You Will Beat This: Chris Norton’s Story of Relentless Hope

Chris Norton is a motivational speaker, author, founder of the Chris Norton Foundation (www.chrisnortonfoundation.org), and former collegiate football player who defied a 3% chance of ever walking again after a life-altering spinal cord injury. Known for his viral walk across his college graduation stage and down the aisle at his wedding, Chris now travels the country inspiring others with a message of resilience, faith, and purpose. In this episode of the Courageous Crossroads Podcast, Chris shares what he believes is the most courageous thing he’s ever done, how he defines courage, and how others can find strength through discomfort, community, and unwavering belief. From personal trials to becoming a foster and adoptive parent to five children, Chris opens up about the power of choosing faith over fear, and how courage often begins with one decision: to keep going.

Thank you for listening! We hope you feel inspired and encouraged by our conversation today. If you did, be sure to share this episode with others.

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See you in the next episode! Be blessed!

Full Transcript

Intro: Welcome to Courageous by Crossroads Apologetics. A look into what motivates us to step out in courage and the everyday bravery of men and women like you. In each episode, we hear a personal story of bravery centered around this question. What’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done? And now your host, founder of Crossroads Apologetics, Jeff Johnson.

Jeff Johnson: Chris Norton is my next guest on the Courageous Crossroads podcast, and what can I say about Chris other than I consider him a friend, and maybe one of the most inspirational people I’ve ever had the opportunity to interview? His story is well known. If you don’t know it before you listen to this podcast, you will dig and you will find out about Chris, and you will be thunderstruck with the courage of this man. I’m not gonna give it any more introduction than that. I’ll just let it stand on its own. Chris Norton, man of great courage. Here you go. Chris, thank you so much. I’m so grateful to see you again and to have you on the Courageous Crossroads podcast. It’s been how long has it been since we’ve seen each other?

Chris Norton: Probably at the event in Georgia. Seattle. Yeah. K. Couple years.

Jeff Johnson: Yeah. So you’ve been busy? You’ve been speaking? You’ve been doing some stuff?

Chris Norton: I have been. Speaking takes me all over. It’s been going well. I’ve had a good year. So that’s always exciting. I have a new speaker reel, which helps, just kinda share the new message and what I’m, trying to get across to different organizations about getting stronger through change. Yeah. And I’ve also I’ve developed now my own, Christian focus message of, you know, God’s not done. And so I have, you know, different truths within that, and that’s gone really well. I was able to speak to my church at Christ Fellowship, which I believe I I shared it with you, but they have they’re the third largest church in the country in in, you know, better than I could have ever imagined. So that’s just like a real need to see how, like, God’s, you know, working through my injury and using my limitations for his glory. And I I see that, so I’m really excited too about kind of my my Christian audience focused messaging because I’ve always been in the corporate world. And, you know, it like, I just had a meeting the other day with a client. Like, hey. Like, we know you’re a man of faith. Like, this is a global group with a lot of different faiths. Like, how much is that gonna be a part of this talk? And and, like, well, everything, like, faith related just has to do with me versus, like, you you have to have this faith. So I have to, like, balance that with the corporate world, but now I have this other outlet of, like, sharing, more of my faith and my love for for Jesus, through this new talk.

Jeff Johnson: Yeah. That’s fantastic. I I’m 57 years old, Chris.

Chris Norton: Mhmm.

Jeff Johnson: Can I ask how old you are?

Chris Norton: 33.

Jeff Johnson: 30 three. You’re such a young man. Oh my goodness. I’m 57 years old, and I’ve been I’ve been involved in, you know, iron sharpens iron business practices and recovery stuff and whatever. So I’ve been I don’t wanna say I’m far and wide, and I’ve seen heard everybody speak, but I’ve heard a lot of people speak, Chris. I’ve been to a lot of motivational things, a lot of amazing mountain top kind of events. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard, talk and a testimony as strong as yours. I’m not kidding. I mean, it was so fantastic, and your story inspires. And so I was like, if if I could get somebody on this Courageous Crossroads podcast to talk about the topic of courage, it would be Chris Norton. And I’ll be honest with you, I don’t even know where to begin because that I feel like that well is so deep with the topic of courage with you, Chris. But maybe can you give people just a short little five minute, ten minute, whatever you wanna do, background on your story and who you are and where you’re at and Yeah. Etcetera. Go ahead.

Chris Norton: Well, no. Thanks too for the the kind words. I’m fired. You know? Praise God for, you know, everything. Yeah. You know, he he’s given me and just, also just grateful for him, for me finding the acceptance and peace to see his work and action and using my, you know, pain for a purpose. But, yeah, so just like a quick, you know, five minute, like, background story of me. Grew up small town, Iowa, Bonnar, Iowa to to be precise. Went to Luther College.

Jeff Johnson: God’s country. Another fellow Iowa boy.

Chris Norton: The best ever. Okay. Sure. For sure. Went to play football at Luther College, Northeast Iowa. It was the sixth game of my freshman season, the third quarter. You You know, we desperately needed this comeback. One of our rival schools sprinting down to make the tackle, and I make this diving play for the legs. And this is a big beefy boy, and I’m used to, you know, tackling much bigger guys than me, but I always got lower and I always hit harder. Well, I mistimed my jump by split second. So instead of taking him down with my shoulder, I hit him head on. And the next thing I knew, I’m face down in the ground, motionless, listening to the sounds of players crash into each other above me. The whistle blows, and when I try to get up, I can’t. Like, nothing in my body is working. I’m completely conscious. I’m not in any pain. I just can’t move. And so I I’m telling myself, well, just stand up, Chris. And then little did I know, though, like, I just suffered a severe spinal cord injury, and my life got completely upended from that point forward. I was flown to Mayo Clinic, surgery, and then I was told I had a three percent chance to ever move or feel below the neck. And so that started this journey of, you know what? Like, I’m not gonna be part of the ninety seven percent. I will do whatever it takes to be a member of that three percent. Like, I wanna be in the 3% club.

Jeff Johnson: And so every single day was You knew that from the get go.

Chris Norton: From the get go. Like, there wasn’t a bit of hesitation. There was this like, it just to me, it just felt like there was no other option. And I got a verse that really, like, I held on to, you know, Jeremiah twenty nine eleven. You know, for I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Although I I wrestled with that of, like, well, you really have plans to prosper me? And this doesn’t feel like prospering. But, you know, faith is not something that you can see or or understand if it’s a choice. And I made a decision to believe that, you know, God’s not done with me. And I don’t know where this is going, but I’m just gonna trust him. And so I just did everything I could to maximize my recovery. Eventually, I get some movement in my legs. I go back to college. And at college, I set the goal. I wanna walk across the stage of my college graduation. The four years goes by, and I’m training relentlessly. I meet and fall in love with Emily, who is now my wife. She helps me walk across the stage as my fiance, and that video, that four yard walk went goes viral. Today, it’s been viewed over 300,000,000 times across the world on social media. We get to go on all these talk shows like Good Morning America. And then I said, I’m gonna walk her seven yards down the aisle of her wedding. So that starts another year or so of training for that walk. And, again, it goes viral, and then from all this, you know, books and then the movie, seven yards, comes out. It got on Netflix for a period of time, which is really neat to see it trending and popular. But now it’s available, like, on Amazon Prime or Apple TV. And then we’re also foster parents and adoptive parents. But we’ve adopted five and have fostered 23 kids to date. And now, like, you know, life is busy. I have a so 15, 14, 11, nine, and and six year old. And then I do full time motivational speaking and travel around. And I also run my nonprofit, the Chris Norton Foundation, which we provide, you know, grants for rehab equipment, and then we organize family wheelchair camps for families living with disabilities, and it’s free of charge thanks to our generous supporters. They do zip lining and horseback riding. It’s a great time. But that’s kinda my life in a a nutshell, and it’s kinda rapid fire, but that’s kinda that’s it.

Jeff Johnson: It’s incredible, Chris. That is so not it. I mean, that it’s just the tiny I wouldn’t even know where to jump in in that story. I can tell you, though, my friend Brandon, who you know as well

Chris Norton: Yeah.

Jeff Johnson: Is the one that told me, Jeff, you gotta watch this movie, the Seven Yards movie. And, Chris, I knew nothing of your story. And my wife and I sat there and watched that. We popped it in, like, just to kinda preview the beginning of it. We thought, well, we’ll get a flavor for this, and it was one of those where, you know, silence just fell in the living room, and we did not move until the end of that movie. And I was so inspired and so soaked in tears. I mean, it was just I don’t want I’m I’m not a hyperbolic kind of a person, but I have to express to you. I mean, it was a it was a game changer for me just watching that movie because I thought I thought what limitations do I have? You know, what can you took a year to train so that you could stand up to marry your wife. It’s unbelievable. And her testimony too. I mean, I’ve gotta circle back with your wife and have her on this podcast, please, because I’d like to know what kind of courage she’s got. Anyway, just all of it and the foster parenting and then the the the thing that you’re doing with the wheelchair camps is just unbelievable. So I’m gonna I’m gonna jump really quick to ask you the question, what’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done? I’m gonna ask that question to you so you can dial down to whatever that however you wanna answer that. Sometimes I ask quite a few questions before we get to that. I’m just gonna ask you one question, and then we’re gonna go to that big one, and then we’ll follow-up after that. But the one question I have to ask you is, how do you define courage? What’s the Chris Norton definition of courage?

Chris Norton: I think courage is for me, it’s doing something that’s uncomfortable or difficult, but you do it anyway for the right reasons. I think that just off the top of my head when I think of courage, that kinda what I think of of any moment that’s hard, uncomfortable, difficult, but you do it anyway because you know it matters and it’s for the right reasons.

Jeff Johnson: Courage presupposes some altruistic endeavor that’s not gonna be easy.

Chris Norton: Yep.

Jeff Johnson: Wow. Okay. Chris Norton, what’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done?

Chris Norton: You know, I would actually what jumps out at me is probably those that first day, that first moment with my spinal cord injury, with my life feeling like it was completely ruined, but yet believing God wasn’t done with me. Like, there is more. And although I was in so much agony and just heartache and headache. Like, you name it. Like, all the sufferings was present, but yet I just chose to believe. Like and I believe that is a choice to see that, like, somehow God is gonna use this. And I wish he could just tell me and get this, like, the uncertainty out of the way because I beg that. Like, give me a glimpse, God. Like, make it make sense. Please. And I did that over and over again. But, yeah, I’m I’m asking that question because there is faith. Although there’s doubt, you can’t really have doubt without faith, and there’s that state element of, like, he’s gonna do it. And I think that was for me when I look back and and knowing, you know, just all the dreams and hopes that I had real like, really centered around, like, being the star athlete. Right? And being this macho, strong man. Well, god just he all that was gone. Like, I everything that I put my identity in, God just ripped away, and so I I was really lost. So I think choosing to see that there would be more, I I believe, is my most courageous thing.

Jeff Johnson: You look back on that now, and you can see that decision being made. In the moment, did was it that clear that you were going a day in? I’m gonna decide to believe that at some point, this is gonna be worth it.

Chris Norton: Yeah. I I I did. Like but I also believe that, again, like, that was also it was ebbs and flow. Like, that was always there, but there’s the dark like, going to sleep was horrible. Every night, doubt would attack. You know, I was trapped inside my own body. Like, I had questions that felt impossible to answer. Like, will I be able to go back to school or I have to live with my parents the rest of my life? Will a girl wanna be with me? Will I be able to have a family? Will I be happy like this? So I had all these questions swirling in my head, especially at night. But then when it came daytime, the sun rose, it was like, okay. When can I get started? Like, what therapy, what thing could I do to get better? And so I I worked like it was all up to me and prayed like it was all up to God. It’s been said before, but I don’t know who said it. But that’s really how I was operating at that time.

Jeff Johnson: And you did it you did it on purpose. I mean, you were like, this is what I’m gonna set my set my sights on. I’m gonna be getting better. You had to have been forgive me, but you had to have been discouraged at times. Was there that?

Chris Norton: Yeah. Like I said, every night, there was discouragement, doubt, fear, you name it, was all there. And the thing too is my goal and everything that I was working towards was I believe God was gonna do is he was gonna redeem my walking. Like, I’m going to walk on my own independently. And so that was what I was chasing. But in that chase and that pursue, and when I came to that realization without some sort of, you know, huge breakthrough in in science or technology, like, that’s not gonna happen for me barring a a miracle from God. And so that though in itself was a gift to realize, you know, my strength doesn’t come from my muscles, but from Jesus Christ who lives in me. And so, like, realizing where my true strength comes from has been all along in the journey of my recovery while I was chasing this one form of strength. God was equip me equipping me with a whole other form, a form that transcends anything natural.

Jeff Johnson: Is your faith different now than it was the day of your injury?

Chris Norton: Hundred percent different. Like, my faith that

Jeff Johnson: and when did that happen?

Chris Norton: Yeah. So my faith was a break glass in case of emergency. Right. Like, when the world like, when my world was burning down, like, grab the fire extinguisher of of God and just try to put it out. And so that’s always kinda how I operate. I just fight my own strength, pray later. Well, this was one time where there was nothing I could do. Like, like, I was helpless in the field. I was helpless. A lot of times, I felt like in the hospital where I there was times where I realized I can’t just work my way out of this or distract myself out of this mess. Like, I have to go towards God. And so that realizing I’m not enough made me tethered to God because our not enough is just enough for God. And so that really helped just become more dependent on him because it was like I said, God was there in in case of emergency, but not really somebody or something that, like, I really lived my life as a Christian or as a believer. It was this, yeah, the secondary backseat faith.

Jeff Johnson: Did you did you feel like you were being courageous then once you set your mind to it and you did? I mean, did you say, I’m doing a brave thing and I’m just gonna do it, or did you not have your mindset on courage?

Chris Norton: No. I didn’t think about it at all as being courageous. I just felt like I wanna get my life back. Like, how like, what do I gotta do to get to where I wanna be? And if I that means I have to do some hard things, then I’ll do the hard things because it’s worth it. And I think, you know, my upbringing with sports and, just how my family culture was, like, that was really important, was to work hard and to to give it your best at everything that you did. And, you might be undersized. You might not be the strongest or the fastest, but you aren’t gonna get outworked. And so that was just kind of a part of my DNA, and so I felt like I was used to going up against really hard things and just not backing down. So, like, I think back when I was, like, 11 years old, played the basketball tournament. You know, every shot I took, I missed. It was embarrassing. I get home, kick my shoes off, and I go straight to the couch to distract myself with TV and video games. And and to make matters worse, you know, my coach was also my dad, so I had to ride home with him the entire way. Well, eventually, he comes, sits next to the couch, we recap the tournament, you know, I’m giving him all the reasons why my shots were off that day, and then he said something that I’ll never forget. He says, well, Chris, if you don’t like where you are, then do something about it. If you don’t like where you are, do something about it. And I don’t know what it was about this timing, this phrase, but it just clicked. Why feel sorry for myself when I’m not willing to do anything to change? You know, blaming my circumstances isn’t gonna help. If you wanna get better results, then you have to get better. And so I grabbed my ball, went outside, and I shot hoops until dark. And this moment really carried on for, I believe, the rest of my life, and I had no idea how important it would become the day I was told I have a 3% chance of ever moving again. I but I feel like my dad’s voice was somewhere back there telling me, if you don’t like who you are, do something about it. And, like, you’re gonna be part of the 3%. And so I think, yeah, that was helpful. And it’s also it’s a lot easier to be courageous when you’re around courageous people. Right? When you’re around people who have a faith or they’re believers and they’re pouring life into you, like, courage comes a lot easier. Now if you’re around people who don’t believe in you and are spreading doubt, it’s it’s tough. It just makes it that much harder. But I was around people who believed, who really convinced themselves and my and myself that we’re gonna get through this. Like, we’re gonna beat this some way, somehow, and it’s contagious.

Jeff Johnson: Well, I want you to talk a little bit more about that, but first, just a little commentary. See, there’s so much. You’re such a deep well, Chris. You need to have stadiums. The Bible talks about how our words are so powerful. It talks about being cautious, you know, because we don’t wanna speak, you know, that negative stuff that we that we say has power to it, and, it can discourage very much. But I’m taken by the fact that your dad put that in you as such a young man. You know, if you don’t like your circumstances, do something about it. What a what a beautiful testimony right there that you can say something to somebody today and have it lock in, and they’ll recall it right when they right when they need it. And I had a chance to meet your dad, and what a wonderful guy he is. That doesn’t surprise me. Wow.

Chris Norton: Yeah. No. He that was gonna his upbringing, his dad was, you know, the from World War two and, you know, the Great Depression and all you know, they’ve been through a lot, and I think that that grit and that resilience was just, part of getting through all of that, and I think that has just been carried down to me. So I’m grateful for that.

Jeff Johnson: That’s wonderful. Well, I wanna hear you talk a little bit more about being around courageous people and how that, how that is how you can catch that from other folks. Contagious. I I often think about courage as being a solo endeavor. You know? Like, you’re the one that took the hit. You’re the one with the spinal injury. You’re the one that’s going through the night watches, you know, essentially by yourself. But you have been surrounded by a bunch of people, you know, your your movie, which everybody needs to watch if they haven’t watched it already, talks about your friend set that was such a powerful force around you and, of course, your family. And then miss Emily comes in later on, which is just unbelievable. But do you feel like do you feel like courage is a solo endeavor? Ultimately, it does come down to you, or do you think it is a partnership with the other people around you? I’d like to hear a little bit more about that.

Chris Norton: Yeah. I mean, I think courage absolutely comes down to you and your own choices. Right? Like, you own them. Yeah. There’s a lot of factors to owning that choice and making that choice of courage that having courageous people really pour into that and really help. Like, I can’t say for certain that I would have had the same courage and have made the same choices if the people around me were not believing, who had their doubts. I I don’t know I would have had the same tenacity and belief as I did. I I I can’t say that for certain, but I know there’s been other times in my life where I’ve seen how that the unbelieving can rub off on you. And whether you don’t think it does or doesn’t, I think it really impacts you. You know, I’ve had, you know, plenty of moments where just the belief of somebody else has shaped the action I took. So I think about I went to Italy. I went to Venice, Italy, and there was this gun gondola rides. Right? It’s a their thing, and I’m like, I wanna try a gondola ride. I have no idea how I’m gonna supposed to get on a gondola boat, but I am I wanna do it. But then I get there. It’s like we’re leaving that day for the next stop. There’s a big line for these gondolas, and they’re low to the ground. You know, they’re they’re like a canoe. Like, what if I tip? How am I supposed to, like, get onto this boat? I I I start, like, freaking out. Like, this is not gonna work. Like, this isn’t gonna work. Like, it’s just not gonna happen. Like, I’m just gonna strain someone’s back or, just be a nuisance to these people. But my family, like, no. Like, just talk to the gondolier. Like, talk to the main person and just see what they think. And so I go talk to the gondolier boss. He’s like, oh, yeah. We got you. And he, like, he whistles, and he calls over, like, his best gondolier. He we he we cut the whole entire line. He helps stabilizes the bow. Couple other people come over and help, and they they lift me onto the boat. And it was easy. Like, it wasn’t, like, a big deal at all, but, like, in my mind, I was panicking. I was freaking out. And all I like, if it would have been a little bit of doubt from him or any sort of questioning about whether this would happen or not

Jeff Johnson: Mhmm.

Chris Norton: I was ready to leave. Like, I was ready to just you know what? Not in the cards. It’s not gonna happen. But his belief was just enough where I’m like, let’s do this. So, like, I I think about, like, moments like that that that decision was really dependent on what this man thought of this being able to happen.

Jeff Johnson: I love that story. Do you have anybody along the way that was the antithesis to that? I hate to ask you this question, but did you have anybody that was a naysayer in your in your recovery and in your story?

Chris Norton: Yeah. There’s a a doctor, doctor Phantom, that you might recall from, my talk or anything. But, so anyway, there I can tell that story

Jeff Johnson: Yeah.

Chris Norton: If you’d like is

Jeff Johnson: Please.

Chris Norton: Well, I gotta first tell then a little bit of Georgia because I had it was like the fourth night in the hospital. Couldn’t sleep around midnight when this woman walks in. And instead of checking my vitals, she comes to my bedside. She leans in close and says, Chris, look me in the eyes. And she was kinda mean about it. We locked eyes, and she’s this short, slender woman, reddish gray hair, glasses. And she’s got this voice, like, she sounded like she walked straight up a western movie. And she says, my name is Georgia. I’m from Wyoming. Do you know anyone from Wyoming? And I say no. And I’m thinking, okay. You know, where is this going? Well, she keeps talking and says, well, people from Wyoming don’t tell us. Then we’ll tell you. We will beat this. You will beat this. Well, I instantly start crying. I needed to hear those words so badly, and her belief ignited mine. Well, this you will beat this became my battle cry for the next few weeks. Well, five weeks later, I’m in the hospital still and, you know, despite endless therapy and prayer, my legs remain completely still. Well, then one morning, my left big toe, it feels the coolness of the air like a Novocaine shot was wearing up. Mhmm. I’m excited, and my neurologist, this doctor stops by, and I’m sharing the breakthrough, and I ask him, can you take a look at my toe? He refuses. He says, well, Chris, you’re experiencing a phantom feeling. And these phantom feelings are quite common with spinal cord injuries like yours, but it’s not progress. Well, I insist, like, this is different, and it’s not this phantom feeling that you’re describing. He shakes his head and says, Chris, you’ll never move anything in your legs ever again. And then turns and walks out, like, not only, like, not a big deal, but as if he was doing me a favor. And I was devastated. Like, everything I’ve been pouring my heart and soul into, this man had just ripped apart. And I’m sitting there with my dad once again, tears just streaming down my face just destroyed.

Jeff Johnson: Did your dad hear him say that?

Chris Norton: Yeah. He was sitting right next to me.

Jeff Johnson: Wow.

Chris Norton: Yeah. Actually, my dad, he he gets up. He goes into the bathroom because he was trying to compose himself. He he he was just took a blow, and he comes back out and just tells me, you know, Chris, don’t let anyone determine, you know, what you can or can’t do. And now I look back at him. I said, I I won’t. And then I remember George’s words of you will beat this, and I decided that I’m gonna go prove that doctor wrong. Well, not even a week later on Thanksgiving morning, I wiggled that exact left big toe like the buzzkill doctor, sit up, never move again. And I was pumped. I was so fired up. I told all my nurses and therapists, you’ll find that doctor who I like to call doctor Phantom. Bring doctor Phantom in here so I can tell him to Phantom this as I wiggle my toe in his face. Fortunately for doctor Phantom, he was gone that day, which worked out for the best. Jeff, I was way too fired up. I I I would I would not be in that moment, so it’s it was for the best.

Jeff Johnson: Man, I can imagine. There was a huge huge breakthrough where that toe wiggle, I became much more. So to your question, do I have any naysayers? Doctor Phantom is the poster child for naysayers out of my journey. But, otherwise, I think I was so I worked so hard, and I was so believing that I don’t think anyone really dared to tell me besides him that, no. It’s it’s not gonna happen.

Jeff Johnson: What was the what well, there’s some other stuff that we just unfortunately won’t have time to get through all of today, but, you know, you had a motivation to get yourself to back to school and to go through school, but then the graduation bit, where did the genesis of the idea to walk, to accept your diploma come from?

Chris Norton: Well, being at school and, like, therapy and my recovery was really important to me. My I was starting to walk a little bit, starting to take some steps. So as I’m, like, envisioning, like, what’s that next, like, major milestone that I could really look forward to and and work hard towards? And it just kinda hit me one day of, like, what if I walked across the stage and received my diploma? It seemed like a realistic goal at the time because I had four years to get ready. And I had a long ways to go even with the four years, but it just kinda gave me this, yeah, a target where I had no idea how I was gonna get there, but I was gonna figure it out. And it just kept me locked in to the daily disciplines of doing everything in my power to get better. And I found that when you take on more than what you think you can handle is when you realize your potential. And so I would do therapy, like, not only, like, almost every day, but multiple times a day. I would have, like, my, like, athletic trainers on on stat or on campus, my friends, my sister, pretty much anyone with a pulse or working arms and legs, I would ask them to help me with my therapy at school. So it was just this yeah. A target that I committed to.

Jeff Johnson: You were just outworking everybody around you then, I would imagine. I don’t know if you’d be you’d probably be too humble to say that, but that’s certainly what comes across.

Chris Norton: Yeah. And what that’s the thing that also broke my heart at the same time was not only I I had the drive, but I also had the the means to do so. Like, I had this therapy, insurance from n triple a because of my injury that they would help cover for therapy sessions that ninety nine percent of all primary insurances would not cover. Though I could afford it because of this insurance was paying for all these different medical therapies and practices that most people don’t get or I had more equipment than other people that a lot of people can’t afford that I had because, again, this insurance. So I was privileged in that sense that I had these opportunities and but it also is what led to me starting the Chris Noren Foundation so that we could strengthen the opportunities for rehab so that people who have that drive to get better then also have the opportunity with different therapy equipment.

Jeff Johnson: We’re gonna put a link to your foundation, and if there’s anything else you want us to link up in the show notes where people could give all of their money, we’ll go ahead and do that so we can support you with the good work that you’re doing. I wanna ask another question about CS Lewis says nobody really knows what they’re capable of doing, and most people never get to it unless they absolutely have to. And I’m wondering, does courage exist without a catalytic event like what you experienced?

Chris Norton: I think it certainly brings out a lot of courage or discourage

Jeff Johnson: Mhmm. Depending on how that person responds to it. You can go one or two ways.

Chris Norton: Yeah. You could go yeah. Exactly. You could go one or two ways, but I also think courage shows up in a lot of different small ways that might not go noticed. I think it’s I thought it was courageous for some of my friends who continually showed up to have my back and be there for me when I needed help or when something would take, you know, 10 times longer for me to do than it would for them, but they would show up to help me out with whatever that may be. You know, people who drove, you know, hours to come see me when they didn’t know what to tell me. They didn’t know what to say. They they didn’t have the right words, but they knew that they should show up even in that uncomfortable setting when they couldn’t find the words. And then I also know people who wanted to be there for me, but they didn’t know what to do or what to say, so they didn’t do anything at all.

Jeff Johnson: Mhmm.

Chris Norton: You know, I think courage, it’s such a spectrum of courage. And, obviously, the courage that gets the most spotlight and attention are the ones with the catastrophic events like mine, but I I think, people who don’t experience that are are still exuding courage in in little and different ways.

Jeff Johnson: Who do you look up to? Who do you admire as being courageous when you think about that’s a courageous person? Who who comes to mind?

Chris Norton: I think about my my grandma, Connie. She’s, like, the most faith filled Christ lover that I’ve ever met and just has this rock solid foundation of of strength and kindness and love and and come as you are that it, like, never wavers. And so she was one of my prayer warriors. She was there a lot of the times throughout the hospital. And so I’ve loved having her presence around. It was such a calm, peaceful presence of, like, we got this. Like, we’re we’re gonna be okay. Like, God’s got us. And just having that was just something that, you know, I I admire and look up to. And so when I think of, like, the a loving Christian that I wanna be like, I think of my my grandma, Connie.

Jeff Johnson: Oh, that’s perfect. So you’re okay. We started chatting before we before we started recording here. I was bellyaching about, dealing with a friend of mine’s real rough personality, and I was poo pooing. And, anyway, singing the blues, feeling like I can’t help him, and you’re already helping me, Chris, because I’m thinking, you know, if I can encourage and lift somebody else up, what that can do to them, how that can change somebody even in the course of a day. Yeah. That’s a real blessing. That’s a real opportunity that I have. So thank you for that, Chris. I’m sitting here. I need to be present in this podcast, but I’m already thinking how I can reach out to this guy and say something nice instead of being judgmental. Shame on me. But, makes me wonder, you’ve you’ve spoken all over the country, so many places in front of so many different audiences, church groups, business groups. I don’t know how many different folks’ faces you’ve had in front of you. Have you had any stories come back to you about people that you’ve encouraged where, something remarkable has happened with them?

Chris Norton: You know, I love the conversations I have right afterwards, because a lot of time, you know, I share my story

Jeff Johnson: Mhmm.

Chris Norton: That I went through. And I think it’s always such a a privilege and an honor and a blessing that when somebody who we don’t know each other that they’re seeing me on stage for the very first time, but when they come up and talk to me, they’ll share the hardest thing that they’ve ever gone through in their life. Right? Like, how often do we just share the just something devastating. So, like, this recent speech, I had a family come up afterwards. There are two years, and they they shared about their daughter dying last year. And then right after that, a man came up and told me about his sister who passed away last year, and that she was had been living with him and his family for the last few years and what that was like and just how, you know, hearing my story and just has helped him just wanna hold on to his faith even tighter than what he already was. Just having that that space, that place where people feel comfortable to share what’s on their heart and their mind, and I think we need more of that connection in the world. I I don’t know if, you know, with all the technology, we’re we’re connected on a surface level, but not in a deep spiritual way that I think all of our souls need. And and so I I always feel like, wow. What a I praise God that, like, these people have that courage to share something that has been devastating for them and leads them to tears. But by sharing it, right, it brings healing. I believe every single time you share something like that, it it heals just a little bit more. And, yeah, I just the tree.

Jeff Johnson: Wow. I don’t have a Connie, but I had a Vera. And my Swedish grandmother taught me that Swedish proverb, a shared joy is twice the joy and a shared burden is half the burden. And it sounds like that’s exactly what you’re getting. Wow.

Chris Norton: Yep.

Jeff Johnson: Why do you think God put you here, Chris? You know What’s your mission?

Chris Norton: I I really believe it’s if I can just simplify it down, it’s it’s to give people hope. I I think to be a light in this world where it often feels dark or hopeless, I think that’s what I really wanna spread more than anything that to have hope in in their own situation by looking at mine and, learning from what I’ve been able to do and how I’ve been over able to overcome it and how they can do the same.

Jeff Johnson: How many kids do you and Emily have?

Chris Norton: 35. No.

Jeff Johnson: It wouldn’t surprise me.

Chris Norton: I know. Right? That’s the thing. It really wouldn’t be a surprise. But we have five kids right now.

Jeff Johnson: Wow. What are their ages?

Chris Norton: 15, 14, 11, nine, and six.

Jeff Johnson: You’re in it, brother.

Chris Norton: I’m in it.

Jeff Johnson: You’re in it. No doubt about it. Are these courageous are these courageous young kids, or are they normal kids? I shouldn’t say that.

Chris Norton: All the above. They’re every type of way. You know? They’re but they are I mean, I think about some of the things that they’ve had to endure and go through and experience throughout their childhood. No no choice of their own, but then the way they show up courageously with their therapy and talk about these things and heal some of these wounds and, you know, to process it and put it in the right spot. Like, I’m not sure if you ever read the book or heard the book, The Body Keeps the Score.

Jeff Johnson: I have. Yes.

Chris Norton: Well, it’s a powerful book, but, you know, I’ve I read that to try to help understand my kids more. And, basically, these these traumas that happen, it can be a big trauma, a little trauma, it doesn’t matter. It can be incorrectly stored in your body. And so unless you you deal with it and so it can be properly placed, it can show up in different ways. So the way my kids can address those different traumas and, pains and hang ups, you know, it’s it’s really admirable.

Jeff Johnson: I’ll I’ll ask you one more question. You’re making me think of this, Chris. It’s unfair, but whatever. It’s my podcast. I’m gonna ask you the question because I’m curious about it. Does it give your children an unfair advantage having their father as the datum for courage? Because of what you’ve gone through, it’s very unique, and people seek you out for inspiration and advice and coaching and that sort of thing. And so I’m thinking, you know, your kids have that in their home day in and day out. So would they have a tendency to take your kind of story for granted, or do they realize what they’re living with?

Chris Norton: Yeah. That’s the thing. I’m just I’m just dad. Right. Like, they don’t really get, like, you know, the story and everything. Like, maybe once but they adapt to it, and it’s just dad. So I feel like maybe it’s a disadvantage because I can’t then quite utilize everything because, oh, there’s dad. You know, like, I feel like there’s a stage in age with kids that the parents, like, what do they know, kind of thing. But I feel like that always well, they’re not maybe not always, but I feel like it’s gonna come back around in in one stage of their life where they’re like, okay. That either they’ll appreciate it or they’ll come back looking for that wisdom then, but I feel like sometimes, it’s probably more taken for granted.

Jeff Johnson: Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Chris Norton, man of great courage. There’s a lot of there’s a lot of, opportunities out there to help people, but yours is unique with your wheelchair ministry and the stuff that you’re involved with, your speaking and everything. If the Lord lays it on somebody’s heart that they wanna be generous and help you out, how do they do that?

Chris Norton: Yeah. I would say there’s probably two ways you could you know, there’s a speaking engagement or you know of a group that would need a keynote speaker, yeah, go to chrisnorton.org. Love to learn about it. Or if you feel, yeah, wanna help the the ministry, the chrisnortonfoundation.org is where you can go learn more about it. You can, contribute online so that we can expand, do more camps, or, you know, there’s a volunteer opportunity. We have a big event in in Des Moines, Iowa. There’s there’s a number of ways to get involved to expand that as well.

Jeff Johnson: Yeah. And we’ll make sure we put links to pertinent stuff in the show notes like I said before, Chris. But, you’re a man of great courage, and there’s so much more that we have to talk about. I’ll probably come around and beg you for a part two at some point down the road. But, brother, thank you so much for the man God has made you to be and for dispatching the duties of your ministry the way that you do, and thanks for thanks for sharing some time with us.

Chris Norton: Yeah. Absolutely, Jack. No. Thank you for having me over here.

Outro: Thank you for joining us today on Courageous. If you’d like to hear more about the work and ministry being done at Crossroads Apologetics, please visit our home on the web at crossroads apologetics dot org. Would you or someone you know like to be featured on Courageous? Send us an email at info@crossroadsapologetics.com or info@crossroadsapologetics.org, telling us about the most courageous thing you’ve ever done.