Jamey Carrington is eighteen years old and uses a wheelchair because of Spinal Muscular Atrophy. But the second he starts to speak, you realize his story isn’t actually about a disability at all.
It is human nature to think about how other people see us, especially when we feel different from everyone else. We spend so much time worrying about whether we are enough or if our flaws are the only things people notice.
We try to isolate ourselves in our own spaces and set ourselves apart from the public because of the fear of facing people. But we have a God who “first loved us” more than anyone else. He sees us, understands us, and knows something special about us that no one else could see.
Jamey Carrington’s testimony is a reminder that our value is not shaped by what we lack, but by the God who created us on purpose and for a reason.
Years ago, before Jamey was even born, his mother felt God ask her a very specific question. She felt the Lord asking if she would be willing to have a “special son.” It is a question that would trouble any mother. But she said ‘Yes.’
Not long after, Jamey’s sister was born. Since she was a healthy girl and not a boy, Jamey’s mom naturally forgot all about that quiet conversation with God.
Seven years went by before Jamey arrived. When he was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, the weight of that earlier promise finally hit home. Life turned upside down for the whole family.
Jamey has never walked. He has never been able to feed himself or even put clothes on his own back. He watched others do effortlessly what he simply couldn’t do.
For a long time, that reality felt like a heavy chain. Jamey admits he was drowning in a sea of loneliness and bitter thoughts. He truly believed his life would be spent hiding away in his room with nothing to look forward to.
Everything shifted when Jamey met Jesus right where he was. Jamey says the Lord told him something he will never forget: “You don’t have to have working legs, but you can help other people run even if you can’t walk.”
That one thought changed his entire world. He stopped focusing on what his body couldn’t do and started looking at what God could do through him.
These days, Jamey is traveling and sharing his testimony with a smile. He isn’t waiting for a physical miracle to finally be happy because he found something better. He likes to say, “I love life, because I love Jesus.”
Maybe our broken pieces aren’t the end of the story after all.
WATCH: Jamey Carrington Speaks About How Jesus Turned His Life Around
