A Reminder

Tonight, God gave me a reminder. It was painful in some ways, but beautiful in others. This reminder came in the form of a person who had no idea that they were being God’s messenger to me. (Ever have one of those?)

Tonight I was at the dress rehearsal of my violin teacher’s end of the year student recital. It was one of the students there that God used to remind me of something very important—thankfulness. She is an adult student and is learning to play the piano, but I discovered something about her that wasn’t true of any of the rest of the students there: she is blind.

When she was introducing herself, she said that she felt like it was her mission in life to show people that handicapped people (her wording) could do things just like everyone else. I almost started to cry. How beautiful that this woman didn’t settle for what people told her was possible. She didn’t give in to the mentality that only certain people whom we think are “normal” can do certain things. She tackled the impossible and it became possible!

That was the beautiful part. Then there was the painful part. How many times have I looked at the circumstances in my life and complained or thought that life wasn’t being fair to me? And yet nothing that I have faced in my life is anything even close to being unable to see. Right then and there I thanked God for my eyesight, which I think I need to do much more often. But I also wondered if this woman isn’t better off than I am. She played her piece beautifully and seemed to have such a positive attitude. She didn’t show any sign of complaint about her situation. Maybe she has learned a secret that I have yet to learn.