When I was 9 years old I got my first pair of glasses. It was long overdue. I still remember seeing the real world for what seemed like the first time. I was amazed by the colors and detail. Since then, I've always needed glasses and every visit to the doctor brought stronger lenses so I could continue to view the world in all its glory.
But for the past few years new glasses just don't work anymore. I have cataracts and they only get worse with time. A cloud obscures every scene. I try to read around it in frustration. I can't drive at night anymore because of the glare of headlights. My optometrist said surgery was the only option. But...when I go for a big evaluation at the laser eye center, they tell me I am at risk for a complication that would make things worse, not better! What to do? It's also an expensive procedure, even with insurance. I agonize over this decision.
So after much prayer and research and discussion, I decide to go ahead with my worst eye. There are no more options. It's a somewhat scary day in the surgical suite. They are going to remove my cataract with a laser and implant an artificial lens! I will be awake. I could go blind. But then, I am going blind anyway.
The procedure itself is over in minutes. I am wheeled back to a chair and sit upright and open my eyes. I do not have my glasses on, yet I can clearly see across the room! Amazing! It's a miracle!
I guess people will say it's not really a miracle. It's just the expertise of talented doctors. And my doctor is one of the best. (I researched him, of course.) But for a person who has struggled to see clearly for over 50 years, this is a real miracle for me. I am on a cocktail of eye drops for the next month and I have to be very careful to protect this new lens. My vision is not perfect. After all my other eye has no correction. If I wear my glasses, my new eye can't see through them. If I take off my glasses, my new eye works, but not the other. But when I wake up in the middle of the night, I can see the alarm clock. When I take a shower, I can see the soap. Little things most people probably take for granted.
I think about one blind man that Jesus healed. "Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, 'Do you see anything?' And he looked up and said, 'I see men, but they look like trees walking.' Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again, and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly." (Mark 8)
So right now I see men that look like trees walking. But in God's good time, my sight will be restored. And while physical sight is a gift from God, I pray through all this that God will continue to always correct my spiritual vision. I want to view this world and my life through the lens of God's word--to see things the way he does and live accordingly.
4 comments:
Praise the Lord for a successful operation and in advance for the speedy recovery I'll be joining you all in praying for! I agree that it is a miracle. :) As it so happens, I just got my wisdom teeth out yesterday so we're on the mend together, Aunt Deborah. :)
I'll be praying for you too, Julie!
I got my first glasses in fourth grade. I can't remember how old I was, but the glasses were blue "cat eye" shaped with silver threads running through. Attracive, yes? ;-) Just like with you, I remember seeing things bigger and more clearly! Colors even seemed brighter. I remember when I told my mom the cereal bowls were BIGGER she laughed and called me a silly girl!
I had lasik done a few years ago and I still have to wear readers, but it is so great to be able to see distance without glasses! Kent had the lens replacement a few years ago. He took out the lens in his glasses where the first surgery was done and wore them, only at home, with just the one lens for a while so he could see better. You'll love it when the second eye is done too!
Wishing you all the best and a speedy recovery.
Love, June :-)
My first glasses were blue too! I loved them because I could see. I got those cat eye glasses in high school, and I hated them! Like Kent, after the surgery I took out one lens in a pair of old glasses but that didn't work for me. I'm doing okay but looking forward to new glasses. I'm not getting the second eye done yet. Good to hear from you, June!
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