Splash-Overs of Heaven

I am so thankful for my eyes.

I have been blessed enough to behold all my favorite vibrant colors throughout my life. Most of which have been at their best in nature. Besides colors, I can see smiles, draw, and take pictures of what gets me excited!

Although I don’t spend much time thinking about it now, for a while, I wasn’t quite sure how much of that I’d be seeing.

When I was a little girl, I had eye problems.

I had a few eye-surgeries, one for my tear-ducts, and others for my eye-muscles.

Of course, being a little kid, I pretty much thought that was it. I didn’t understand exactly what my eye problems were, so I assumed if it was something bad about my eyes, it could only lead to going blind. Thankfully that never happened.

I don’t even wear glasses!

But between eye-drops and wearing eye patches (not the pirate kind– think gigantic band-aid), I felt pretty strange. I was cross-eyed for a while, and would even bonk into walls because of my double vision! (I could watch tv without even looking at it though– LIKE A BOSS)

Even when I began to realize I wasn’t going to lose my sight, I still worried about my eyes getting worse again and hearing those awful words about needing surgery the next time I’d go in for an eye-exam.

I’m not lying when I say I am so incredibly thankful for God ‘s kindness to me when it comes to my eyes! He has protected them and blessed me with the use of them through all these years, and I can go months without even giving a thought to my eye-problematic past!

While I got off easy and was granted to keep my vision, not everyone got that same privilege. I remember seeing lots of very sick, very sad and frightened children back at those old appointments, and I was definitely the better off of the group. Remember them in your prayers.

Even though the whole experience happened before I was saved, God was with me, protecting me, as I noted before.

After one surgery, my eyes were actually worse (hence being cross-eyed), and they remained that way until they corrected things in the following surgery.

But even then, I tell you with certainty…. Nothing happened in that operating room– no hand was  able to perform a THING outside of God’s will.

Yes, things turned out very well for me. But what if they hadn’t?

I’m reminded of when Joni Eareckson Tada, the quadriplegic, discussed something with her husband. They asked what are the good days? The days without pain? Are they the days that are easy?

The lessons we learn in life aren’t always easy. From chronic pain (as my mother has been suffering from in her arm for the past few months), to anxiety, to double hip replacements and heart attacks, broken bones, insomnia…. And whatever you’re suffering through right now– God is using these to teach us. The good days aren’t the days that are easy and pain-free. “Those aren’t splash-overs of heaven. No, splash overs of heaven are finding Jesus in your splash-overs of hell.”

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified… for the Lord your God goes with you wherever you go.” -Deuteronomy 31:6

You don’t have to go far to find Him. Check out the book of John, and learn from Him. He not only changed my life. He saved it.

Abigail

P.S. To watch the video of Joni Eareckson Tada speaking about her life, trials and joys from being a quadriplegic, click here to view it on my other website:

A Deeper Healing (Joni Eareckson Tada) Strange Fire Conference