I had surgery on my left eye last Thursday and oh, how my life has changed!!! I was diagnosed with Diabetic Retinopathy over 15 years ago and within the last 4 years, my corrected vision had deteriorated to 20/200. In layman’s terms, that means I could only see the big E on the eye chart. To be perfectly honest, the only reason I read that letter correctly was because I kinda already knew that's what it was supposed to be. I could only make out large objects, couldn’t make out colors and could only read with a magnifying glass. The best the doctor was hoping for was for 20/100 but, at today’s appointment, the vision in my left eye was 20/30! After not being able to drive for 4 years, the doctor has told me to go and get my license. Can you imagine that? Me driving again??? Praise God! He is so AWESOME!!
I was able to remove the eye patch on Friday and the first thing I did was run to the window to see if I would notice anything different. I stood in amazement as I read the number 32 just as plain as day on the condo across the yard from me. (Now you have to understand, I didn’t even know we had house numbers before then). As I looked all around my complex, my immediate thought was, “Wow, so this is where I live...mom wasn’t kidding, what a cute little neighborhood…” I was amazed to actually see colors again. As I looked around my house the bold, rich colors popped out at me. I couldn’t believe that I actually had some sort of decorating scheme going on…wow, I didn’t do too bad decorating, given I couldn’t see the true colors I was working with. Yes, I know God somehow had his hand in that one. Can you imagine, with all of His big “Godly” duties, he can still find time to be a great interior decorator??
After muddling around in shadows for the past 4 years, I am amazed at all of the beauty in this world that I have been missing out on. Sure, I always knew the grass was green and the sky was blue but, how skewed and dim those colors had become. How amazing it is seeing the true vivid colors the way God created them and not just as an idea of what I remembered them to be. However, it is not only the beauty of God’s artwork in nature and our surroundings but also the small things that I would have never given a second thought to in the days before I lost my vision. For example, today as I read a memo at work, I actually caught myself admiring out loud how pretty the black print was against the white paper and I was blown away by the vivid blue colors on my Windows XP computer background…my coworkers must think I am nuts. Before, I could never see outside my office window and now I can see the cars pass by on Airline Hwy. I had to laugh at myself when I caught myself reading all the signs on the big commerce trucks as the passed one by one through the intersection, as if I was a first grader just learning how to read. Yes, I know, I am such a geek but it’s a great day to be alive!
This has been a glorious week in my life, an unexpected gift from God. Oh, how he loves to surprise us! I thank God not only for my restored vision, but also for the experience of impaired vision. That experienced deeply humbled me as I was stripped of my much treasured independence, forced to set aside my pride and had to learn to accept the help of others. But, by doing so, I have been able to create close bonds and great relationships with those people which otherwise, I might not have ever had the opportunity to have. It has made me appreciate the things that we all tend to take for granted such as sight, the ability to drive, our independence and our family. I pray that I may never take those things for granted again.
