Author: chris_norton

In less than one week will be in the start of the best week ever! After being canceled last summer, the Chris Norton Foundation Wheelchair Camp is back. It’s a free and adaptive camp for kids with physical challenges and their families. Incredible individuals like Rylee will be there to do fun activities like horseback riding, laser tag, zip lining, and so much more.
The camp is free for the entire family thanks to our sponsors and donors. Organizations like Iowa Farm Bureau, Federal Home Loan Bank, Lynch Family Foundation, and Polk County make this camp possible. If you are interested in supporting our camp please donate. 

 

If you were looking for a memorable Father’s Day gift I got you covered! We are excited to be offering autographed DVDs of 7 Yards. Each DVD is signed by yours truly 😊 and my amazing wife Emily. If you have a group or team that you want to encourage then bundle and save!

3 years ago on April 21st I was able to marry my P.I.C. – Partner In Crime- & love of my life Emily ❤️

She has literally & figuratively picked me up so many times when I didn’t have the strength. She has stretched me out of my comfort zone and showed me how much we can accomplish as a team. Just look at our family, wow! 7 kids 1 dog 👶🏾👧👦🏾👧👧👧👩‍🦳🐶

We were never meant to do life alone. We need someone who will encourage us when we can’t find the courage on our own. There’s a good chance you have been hurt by a relationship or you have hurt someone else. Maybe you are guarded or intentionally isolate yourself from others. I understand why you would be discouraged but don’t let your past hurts stop you from a bright future. What you choose to do today and tomorrow is more important than what happened in the past. 

When you are by yourself and isolated puts you at a greater risk to listen to the lies you might tell yourself. That you who you are is not enough. Well you are enough. Being around good people will help reveal how special you are. 

What’s helped me to first find love and stay in love is:

1. Love God 
2. Love Myself

When you have a relationship with God helps you to remember how special and valuable you are. You are wonderfully and perfectly made. 

If you don’t value yourself then it will be difficult to love & value your partner the way they deserve. When you’re full of love it overflows to others. And if you are full of hate that will spill over too. There’s nothing more attractive than a kind and loving person with great self-esteem. Loving yourself means viewing your life the way God sees it, His masterpiece.

Sincerely,

 

Chris

P.S. It’s pretty amazing our special day is now special to so many people due to our documentary 7 Yards now on Netflix, AppleTV, Amazon Prime— among many others.

Incredible news!!! My documentary film 7 Yards is now on Netflix 🙏🙌😮

To be on the world’s largest streaming platform means this film has the opportunity to encourage so many more people. This is helping to serve out my purpose in life- To inspire others. 

 

I can still remember the first evening people started calling me an inspiration. I thought Woah, you got the wrong guy. I’m not an inspiration! My dad would read to me messages from people on my CaringBridge site. Hearing words of encouragement while in the ICU helped me to deal with all of the emotions I was wrestling with at night. 

 

I deflected the notion of being an “inspiration.” All I was trying to do was to get better, not to inspire others. I didn’t think I qualified to be one. However, knowing my response to my painful experience was encouraging someone else to be hopeful in their adversity felt good. 

 

On the days I wasn’t motivated to keep going for myself I found the motivation to keep going for those who were watching my example. By considering everyone who was counting on my determination created a reason to keep fighting. It gave my pain a purpose. That purpose still drives me to this day. 

 

Just because you might not be called an inspiration doesn’t mean your actions and character are any less important. What you do and how you do things impacts everyone around you. Be a positive role model in your circle of influence. Always consider who is counting on you. It will keep you going when you don’t feel like it. 

 

HOW YOU CAN HELP 🙏👇👇👇

My goal is to get 7 Yards on Netflix’s top 10 list! My hope is that it will be the most uplifting film of the year. Help me out by sharing the news on social media, friends, coworkers, and family. We have photos for you to use to share your excitement! Netflix will show the film on people’s main feed the more views and likes the film gets! Thank you for your unwavering support. 

Sincerely,

Chris

Kids have an unbelievable gift for finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. Discovering joy right where they are at. They show me how to be more present and to stop making comparisons. Thankfully I have 6 of them + a 21 year old 😊 They have taught me so much.

The other day as we just shut the front door to leave to go on a family walk. A calendar notification pops up on my phone. It was a canceled family vacation. 😩 I wish I had deleted it. I open the calendar app and see I have a canceled speaking trip the following week. It was like throwing salt on an open wound. 😭 My thoughts start spiraling down a rabbit hole of all the things our family has missed out on if it weren’t for the pandemic. Instead, we are on a walk around the neighborhood right after it rained. Sweet. 👍

 

As we stroll down the sidewalk we approach a puddle. Our daughter, Izzy 👧🏼 (7yr), takes off sprinting. She jumps like a long jumper but instead of landing in a sand pit she lands right in the middle of the puddle. 💦 Water shoots in every direction and hits me. I’m now more irritated.😡

 

Before I can say something to her about getting me wet and getting her shoes dirty, our 2 year old, KD 👶🏾, erupts in laughter. As if it was the funniest thing he has ever seen. He walks over to the puddle and starts jumping and giggling. Soon everyone joins in stomping and splashing each other. 

 

I can’t help but smile. 🙂This moment stops me in my tracks as I admire the joy and fun they are having with just a puddle. They don’t need the beach, a resort, restaurants, waterslides, or a theme park… They just need a puddle. So what if I’m a little wet and their shoes are a little dirty. It reminds me happiness can be found right where I am regardless of the circumstances. That I need to lower my high standards of where joy can be discovered and stop making comparisons so I don’t miss the fun that’s all around me. 

 

It’s easy to think as we age the more sophisticated we are supposed to be. Believing if our preferences aren’t met then we are unable to be satisfied. We are taught preferences are signs of importance and position. That perhaps splashing in a puddle is too simple of an activity to enjoy. Some might call it high standards, but these standards can isolate us from the magic and wonder of life. It makes it extremely difficult to discover joy right where we are, to live life to the fullest.  

 

I challenge you to find joy wherever you are today. To stop comparing your life to someone else’s or how different life could look without the pandemic. Regardless if you are sitting in the front row or the nose bleeds. First class or economy. Unemployed or employed. If your at a theme park or splashing in a puddle.  Happiness is waiting for you. 

Stay blessed,

Chris

It’s December 22nd, 2017. I am on vacation with my then fiancé, Emily, and her family. I’ve been looking forward to this vacation for months. We arrived at this beautiful beach with light turquoise water and white sand, and all I want to do is kick back with a drink and relax in my beach chair.

As I’m in full vacation mode. I notice Emily intently reading something on her phone, which surprises me because we are out of the country and there is terrible cell service in our area. After a moment she looks up at me and says, “Chris, take a look at this text.” The message is from our foster care licensing agent. It reads:    “Sorry to bother you on vacation. We just had a sibling group of four girls come into care, ages 1, 4, 6, 8. The children’s mother has passed away and now their grandpa, their guardian, is in the hospital dying. Can you help?” I look up at Emily noticing tears in her eyes. She pleads, “Chris, we’ve got to do something. We’ve got to take these girls.”   If you know Emily, you know she tends to lead with her heart rather than her head, which is where I come in! I am the voice of reason. As much as I love being a foster dad I had to put my foot down, or as I like to say I had to put my tire down.   “Emily, we need to think long and hard before taking in FOUR kids. We can’t just make a snap decision. We already have a 3 year old boy with behavioral issues in our care. 5 kids would be beyond challenging.” I wait for Emily to nod in agreement, to acknowledge I’m right, which I always am. A man can dream, right? Lol 😂   But instead she throws me a curve ball she says, “Chris, how can we say, “No” when you know they need us?”  “Emily, are you aware that YOU will have to take care of ALL of us? Grocery shop for 7. Cook 7 meals. Get 7 people up in the morning. Chauffeur 7. As well as take care of our dog? And that’s just for starters. Not to mention most of our family lives in Iowa, and we live in Florida. The guilt I would feel when you need a break or get overwhelmed. It will put enormous amounts of stress on our relationship and seriously impact how much quality time we spend together. Also, we’re only 3 ½ months away from our wedding and we still have a lot of planning to do. Well, I think you know where this story is going. In case you were wondering this is how all of our fostering conversations go. A few days later on December 26, just the day after Christmas the girls arrived with one backpack, shared between the 4 of them.

All of us have the best reasons, the most logical reasons in the world, reasons that make perfect sense to say no to things. No- to pursuing a new opportunity, giving your time or your money, or opening your home for kids in need. But the greatest rewards in life don’t come from saying “no” or from the comfort of a beach chair.     Saying yes was the best decision we could have made. They just needed a safe and loving home, which we were more than capable of to offer. Those 4 girls are now 4 of our 5 daughters thanks to adoption. Because we were foster parents there was no adoption costs! Here’s a photo of the 4. Ava is 11, Lily’s 10, Izzy’s 7, and Ariana is 4.

We also have Whittley who is 21. As her name suggests, she’s female— so I’m really out numbered. However, we are now fostering a 2 year old boy and co-parenting a 6 year old boy. Which puts the total of kids we’ve fostered at 18.   By saying, “Yes” Emily and I got out of our comfort zone in a major way. Fear of change causes us to want to keep the status quo, but the only real way we can learn about our personal strengths and weaknesses is to challenge ourselves, and reach beyond our comfort zone. The day I began to stop resisting was the day I began to realize that we could handle more than I thought was possible.

The fear of change is almost always more frightening than the reality of it. Besides, God doesn’t call the qualified—he qualifies, “the called.” I’m so thankful for Emily, my capeless hero, for pushing me. Because I can’t imagine life without our girls.    If you are considering fostering to adopt please visit the Dave Thomas Foundation website to learn more. Check out their PSA below. See how we got into fostering in the first place by watching my documentary 7 Yards: The Chris Norton Story. It just released on platforms like Apple TV and Prime Video. You can even get the DVD!   Sincerely,   Chris

Dave Thomas Foundation Commercial

Do you want to watch 7 Yards BEFORE the release date? You can be the first person to watch my documentary film ➕ enjoy an once-in-a-lifetime experience by attending the 7 Yards Virtual Red Carpet and Charitable Event on February 22, 2021 7 CST / 8 EST right from the comforts of your home.

At the virtual event you will hear from cast, crew, and special guests, enjoy deleted scenes, and experience a fun video I made with my kids 😂. This is a film and an event that the entire family can enjoy together! 

How it works: 
1. Buy a red carpet virtual event ticket for the entire household.
2. A confidential 7 Yards movie link will be emailed to you.
3. Please watch film before premiere night! The link operates like a 72 hour rental.
4. On Feb 22nd, the day of premiere, the join event link will be emailed to you. 

There has never been more uncertainty and frustration in the world than right now. This pandemic has created so much headache and heartache for millions. I know what it’s like to deal with extreme uncertainty and difficulties when I went from a college football athlete to a quadriplegic with a 3% chance of ever moving below the neck.

Fortunately, with faith, family, friends, and grit I was able to navigate that difficult road to discover a happy and meaningful life despite my losses. I want the same for you which is why I’m so excited for you and your family to watch my documentary 7 Yards. My hope is that it encourages you during this difficult season  

God bless,

Chris