessness, I mean, the realization that I could die was very present. But under the water, you know, having a close walk with Jesus, the only thing that came to mind was to begin to pray and that's what I did. And I like to say the Spirit came over me because I don't think I came over me. I don't think I had the wherewithal or the wit or the spirituality to think to pray think the Spirit led me to prayer.
When the Spirit did, I felt a peace that was very tangible and I interpreted that peace as, Cameron you're gonna be okay. So, I was in that predicament for probably about a minute. It was long enough that I ran out of air.
And I took the little, like reflexive kind of breath in that you do after you hold your breath for so long. And I can't explain it and I try not to make more of it than it was but it was something significant the Lord just gave me a little bit more air, and I don't know if it was miraculous, or if there was something biological going on, but I remember just it being so significant that even a week later when I was finally able to talk to people, I shared what happened under the water. So I experienced what I believe is a little miracle or a big miracle maybe, under the water and the Lord just gave me a little more air to hang on just a little bit longer. And then 10, 15 seconds later, I was out of breath again, and my friend who was a former lifeguard appeared right beside me, pulled me up, supported my head, started pulling me back to shore, and then again, I think the Spirit of God just came over me, and Bible verses just started to flow out of me that were coming to my mind, started calling out on the name of Jesus while she pulled me back to shore. And my family came around, and we didn't really know what was going on, but we just went to prayer, and I say it this way, God, we called to him, he came near, and then over the next season of our journey through therapy through all of these things, he not only came near he stayed near and we have a God story because of that.
Crystal Keating:
Yeah, it just makes me think of, you know, how many times in scripture does he say, call to me in your day of distress and I will answer you.
Cameron Horner:
Absolutely.
Crystal Keating: And that is exactly what he did. Well, so Cameron, here you are, you're planning to go to Bible school. You have a heart for ministry and now you're paralyzed. How are you relating to God at this point? Are you praying for God to heal you? Are you believing that's possible for you? Like, what are your desires at that point?
Cameron Horner:
Yeah, such a good question. So there's kind of two sides to answering your question there. One side, there was so much of pressing into God after this. We just went all in. Always reading the Bible, always praying, and we were seeing God do incredible things.
Like, people were hearing about the story. Day two we got a report of people in a different country hearing the story and getting saved. You know, so we're hearing things like this and we're just awestruck at what God's doing. But the healing side is this kind of adjacent side for me at that same moment because, I'll take us back to that spiritual awakening that I had before my injury. That spiritual awakening which was beautiful, I wouldn't change any of it, but a lot of it was in the context of what's been called the prosperity gospel or the word of faith movement or the faith healing movement.
And to clarify what that is for someone, it's the belief that it is always God's will for someone who is sick, or their body is broken or disabled, it's always God's will for them to be healed and the journey towards the healing is a matter of the person's faith. Within this view, there's a number of ways that a person could strengthen their faith through reading scriptures, through listening to teachings and through praying certain prayers that could grow the person's faith to a point where they could receive their healing from God.
In a lot of ways, someone from that tradition would say that they are already healed, but they have maybe yet to receive it. And then when I had the injury, the most natural way of praying at that point was asking God for healing, praying the healing prayers, listening to the healing tapes, reading the healing scriptures.
I mean, I did all the things, you know. I did all the things to receive my healing. And I believe that God honored my expression of faith to him. That's what I had. I Pressed into him with a lot of sincerity, and I actually think I saw the healing power of God in my life at that time but there was a point that came where, you know, I told you in the beginning I couldn't move any part of my arms. And now I play wheelchair rugby, you know, so my arms, they work fairly well.
Yeah, my hands are still paralyzed, but my arms work fairly well. But there was a point where I almost kind of leveled off. I didn't heal anymore. And so I'm in a wheelchair. I'm paralyzed from the chest down. My arms work, but not great. My hands don't really work that great. So, I didn't receive that healing that I was looking for, but I did all the things, you know, it wasn't a lack of faith on my part. And God had to really take me through a transition in my understanding, a transition in my theology to just kind of understand suffering, my place in a wheelchair, in a more well-rounded, more healthy way, even.
Crystal Keating:
Well, maybe you can talk a little bit more about that transition. How did you experience God's presence and continue your relationship with Christ when you kind of had that realization, okay, God has healed me in some ways and although I'm not completely physically healed as, you know, with the use of my arms and legs like I used to, what might God have for me looking to the future?
What was that experience like for you? I think a lot of people can really relate to that. When you come to a point, and I think Joni kind of came to this point of like, you know, she says, okay God, if I can't die, I mean she was suicidal, then tell me how to live. You know, it's that question you stop asking why and you say, okay what are your purposes? Who are you? Where am I in this story? What was that like for you?
Cameron Horner:
Yeah, such great questions. So first of all the question of when I realized I will probably be paralyzed the rest of my life, or maybe paralyzed the rest of my life, how did I relate to God and His presence in that? You know, I think some stories are, like, I realize the hard thing, or I realize that I'm gonna be this way the rest of my life, or I go through something difficult, and I reject God, or I press away from God.
And that's some people's story, and I think they have to go through that. They have to mourn, and hopefully, they come back to him. For me, it was actually the opposite. It was God's presence that took me through the transition, from believing I was going to be healed, to something different.
I used to tell people, especially in the beginning, that I was hard-headed for God. Really what I meant was I was hard-headed for the particular theology that I had. And I was not going to give up on my healing. I believed it. In fact, I believed it so strongly that it was the belief in it that oftentimes was getting me through some of the hardest times during therapy.
That's really how strong my faith was and my confidence. So for me, it wasn't a deficiency of faith. Some in the faith healing movement would say, well, you gave up on your healing. You stopped pressing in. And that's exactly the opposite of what happened for me. I never gave up my faith for healing, but it got transitioned to a faith in something else.
So the faith's really never diminished. My gaze turned to something different. Here's really what it was for me. I believe that G od is a healer. I believe that God heals, I've seen it. I pray for people to be healed. I don't know if people think that's weird, but me in my wheelchair, if we're doing a prayer meeting at church for healing, I'm gonna be up there, you know. So I believe in that. I have seen miracles. But I think for me, maybe this is too simplistic, or maybe there's a more complicated answer that some others have to take, but for me, I just feel like the simple answer, though it has so many depths and nuances, but the simple answer is that God does heal, but we're in a time period in human history and in the history of eternity. I mean, the history of eternity, we're in a time period right now where God doesn't always heal.
And that can be very difficult. You know, there are hard things in this world, but all of the difficult, all the very hard things in this world actually are going to get radically overturned when Jesus comes back. I mean, radically upended. And I think for a lot of people that can be really hard to connect with because it's like, what about the here and now?
And that's a legitimate question. There are really difficult things in the here and now, but we're going to go through those and we have to have a greater hope to set our anchor into if we're going to get through those things with any kind of joy, and the greater hope that gets us through the hard things that got me through being paralyzed, it gets me through every day is the fact that I know Jesus is going to split the sky.
He's going to come back to this earth. He's going to transform our bodies to be like his glorious body. And the 18-year-old athletic body that I had before, it's not going to compare to the body that God's going to give me in the resurrection. So that's my hope and I had to go through that transition, and not everybody views it this way, but the way I view it is that we are actually in a period of history after the Garden of Eden until the return of Jesus where suffering is a very real and present part of the human experience and of creation, and that's a tough pill to swallow. But I think it's a biblical pill to swallow. But God doesn't leave us there. He comes with his presence. He came to the cross. He gave us everything we need for life and godliness and he's given us a sure and steady hope which is the return of Jesus, the resurrection of the dead, the glorified body, new creation, all of these glorious things. So, I had to transition from a faith in healing now, which would be great, you know, but to a more steady and sure hope that absolutely will take place, the healing of my body at the return of Christ.
Crystal Keating:
You know, maybe we can dig a little deeper in that. The change of mind and kind of the perspective shift for you has really opened a door for ministry. I mean, your desire to share God's love, God's word, the truth, hope with others has not diminished. So, you know, maybe you can share about your experience of paralysis and how it's changed more of your beliefs about God's part in our suffering. You talk about, you know, where to put your anchor, where do we put our hope and that your gaze has been shifted from the focus on faith and healing then to the Healer. Like, what is God doing on that deeper level through our suffering?
Cameron Horner:
I'm going to take one step back and answer a slightly different question then come to your question.
Crystal Keating:
Great.
Cameron Horner:
So, a lot of times, when we're thinking about God and suffering and his role, the question that we always go to is a question of, well, did God cause the suffering, or did Satan cause the suffering? It's a sovereignty of God question. And I just want to say, there have been 2, 000 years of church theologians debating this, and I don't think we've got it figured out yet. I don't fully know, but I will say this. I think that question distracts us from the more important question.
So, I just want to say to everybody, it's an important question and I think it's something to think about, but I think that it could distract us from the more important question of what does God do in the suffering? And here's the distinction, not who caused the suffering, But what does God do in and through the suffering? Does that make sense?
Crystal Keating:
Yes, it does. Yeah.
Cameron Horner:
So, I don't want to go too deep or complex here I just want to give the basics of what the biblical text says. The first thing, 2nd Corinthians chapter 1 almost the whole chapter talks to this is God allows us to go through suffering and hard things so that we can help others who are also going through suffering and also going through hard things. Simple as that.
If you've been through something hard, you have a story. You have an experience. You have a testimony of God working that you can now turn around. And you can use that in the life of someone else that you're going to come across. And as one who's gotten to experience that, doing that over and over again, I just want to say it's one of the most glorious, fulfilling, fruitful things in the life of a believer to be able to use the suffering that you've been through for the good of someone else.
So, that's number one. Suffering turns all of us into ministers because we get to minister out of our suffering. The second thing that it does is it is producing something in us. And maybe actually that's the first thing. And then 2nd Corinthians 1 is the second thing, but it's producing something in us.
So you know, for better or for worse, I have many moments throughout many days where I have to have more patience than most do because I'm paralyzed. It takes me much longer to get out of bed than the average person. It takes me much longer to cook my food. I have a glorious kitchen, by the way.
I was blessed, we were building a new home and we made it handicap accessible. And it's glorious, but it still takes me a while to cook, and I have to have patience for that. There'll be times that my hands are paralyzed, and I'll be trying to open something, or trying to do something, and it's just tough.
Well, one example, but so many things that suffering actually does, is producing and changing our character. Now, I actually believe that suffering has the potential to have a negative effect on us, depending on our response. When we respond to suffering by blaming God, by growing angry, the negative traits, I actually think that it's forming something in us that is just a little bit of darkness and each time we respond that way a little bit of darkness happens. Now what I'm not saying is always just grit your teeth and bear it and never get upset. That's not what I'm saying. We are humans and a healthy response is sometimes a little bit of anger, but I think if we have that response when we come down from the situation, we need to turn our hearts back to God in humility and say, God, this is difficult, but I'm going to trust in you. Or this is difficult, but I know you're going to work it out.
And there are situations, I realize there are situations that seem impossible. I get it. But God is real. It's going to be okay. It's going to work out. I've seen it happen 10, 000 times in my 12 years of being paralyzed. If we will react as well as we can by the power of the Holy Spirit in the moment, and then maybe just slightly better later when we've cooled down, I really think that suffering is producing in us character.
And Paul would say that. James would say that. I mean, James chapter one, consider it joy when you face various trials. Cause it's producing in you perseverance. So the Bible has a lot to say about the fruit of perseverance, the fruit of the way we respond to suffering.
And I just think that's one of the most important things that the Christian needs to know, but that we're not discipled in. We're not told that suffering is part of experience as Christians. We're not told these things. So when it happens, we're just like, especially younger people or younger Christians, we give up our faith, we have all these existential questions and fine. But there are actually answers.
Crystal Keating:
Right.
Cameron Horner:
We were not left without answers. Suffering is a part of this, and Jesus said, take up your cross for a reason.
Crystal Keating: Yes. And it just makes me think of what James said to us. Why are you surprised that you're experiencing so many trials? I mean, doesn't he say that to us? And Jesus said in this world you will experience great trials. So there's this sense where we know God can change anything. We know he can intervene. We believe he is the Healer. We know that he could eradicate suffering immediately. And yet the Bible talks about this long-term perspective where he is working in and through us to will and to do for his good pleasure, that he's transforming us so that we learn to say not my will but yours be done, right? I mean, isn't that the essence of Jesus who continued to submit himself?
And also, you see the Psalms where the Psalmists are crying out, Lord, where are you? What are you doing? How long is this going to last? How long, oh Lord? I mean, and so God knows all that. And I just appreciate that perspective of like, number one, God meets us in our trial so that we experience his grace. And then number two, we're transformed. And then three, we can turn around and encourage and comfort one another with the comfort that he's given to us.
Cameron Horner:
Yes. Amen.
Crystal Keating:
So, you have such a passion for the church to really connect, you know, the pain and suffering we all experience in this life on earth with what God has done. Tell us a little bit about your ministry and how you've been able not just to reach the church locally, but even to minister around the world.
Cameron Horner:
Well, you know, I do want to connect it to the experience that I've been through. So I think a lot of times when we think of ministry or we hear somebody who's on Joni and Friends' podcast, we're like, oh, well they're probably big time or they're probably like on airplanes all the time.
And I just want to say some of the most powerful ministry that I've seen and that my suffering has opened up is the person that I meet randomly during the day outside the coffee shop or on the bench on the street that I just feel a prompting from the Lord to say, go talk to this person. Our experience with suffering oftentimes brings the walls down so that we can approach someone, and they can receive what we have to say. So, if it's a question of like, you know, what doors have been opened, the doors that get opened from our suffering and from what I've experienced are, it goes back to what we were just talking about.
We have something that can bring the walls down of someone who's like, well, you can't relate to what I've been through. It's like, well, no, I've been through stuff too. So that's the first level. It's just a lot of what I do, and a lot of what people do who have gone through suffering is really just the day-to-day loving people and being sensitive to the Spirit.
I have gotten the opportunity to travel and speak places, some of the coolest places. And I haven't been to a ton of different countries because traveling in a wheelchair is not the easiest thing in the world.
Crystal Keating:
Especially not internationally.
Cameron Horner:
Yeah, it can be difficult. But I've had the opportunity to go to Ireland three times and travel a speaking tour around to different churches or small groups of that sort. And a lot of people are like, why Ireland? And the answer is, a lot of the West is becoming a dark place and I don't go there thinking I'm going to create a revival by any means, but I want to go there to, you know, strengthen the faith of my fellow believers who are there. I was actually on the phone to an Irish friend today. Another cool place I've gotten to go is India. So I've been there once. I probably would have been back if it wasn't for the pandemic. And I remember I reached out to one of Joni's aides and I was like, hey, is this even possible? Like go to India and do this? And she was like, yes, absolutely. So, she talked me through some of that and I was able to do that.
Crystal Keating:
Good. That's exciting. Even the first thing you said that you visibly having experienced a traumatic injury kind of gives you a platform to speak on suffering.
And, you know, even though you may not have encountered a divorce or a loss of a child or, you know, some of the things we've talked about on the podcast. You have seen God minister to you and grow your faith through those experiences so that you can share in that with someone else. You know, I'm kind of curious, people with disabilities often explain, it's not the physical effects of their disability. I mean, you talk about, you know, getting on a plane and going to India and your routine is long and there's an aspect of it that your life has changed physically, but there's such a deeper level of challenge like the relational, emotional, and practical impact of a disability. How has that been for you?
Cameron Horner:
Yeah, so part of the ministry that I'm trying to get into more is around areas of disability more broadly. So this question gets into the question of what's been called the social model of disability versus the medical model of disability.
The medical model of disability explains that the problem that someone has or the reason they're disabled is actually that something's wrong with their body. So their body's broken and therefore, you know, they're disabled, they're unable to do things. And in that case, we're trying to fix it.
We're trying to find a cure for the body. The social model is not so much an issue with the person's body, it's that there are social structures that are disabling. So a simple example: me and my wheelchair, we get along great. I get around very well, just so you know. I don't do skate parks, but I've thought about it. Just gotta find a good one. So, I get around pretty well. And honestly, I mean, I don't go hiking in the mountains, so there's some disability there, but if I'm around a city, I'm going to be able to get around to most places as if I wasn't disabled.
But when I come across a curb and there's no curb cutout, suddenly in the social model, I am now disabled by that curb without the curb cutout, if that makes sense. So the social versus medical model people are trying to reframe it as, well, actually, there's systems and structures that are disabling people that could be addressed, and then people with bodies that are atypical or different than the norm, whatever the norm is, I don't even know. Bodies that are atypical, those bodies would be far less disabled if we change some of these structures. Now, when I say something like that, or when someone says something like that, we automatically go to physical structures, so again, curb cutouts or ramps. But there's actually attitudes and stigmas that we hold culturally that are definitely keeping disabled people disabled in a different way.
There's times when I go out somewhere and, you know, I just get looked at weird. Or you know, I'm 30 years old. I'm an adult. But I get treated as if I'm a child or I'm unable. There's also relational aspects, whether it's friendship or romantic relationships. A lot of times people with disabilities have a harder time starting or maintaining friendships or relationships because of the stigmas or because, you know, people just maybe don't have patience for us all the times.
In the beginning, after my injury, I lost a lot of friendships. Some of that was because I was 18 and people were moving on and I just couldn't as much. But some of it seemed like, okay, we were really close and now I don't ever hear from you. So yes, the social versus medical. Now if we look at those two and we try to say either or, we're going to have a problem. You can't say...
Crystal Keating:
Do you need a change or do we need to change?
Cameron Horner:
Yeah. Yeah. It's not only the medical, it's not only the social. It really is both. You know, my body is the problem sometimes. But I think it's far more social than we have realized in the West or around the world. And if we could begin addressing those things, a lot of bodies that we see as disabled would be far less disabled.
Crystal Keating:
Yes, amen. You know, it just makes me think of this other guest we had, and she talked about when you live in Christian community, everything is relational. So, you know, Cameron becomes a quadriplegic, and so we don't try to fix him, although we want him to grow and heal and develop. But then we come alongside of him as a community and say, how do we change? Where do we serve? How do we fit? I think in our quest for independence and identity of independence, we have lost that relational interdependence and we talk so much about this on the podcast that we believe that is God's good design as the body of Christ.
That we are actually called to work with one another, to adjust our lives because if one part is hurting, the whole body hurts. That response of you're right. Like, is it the medical model or the social model?
Well, let's look at the body of Christ model. What does that say? And so how do we as believers come together and love, again, what's the bigger picture? To display God's love to the watching world that says, why do you guys do this? Why do you lay down your lives for one another? So that you can show, hey, God is with us.
We are a place where God dwells and God's Spirit is and I can see how, although we want to heal the body, right? One day all of our bodies will be completely healed in Christ. There's something deeper and relational going on that has impacted you.
Cameron Horner:
Yeah. Totally. You said the word interdependence and I love that you use that word. I think that people with disabilities being in the church, we bring things, I mean, this is obvious, we bring things to the church that the church is not going to have otherwise. And one of the things that I like to say, and others say as well, is that people with disabilities are a prophetic presence within the church. We make the body of Christ rethink certain things. And one of the things is interdependence. I and others with disabilities are very acquainted with what it's like to be dependent and interdependent on others. And you're right, that is part of the body of Christ that the go, go Western, you know, production, all those things, it presses us in a certain direction that is super individualistic. Super I'm gonna pull myself up by my own bootstraps, I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna take care of it. And we forget that we're actually a part of a body that depends on each other. But as people with disabilities, we understand that more and we can bring that to the body. So, yes, absolutely.
Crystal Keating:
That is so good. Well, Cameron, we've talked a lot about how God has been transforming your life and giving you an open door to share with the church. And, you know, you've really expressed both like the hardships and some of the things that God's doing. What are some of the blessings that have come from your life-changing injury?
Cameron Horner:
Wow. You know, I think this became super real to me very quickly and it hasn't changed, but I think it just was so palpable in the beginning is that there's something about God that he just loves to get close to people who are going through suffering. You know, I'm very hesitant to say that I have a special relationship with God because I'm disabled. That's actually a view that is kind of prominent that could be problematic and has caused problems, but I would also be hesitant to say that there isn't something about our God that he comes close when we all go through really hard things. He does that. And I went through a really hard thing and my life continues to be hard at times, quite difficult at times. And I have gotten a unique intimacy with God because, not because of me, but because of the character of God. Does that make sense?
Crystal Keating:
Yes, it does.
Cameron Horner:
It's not a, it's not a me thing. It's the character of God is such that when we go through sufferings, a blessing comes out of it because we get to know him in a unique way. And that does have somewhat to do with our response. If our heart goes hard, if we bristle up against him, he doesn't like getting around pride or places where there's not humility.
But if we can come to him with as much humility as we can and just stay in a posture of trust, I tell you what, he comes close. So I've gotten to experience that blessing. The more external blessings, I would say is, you know, I've gotten to experience the blessing of friendships that accept me in my disability and see it for, I don't like to use the word despite, like, they are my friends, despite the disability. That's, no we need to get rid of those things.
It's not a despite, it's they're my friends because of the disability, or they're my friends because they see what I bring to the table, what I bring to relationships, what I bring to the church, et cetera. So, yeah, those are some things. And honestly, going back to the earlier question about what I'm doing in ministry.
I've had the opportunity to take what could look like a waste. You know, most of us are like, oh man, an 18-year-old. Got life ahead of him, packed for college, so many blessings, and then this happened. What a waste. What a life that's wasted and it could be that way, except for God. So God took what could have seemed like a waste and actually didn't waste an ounce of it. He turned it around and used it to produce things in me. He used it to allow me to begin traveling and sharing my story all over the place. So I've gotten to see God's hand at work in my life through the injury and honestly, I've gotten to do some cool things, you know, gotten to meet and have coffee with Joni Eareckson Tada.
What a cool thing, you know. That's such a cool thing and travel to India and go to Ireland and preach the Gospel in a little church in the countryside. I mean, yeah, just great adventures with Jesus because we gave him what we had, you know. I had a broken neck and a broken spinal cord, and a broken body and I gave it to him and he's used it.
Crystal Keating:
Well, that's our God and he's good.
Cameron Horner:
Yes.
Crystal Keating:
Cameron, it's been such an encouragement to have you on the podcast today. Thanks so much for sharing your story with us.
Cameron Horner:
Yes. Thank you so much. I had so much fun with you.
Crystal Keating:
Thank you for listening today. For more episodes, find us wherever you get your podcasts, and be sure to subscribe. We'd also love it if you would tell a friend. And for more encouragement, follow Joni and Friends on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube, and visit our website at joniandfriends.org/podcast.
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