Focused on More Than Sight

This article is part of our Spring 2020 Breaking Barriers. This installment focuses on people living with visual impairments. This article was written by Nicole Davis who attends Brookside CRC in Grand Rapids, MI. If you'd like to read more stories from this issue, please subscribe to Breaking Barriers.

I start every day with a cup of coffee, praying and reading my Bible. I wake up my boys with a song of the day. I make their breakfast and see them off to school, praying that their day will go well. I’m a mother, wife, follower of Christ, and I live with a disability. 

I was born with an inherited eye condition called congenital glaucoma. This stubborn disease after many surgeries took my eyesight at an early age. After losing my sight, I learned to read using Braille. I learned to navigate my world using a white cane and relying on my hearing to help me recognize spatial locations. Ultimately, I had to relearn who I was as a blind person.

In spite of the many obstacles that I have faced, one constant reality remains: I’m a child of God! My heavenly Father wasn’t surprised by my blindness, and he still has a plan for me. Others may look at me and only see my blindness, but my Father looks at me and sees what he can do through me.

My blindness changes how I do things, but it will never change what I can do with the help of my Father. My blindness is not a limitation but is another way that God can use me for his purposes. My identity is found in Christ alone. Only on him can I stand, move, and live. I hope that if you have the opportunity to meet an individual who has a sight impairment, you will not focus on their limitations but will take the time to know them as a fellow image-bearer of God.

Serving my church as the faith formation coordinator has allowed me to engage in some of my favorite activities. I help coordinate many of our adult educational opportunities, outreach, and prayer ministries. Every time I am allowed to introduce Christ to someone or to assist someone on their faith journey, I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God has me right where he wants me. Yes, I’m a wife, a mother, a blind woman—and Christ has made me so much more.