Kim Adkins knows what it means to overcome adversity. Though she would tell anyone that she has lived a rich life, it has been marked with difficult trials, suffering and ridicule. Born in 1962, Kim was the youngest of three children. At the time, Polio posed a major health risk to young children. Kim was only 2 weeks away from being old enough to receive her vaccination when she contracted the disease, becoming one of the last cases diagnosed in Mississippi. “My parents were told I would never walk and that I would probably not have a very productive life,” Kim recalls. Yet, against all odds, she walked by the age of 14 months. “I’ve been told that the last thing that my mother told the doctor as she walked out was, that we were a family of faith and I would walk and that God would use me in an incredible way and that He had great plans for my life. That’s how my mother raised me.”
Just a few months after being diagnosed with Polio, tragedy struck the family once again. Kim’s father and two older siblings were killed in a car accident when she was only 5 months old. The loss was devastating to her mother who then faced the reality of raising Kim alone. “I know there were times where she felt very lonely and very sad but she was always so encouraging to me.” Her mother’s faith and determination served as important lessons for Kim to grow from to endure the challenges that were to come.
The effects of the Polio disease required many corrective procedures throughout the years and Kim endured many painful treatments, therapies and surgeries on her leg, while all along managing to persevere and live with hope. If you ask her how she did this, she will answer, through the love, encouragement and support of her mother, who had taught her to trust God in all circumstances. “I never grew up feeling like I had a handicap. I had to do all my chores like everybody else. There was never a time when I could use my handicap as an excuse. That was a great gift my mother gave to me.” Kim has vivid memories of being in God’s presence and His comfort being so real that she could crawl up in His lap and sleep there. There were times when she was going into yet another surgery and felt the presence of Angels holding her hand. “It’s only by Him that I am walking, I am truly a miracle. That’s what I pray people see.”
As if the physical challenges weren’t difficult enough to deal with, Kim had to work through the emotional challenges that numerous leg scars can have on a young girl. Kim looked at herself and felt unlovely. On top of that, there were times where she experienced ridicule because of the lingering problems with her leg. Yet, Kim kept moving forward and soon learned that her exterior was never an indicator of real beauty. She freely admits that Brad, her husband of 27 years, always makes her feel beautiful and never treats her like she has a disability. Finding security in God’s unfailing love and realizing that through it all, His plans for her were always good, kept Kim focused on what was possible; always believing there was nothing she could not try. “I know that without my relationship with Christ, I would not be able to face tomorrow. Life and happiness, well, it really boils down to a choice; I choose to see I’m blessed.”
Because Kim understands what it takes to overcome adversity, she knows how to help others who were born into less than ideal circumstances. Over the last 7 years, Kim and Brad have given of themselves by fostering more than 40 children in addition to their two children. They consider it the joy of their heart to give each child a great start in life. Kim’s love for God and for people runs deep and she encourages everyone to face their fears in life through a relationship with Christ. “Sometimes things happen to us that we don’t understand... there’s no way, here on Earth, that we will understand everything that happens. I love the verse, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
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