Hello, my friends and welcome to the Live Inspired podcast Monday morning moments with John O'Leary.

I'll record these so that you and I can begin these days

on fire with a burst of inspiration. I'm going to begin this episode with a quote from a friend of

mine. And if you listen to the most recent Live Inspired podcast, I hope a friend of yours. His name is

Orvin Kimbrough. Orv says this. We are not victims. Adopting a victim identity means surrendering your power. That's powerful in particular if you know his story. So let's begin this episode with a question. Why me? Why me? This was the question I wrestled with frequently after

getting burned. When I was finally able to communicate with my parents after more than a month,

the first question that I asked them was not, when will I get out of here? Or, what's next? Or, who's watching my siblings while you are at my bedside

around the clock? No. The question I asked them was simply, why me? Five months of hospitalization,

dozens of surgeries, rounds of amputations, and incessant pain

did not alleviate my desire to better understand why I was enduring all this.

Neither did being released from the hospital, returning to a rebuilt house,

finding myself surrounded by the love of a family or being lifted up by the support of a community.

As I slowly learned to walk again, gradually learned to ride again, and haltingly returned to school again,

each time I felt the pang of physical agony or caught a glimpse of my new reflection in the mirror, I wondered,

why me?

One night, as my dad was helping me get dressed for bed, I asked him that question again.

It was one he had tried to answer numerous times previously with responses like, well, John, bad things

happen to good people.

Or he say sometimes, God works through all things, John.

Or other times, he might add, keep the faith that something good will come out of all this.

And sometimes even, more simply, more honestly,

John, I don't know, I don't know. But on this night, Dad took a different approach. He finished

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