Sunday, January 29, 2023

Scratchy Barefoot Preacher

I have had my YouTube channel, The Quad Life, for a few years. The intention of it was to show life as a quadriplegic and how I do things. For more than a year, that plan worked well and I demonstrated what life is like. However, I sit in bed in my room most of the time and each week isn't much different from the rest. Therefore, without redoing what I have already done, I ran out of material. I still cover changes like returning to a trach, but that kind of thing is thankfully rare.

Therefore, I started a new series on my channel that I call the Barefoot Preacher. So far, I have released three videos that cover an introduction and a few basics of Christianity. It isn't much different from previous preaching series I've done, but I hope for it to be more of a long-term goal.

Unlike previous Bible themed content, I have more of a plan to cover some of the problems going on in society, comparing major world religions and so on. If nothing else, it's good practice to keep my preaching skills active while I'm not visiting churches. However, I am noticing a change in myself I don't like.

Saturday, I was editing a short preaching video and added text for the viewer to read while I read from the Bible. I have done enough videos to be familiar with my own voice and I noticed yesterday I am much scratchier than I have been in the past. I'm also pausing longer when taking a breath which makes it harder to follow what I'm saying, even for me.

Right now, all I have scheduled for spring is speaking at a school's morning chapel service. I sent messages out on Friday to schedule school visits, but don't have anything planned. With every day that passes, it seems like I'm noticing more trouble with breathing and therefore speech. I think I may need to concentrate more on going back to a trach button before doing a lot of public speaking.

No matter what happens in the quad life, I know God is in control. Moses had trouble speaking and God used him to free the Israelites. Paul also spoke with trembling lips, but was used to greatly spread the good news of Christ. I'll pray for an improvement in God's time and maybe learn not to be as particular on how I'm speaking and more to what I'm saying.

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