Copyright © 2020 by Paige Wetzel and Joshua Wetzel
Jacket design by Jody Waldrup. Photography by Dean Dixon Photography.
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Worthy
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First Edition: October 2020
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2020941672
ISBNs: 978-1-5460-3452-0 (hardcover), 978-1-5460-3450-6 (e-book)
E3-20200922-JV-NF-ORI
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
Foreword
Part One: The Beginning and the End
1. The Voice Mail or the Doorbell
2. Throwing Out the Rulebook
3. Seeing Hope
4. Deployment Point of View
5. Incoming
Part Two: Where No One Wants to Be
6. Vantage Point
7. Paths Not Taken
8. The Prayer and the Nightmares
9. Under the Surface
10. Hurry Up and Wait
Part Three: Redemption
11. The Second First Time
12. Outpatient
13. A Thought
14. When the Shoe Is on the Other Foot
15. Stepping into the Future
Part Four: Happily Out of Control
16. A Test
17. Relieving Pressure
18. Welcome Home
19. Renewal
20. Eternal Mission
Photos
Authors’ Note: No Endings
Acknowledgments
Endnotes
About the Authors
Praise for Beautifully Broken
To Harper and Payton—so that no question about your father’s sacrifice or service would go unanswered.
Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.
—Philippians 1:14
FOREWORD
Joshua 1:9 says, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” To be strong is to push through even when you feel like you have no strength. To be courageous is to face danger even in doubt. To not have fear is to remember everything you’ve already survived. To not be discouraged is a daily choice made with no excuses because God goes with you wherever you go. I chose this verse to start off my own story when I wrote Tough As They Come, and I am proud to have a friendship with two people who have become champions of the same.
As a fellow wounded veteran, my motto has always been “never give up, never quit.” Before that motto ever became a slogan, I did my best to surround myself with people that would not quit, even on their worst day. Josh and Paige Wetzel are those people. Sgt. Josh Wetzel and I are proud members of the “Walter Reed Class of 2012.” You might be wondering what that means. Well, you would have to know that we were both deployed with different Army units to Afghanistan in 2012 and that Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is a hospital for veterans that become amputees. Josh and I were injured within fifty days of each other in the spring of 2012 and, unbeknownst to us, a lifelong friendship would begin in the halls, clinics, therapy sessions, and surgery bays of Walter Reed.
Within the first few hours of a life-threatening injury, a soldier can pretty much only think about his family, his guys, and his future. You wonder if you’ll ever walk again, how you’re going to live with this amount of pain, and whether you’ll be able to provide for your family. What no one realizes is that good friends are just as critical to the mission as good healthcare. Walter Reed would surprisingly become the birthplace of some of the best friendships I’ve ever had. My wife, Kelsey, and I met the Wetzels in the midst of our two-year recovery process, and eight years later, they are still part of our crew. Josh and Paige immediately meshed with Kelsey and me, though at the time we weren’t really sure why. Our first conversations were back-and-forth rants over Big 10 versus SEC football, or me explaining to Josh the million reasons why the 82nd Airborne Division is better than 2nd Infantry Division. Talking trash and running our mouths became the norm, and before long we were checking on each other and pushing each other in recovery. Finding friends in an environment like this is unusual and unexpected.
