couraging message about not giving up, and know-
ing God's hope, love and purpose.
everyone," Nick recalls. "`Thank you, thank you,
thank you,' she kept repeating to me. `No one's ever
told me that they love me, no one's ever told me that
I'm beautiful the way that I am.'
his condition during the uneventful pregnancy, and
nothing in their medical history indicated there
could be problems.
child, I remember thinking, `How can you preach when
your own son was born this way?'" says Nick. "At age
eight, I felt alone, I felt forgotten by God ... if He was
real. I prayed for a miracle. A miracle didn't come."
I was doing a good thing, because then I wouldn't be
a burden to my parents," Nick says. He tried twice,
without success, and the third time the thought of
leaving his parents behind stopped him completely.
"I didn't want to leave shame, guilt and pain in their
lives, so I decided to stay."
many struggles in the years to come, but with the
guidance of his parents, he slowly started to trust
God. At 15, Nick's outlook was transformed when