[Faith-talk] Good Night Message for Sunday, November 25 2012

[Paul]

Hello and good morning, afternoon or evening wherever you happen to reside in this world.  Here in North America it's evening, hence the term Good Night Message.  I hope that you had a good day in the Lord with fellow congregants and that you and they heard something from pastors and/or Sunday school teachers that they could apply to their individual lives as the gracious Holy Spirit enabled.  I sure did.

Peter Lundell in his article "Joy Admid Darkness" tells the story of a remarkable blind lady and, if you go to her website which will be given at the end of Peter's article, you will find how upbeat she is.  This article is rendered as follows:

How can you see better after going blind?

Janet Perez Eckles has.  She's one of the most cheerful and entthusiastic people I've ever met.  I got to know her at a writer's conference, and afterwards I waited with her at the airport until her husband came.  Were they ever in love! She's a constant inspiration.

At age 31 Janet lost her eyesight to retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary disease that deteriorates the retina.

"I used to be a run-of-the-mill chic," she says.  After going blind, I've gained insight about life, depth as a person, and I'm living with purpose."

She's obviously not glad she went blind, but through her faith in Christ, she has learned to see life better now than she did when she had when she had physical sight.  She went through a period of despair and struggle.  But she didn't stay there.  She knew she had to make a decision about how she would live.  This is her key: "I'm able to find joy in the darkness."

Where Janet lacks physical sight, she's learned to discern unseen things more than most of us who see.  She puts it this way, "I've learned to see beyond eyesight.  God showed me that my blindness is a tool in His hands to show me how to help others see the best in life."

She writes books and travels nationally and internationally as an inspirational speaker--alone with her cane.  And she doesn't seem to have time or interest to think about her handicap, because she's so concerned about other people.

We all make choices about what we see and believe.  Those choices determine everything else in our lives.  What choices have you made--or could you make--to take a bad thing and grow something good?

You can find Janet at http://www.JanetPerezEckles.com.

And there you have it.  And yes, I've checked out the site, not necessarily because I wanted to find out if there was any inappropriate material (There was none.) but just to see what I could find.  It's a great site.  I copied this especially for a person who will remain nameless, as I don't want to cause any embarrassment for that particular individual, but you also might enjoy the site.  Please note that the letters j, p and e are capitalized when you check it out.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, throughout this night or day and especially in these last days in which we live.  Your Christian brother and friend, Paul