Soldier brings message of hope to students

Jay Fondren wheeled onto the stage.

“I’m going to take ya’ll back so you can appreciate what the Lord has done,” he said as he began his presentation. “I hope that you can see it is not what I’ve done, but what the Lord has done through me.”  

The speaker was unlike the rest who have spoken to students during this semester’s chapel. Fondren was deployed to Iraq in 2004 in the 1st Calvary Division out of Fort Hood but was injured in a roadside bombing the day before Thanksgiving. From the accident, he lost both of his legs and a thumb. After spending three weeks in a coma the soldier returned home to his wife and son.

Fondren’s Nov. 28 message focused on dealing with crisis. Because of his physical handicap, Fondren said he must start every day off praying that God will give him the strength to make it through.

“The main point I hope students received is that God is all you really need in every circumstance,” Fondren said.

Bethany Carter, a freshman Christian studies major said listening to the speaker was an eye-opening experience.

“It was hard for me to watch because I’m an Army brat, and I can’t help but think that could be my dad. But it was nice to see how God can still be at work in all of that.”

Fondren said he finds his strength in the Lord daily.

“Remember that God is preparing you for a specific design. He has a purpose for you even though you might not understand it all the time. Just know that the hard times are like a sharpening tool.”