Vision Comes From WithinIhe Atụ

Friendship

The value of a strong friend by your side cannot be underestimated when you find yourself in the middle of a tragedy. Jerry Baker was that friend for me. When I first lost my sight, I did not want any of my friends to come to the hospital to visit. I didn’t know how they would respond. Would they accept me? Would they feel awkward around me? I just did not know how the friendship dynamic would change after the loss of my sight. Then, came the knock at my hospital room door. The person on the other side of the threshold was Jerry. He told my parents that he was in town visiting his aunt, and that he had come by to spend the day with me. We had a blast. We laughed and talked just like nothing had changed. He put me in a wheelchair, and we ran all over the hospital, having a great time.

Jerry was the first of many. I had an amazing group of friends who surrounded me and supported me as I learned how to navigate life completely blind. They helped me when I needed it, and allowed me to do things on my own when I wanted. They fought for me and looked out for my safety. Without them, my journey back to a normal life would have been much more difficult.

When I think about those guys who came to my side, I am reminded of Ecclesiastes 4:9-12. “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up. Again, if two lie together, they keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him, a threefold chord is not quickly broken (ECC 4:9-12).”

The above passage speaks to the value of having people around us when we face struggles in life. Your struggle may be a temptation you face, a physical disability, the loss of a job, or the death of a loved one. It’s during these difficult times that we need one another. Satan wants us to think that no one understands us, that no one can relate to us. We cannot listen to him. We cannot go at life alone. We need people to lift us up, and to walk through life with us. Great friends will not abandon you during life’s trials, but they will walk with you through them.