Like many 27-year-olds, Amy Brooks is quick to respond to
e-mails, Facebook and even text messages, and she knows a good deal more about
computers than her older siblings.
When not online, she may be out shopping or creating 3-D
paper art by cutting out and layering images within a picture. The avid hockey
fan is a regular at Pittsburgh Penguins games, cheering on her hometown team.
Visitors to Allison Park Church, an Assemblies of God congregation in Pittsburgh,
may find her waiting at the sanctuary doors on Sunday, greeting attendees as
they enter.
Friends and family marvel at all Amy is able to accomplish
without arms or legs.
“I do everything that everybody else does; I just do it
differently,” Amy says. “I try, and if it doesn’t work, I just do it a
different way until I get it.”
From Amy’s perspective, anything is possible — a
mind-set she credits to her parents, Rich and Janet Brooks, but a lifestyle
that inspires others to see past their own limitations and embrace God’s
viewpoint of themselves.
James Callahan, affectionately known as Pastor Cal, leads
the seniors ministry at Allison Park Church. But when Amy was a child, he was
her children’s pastor.
“Even though the physical handicap is so visible, she still
holds the value of what God sees in her,” he says. “When I’m with Amy, I don’t
see her loss, I see her commitment to God.”
Growing up, Amy says she had an understanding that God makes
everyone different, and she simply accepted herself as she was.
“I always understood that God makes us the way we are for a
reason,” Amy says. “If I can glorify Him more in the state that I am in, it’s
better than if I were to have arms and legs.”
Neither Janet nor Rich can recall a time when Amy questioned
God as to why she was born without limbs.
“She never sat
down and asked why,” Janet recalls. “She never whined about it. She never once
said, ‘If I only had fingers, I could do that.’ ”
From Amy’s perspective, she had a normal childhood. She
believes that was made possible by her parents, who say they never treated her
as handicapped so she never felt handicapped.
“My parents didn’t treat me differently than my siblings,”
she explains. “I had to take my dishes to the kitchen when I was finished with
them. I went to a public school. I did my own homework, and I didn’t do any
less homework than anybody else. Everything was as normal as could be.”
In raising Amy, Janet recalls asking God, “Please show me
how to raise her, and I will do my best to do so by Your instructions.”
Everything from teaching Amy to balance or to roll over, Janet says, to
creating makeshift arms so she could bat at her baby toys were God-given ideas.
Some of the ideas included contraptions Rich designed, such
as a walker Amy used to get around as a baby.
“I looked at her, saw what she needed and tried to do it,”
Rich says.
Rich and Janet’s journey with Amy came about because of a
decision five years before Amy was born.
AN OPEN HOUSE
In November 1976, Janet and Rich signed up to become foster
parents. At the time they had four children of their own. Brian, Candy, Myia
and Noah ranged in age from 5 to 17. During the next 25 years, the Brookses
would foster more than 80 children, most of whom had major medical needs.
“I explained to the agency whenever we started that I didn’t
have any training in caring for children with special needs,” Janet says. “But
I asked the Lord to just give me the children I was meant to have, and He does
have a sense of humor.”
From caring for children with no medical needs for a few
days to caring for a little girl with cerebral palsy and severe allergies for
three years, Janet and Rich’s open door truly depicts the nature of their
hearts.
“They’re just a great visible example of so many things
— grace, endurance through trials, love, and acceptance for people,” says
Jeff Leake, senior pastor of Allison Park Church.
Late September 1981, Janet received a call about a little
baby girl born without limbs.
“They had already code named her so it couldn’t be traced
back, and when I hung up the phone it just came to me: Her name is Amy,” Janet
recalls. “I really took that as a sign from God.”
When Amy was 6 months old, the agency began looking for a
permanent home. It was then that Rich and Janet declared their decision to
adopt Amy. Two years later, Amy’s adoption was finalized.
ARTISTIC ABILITIES
Amy was the only one of the Brookses’ children to graduate
from high school with honors. From start to finish, she attended public
schools. Tasks such as getting out her books, turning pages and writing without
assistance meant homework often consumed several hours a night.
In junior high, Amy’s natural artistic ability caught the
attention of her art teacher. But with homework already taking up so much time,
Amy was worried about taking on more work. So she decided not to follow the
teacher’s recommendation to pursue art in high school.
After she graduated from high school, Amy wasn’t looking to
continue her education right away.
“I was sick of school at that point because it took me so
long to do everything,” Amy says. “That, and it’s a little bit expensive. So I
kind of put that on hold and tried my own things.”
Amy has kept up with her artistic skills by painting
Christmastime ceramic houses, assembling and painting dolls, and creating 3-D
art called paper tole. Next on her to-do list is to learn graphic design and
animation. For that she is considering art school but is exploring her options
financially.
Eric Fabian, a family friend and deacon at Allison Park
Church, not only admires Amy’s artwork and her abilities as an artist but also
her selflessness.
“Amy is a giver, and a person in her position could be a
taker,” Fabian says. “She could be saying, ‘I need. I want. Help me.’ And she’s
totally opposite.”
Recalling his memories of her as a child, Pastor Cal echoes
Fabian’s sentiments.
“The thing about Amy, from the time she was a small child,
she’s always been a giver,” Callahan says. “She’s always seen beyond herself.
She’s always blossoming out. And I believe that’s because her relationship with
God is so real the Spirit of God is able to flow through her.
“Even though she’s physically limited, she’s constantly
giving. The fruit of the Spirit is very, very evident in Amy’s character.”
Amy’s primary goal for her life is not complex nor does it
require prosthetics or even an art degree, but it is inspiring.
“I just hope I can be a vessel for the Lord,” she says, “to
show people that they can do anything, whether it’s through my artwork or just
showing them what I can do through everyday things.
“I’ve heard this quote somewhere: ‘You should always tell
people about the Lord and use words if you have to.’ I hope that, by the way
I’m living, I’m showing His love for people.”
JENNIFER McCLURE is assistant editor of the Pentecostal
Evangel.
