Every child has a dream.

Whether it’s to become a world-renowned journalist or an NFL superstar, or to visit a foreign country from which one’s ancestors immigrated, most kids fancy big plans for the day they enter adulthood.

For Greater Beckley Christian School principal James Fritz, the lifelong dream was to fly a jet.

Fritz dreamed about flying. Soaring through the clouds high above the rest of the world, the teenager couldn’t wait to follow in his older brother John’s footsteps and sit behind the nose of a plane totally in control.

“Flying was always a passion,” Fritz said thoughtfully.

“My brother went to the academy and flew for the Air Force. I’ve got a nephew who’s a graduate of the academy and my dad flew in the Air Force, so it’s kind of in my blood.”

Fritz took the first step to making his dream a reality shortly after graduating from Medina Senior High School, just outside Cleveland, in 1979.

He traveled to Colorado Springs, Colo., just like older brother John, and entered the Air Force Academy.

His first year was a breeze.

Fritz learned to fly gliders and loved every minute of his training in the air.

Everything was going well for Fritz until the accident happened.

“It was at the Air Force Academy my second year when I had an automobile accident and broke my neck,” Fritz said, sitting in a mobile wheelchair he depends on to get around.

Fritz and his military buddies were on their way to an air show the day of the accident.

“We were broadsided by a van. One of my friends was driving. I was actually in the back seat. The way we were hit, I jerked my head enough to snap my spine,” he recalled.

“I don’t remember the day itself. My first memories are a day or two after my accident, being in the hospital ... in excruciating pain because they had screwed two screws into my head and hung weights off the top of the bed.”

Thirty years later, Fritz is 100 percent disabled.

Does he still dream about flying?

“The older I get, not so much anymore. ... It would’ve been something. ... I loved it,” he said.

Fritz is humble when he talks about the accident that changed his life forever.

While most would consider what happened to the young pilot chasing his dreams a tragedy, Fritz calls his accident a blessing.

“Of course, I couldn’t stay in the military after that. I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” he said.

“My folks decided they needed to move me closer to home. Part of my rehab was going back to school and learning how to function.”

Fritz had to be taught things like how to dress himself, how to brush his teeth and how to transfer in and out of chairs.

“All the things I could do, I couldn’t do anymore. It was hard. ... It was discouraging. I couldn’t understand what God was trying to do in my life. It seemed to me that I was being punished for something. I just didn’t understand. I was angry at God for about three years,” he said.

Fritz began taking college courses at Ohio State University as part of his rehabilitation.

“After just about completing (a degree) there in computer science and secondary education, I decided that wasn’t really the direction I wanted to go in. It was right at that time that the Lord really started to work in my life to come to terms of acceptance with my wheelchair, and that I was going to be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.”

Fritz says, even if it meant being wheelchair-bound for life, he decided he was going to dedicate his life to serving God.

He signed up for classes at Appalachian Bible College in Bradley and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Bible and theology in 1987.

“After looking at a number of schools, ABC was the one that was the most accessible, believe it or not, even though it was in the mountains. The people won my heart here.”

Fritz met his wife Kathy at ABC and he and the Pittsburgh native decided to settle down in West Virginia.

He was conferred the position of dean of men at ABC, and stayed there until 2008, when he was offered the position of principal at Greater Beckley Christian School.

“This kind of evolved. ... I saw the need for good spiritual leadership here and was then approached by the church to consider it. It’s also a chance to step out into a leadership role that I had never experienced before, and that sounded very appealing to me,” Fritz says.

“I love it. It’s different challenges all the time. It has forced me to really learn to have faith in God when there are times I’m not sure I’m going to meet payroll, or when there are families who are struggling and I’m not sure how I’m going to meet their needs or encourage them.”

Fritz could easily give up and live off the veterans subsistence he receives each month. However, he refuses to succumb to his injuries.

“I would think that would be an awfully hard way to live life,” he says.

“First of all, it would be tremendously boring. I believe that God created us to work. When he put Adam and Eve in the garden, he put them there to work.”

And work’s not supposed to be a bad thing, Fritz says. It’s supposed to be a good thing.

“It gives me a purpose. It gives me fulfillment. It gives me an opportunity to serve others, and those are the kinds of things I really count valuable in my life.”

As a result of his accident, Fritz has learned, firsthand, to take life as it comes.

“You just take life one day at a time. You don’t know what’s going to come. I get discouraged just like anyone else does. There are good days and there are bad days. I’m thankful there are more good days than bad days. That’s life. That’s what life’s about,” he says.

Fritz has adaptive equipment in his office, including voice-activated computer software which types for him and a specialized keyboard that allows him to reach all of the keys.

“I can’t really use my left arm as well as my right,” he says, demonstrating how he uses a keyboard.

“I can’t feel anything from my shoulders down.”

Fritz has daily attendants who help him get ready in the morning and drive him to work.

“Normal stuff that other people do, I need help with. I’m 100 percent disabled, so there’s not a whole lot I can do for myself,” he said.

“There’s a number of reasons God allows suffering in our lives. If things were great here, we would never anticipate heaven.”

Fritz says it was his parents, family and strong Christians in his life who helped him come to terms with his accident.

“I really believe hardship is a gift from God, in many ways, to help us develop character and to help us learn to lean on Him and trust in Him instead of just ourselves,” he says.

“I believe when I die I’m going to go to heaven. I’m not going to be in a wheelchair there. I do believe in life after death and this is only temporary, so I’m going to make the most of what God has given me.

“I think part of my story is, you can be victorious in life. You don’t have to be a victim. You can be a victor. I suppose that’s the common thread through all of this. I think the key to being victorious is leaning on God and the power of His spirit to help me overcome those things.”

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Fritz holds a master’s degree in religion from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. He earned a Doctoral of Ministry from Baptist Bible Seminary in Clark Summit, Pa.

He is the third of four children.

Fritz lives in Prosperity with his wife Kathy and daughter Lindsay, a junior volleyball player at GBCS.

— E-mail: jayres@register-herald.com