Скачать или смотреть My Speech at Living Opportunities

I am just a normal kid, teenager if you want to be politically correct. I love loud music, the occasional crazy dare, and doing what I was meant to do.
I am 16 years old. I was born August 30th, 1995 to my parents, Angie and Mike Peterson. My mom had contracted a rare form of food poisoning called Listeria, almost causing death to both of us, but God decided that I had a much higher calling than dying. So He gave me Cerebral Palsy, a disability that affects virtually my whole physical body, but gives a witness to people all over the world.
I won't lie and say it's totally amazing having CP. I cannot get dressed, or run. I cannot dance. I can't feel the motion of spinning around until I'm obliviously happy, and smack down on the ground, laughing with my friends.
But CP is not terrible either. It's not some death wish that I have placed on me. God gave it to me as a tool, and I'm going to use it as such, even if it means letting kids drive my wheelchair, and praying that I don't get hurt (which I usually don't).
One day I came home from school and I told my parents that I wanted to help people less fortunate than I, and they answered in a soft, sweet tone: That's awesome, Brittany! They didn't think it would go far. I mean what do you say to a 7-year old in a wheelchair? Honey, you are crazy! But they played along with it, soon they really believed.
Since I was 7, we have sold handmade cards to raise money for projects such as sleeping bags for the homeless, soldier boxes, libraries for various women's shelters all over Oregon, bought a laptop for missionaries in Israel, and most recently we funded a mobile medical unit to go out and administer medical help to homeless camps around Central Oregon. Our next project will be granting a kid like me, an iPad equipped with a speech app like I'm using right now!
Sometimes I joke with myself that I have crazy fans just like Justin Bieber, except of all ages. They come up to me and give me a big hug and kiss, and just like him, I take it in stride because I know God doesn't want me to shun them, just because they leave a big set of lip marks on my cheek. I give them extra grace because maybe they aren't exposed to a person with a disability.
So why am I here today? To be a living example of Living Opportunities' mission, to show people that even if I'm stuck in a 500-pound wheelchair, I can be a productive member of our society, and provide hope to those who need it. Thank you!