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What I Saw Today

Every day is a new day of discovery! God’s world, both physical and spiritual, is filled with wonder. Come explore God’s world with me as I see it for the first time.

February 3, 2021 by Karen Wingate 4 Comments

Along Unfamiliar Paths: 3 Promises God has Made to You

Along Unfamiliar Paths

“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.”

Isaiah 42:16 NIV

I totally get what Isaiah meant about unfamiliar paths.

In my younger, more foolish days, I loved to tell what I dubbed a “Helen Keller” joke. Here it is:

Q: How did Helen Keller’s parents punish her?

A: By rearranging the furniture.

I thought it was funny. My mother thought it was cruel. Well, yes, but you have to have a vision issue to fully appreciate the humor. I thought it was funny because it is so so true.

Acquaintances often commented that I functioned quite well as a legally blind person. They were shocked when I told them just how bad my vision was. I did do fine—as long as I was in familiar settings. If I got dumped into the unfamiliar or if my environment changed, obscuring what I already struggled to see, I was suddenly plunged into helplessness. That meant I had to ask for help. And people were surprised because they thought I was so self-sufficient.

(Was legally blind? Read my story here of how I gained new eyesight in midlife.)

I coped by memorizing my environment like a map. I depended on certain things always being in the same place. The salt is in the upper cupboard to the right of the stove, bottom shelf, left hand side. My hand reaches for it without my brain or my eyes needing to engage. The worst kindness would be to clean my house and put my clutter away for me. Don’t touch a thing! I need to remember where things are.

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Filed Under: What I Saw Today Tagged With: Christian living, devotional, low vision, pandemic, retirement, uncertainty

December 9, 2020 by Karen Wingate 2 Comments

Focus: Choosing to See What God Wants You to See

Focus: "I want to be wise in what I choose to allow my eyes to see." - Laura Loveberry

It’s so easy to take eyesight for granted. We open our eyes in the morning and images appear before us. It’s as regular as the sunrise. That’s why the above meme quote caught my attention. Those visual images aren’t forced on me. Eyesight is a choice. I choose where to focus my eyes.

Confession time!

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Filed Under: Grace on Parade, What I Saw Today

October 29, 2020 by Karen Wingate Leave a Comment

Pumpkin Patch Theology: What I Saw Today in a Pumpkin

Pumpkin Patch Theology

“What did you see today?”

I asked that question as a group of women on retreat sipped coffee and munched donut holes. We sat at tables covered with autumn color tablecloths and mounded with pumpkins in various stages of ripeness. One lady had hauled dozens from her pumpkin patch to the retreat that morning from her stripped garden that came to an abrupt end with the threat of the first killing frost.

As the guest speaker at the retreat, my morning message was to be on seeing the nature of God through His creation. The retreat planners and I had scheduled an early morning nature walk as the first item on the morning’s agenda. We encouraged the women to either join a small group at a local park or sit outside for a few moments at their home before the retreat’s main session began so they could observe some part of nature. When we all arrived at the retreat center, we gathered in breakout groups to share our discoveries.

Surprise answer

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Filed Under: Grace on Parade, What I Saw Today

July 8, 2020 by Karen Wingate 4 Comments

10 Ways to Live Among Those who Don’t Share Your Faith

When Others Don't See What You See: 10 Ways to Live Among Those Who Don't Share Your Faith

What is it like to be the only Christian in a non-Christian environment?

A new Christ follower came to our house, distressed. “Sometimes I feel like I’m going to explode if I don’t get away,” he told me. Family members were ambivalent at best and antagonistic at worst to his newfound faith. They told him church was a waste of time and questioned the number of hours and the distance he traveled in order to go to an out-of-town meeting. “I don’t want to go home,” he confided “and walk right back into it.”

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Filed Under: What I Saw Today

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Meet Karen Wingate

Invite Karen Wingate to share with your church group at your next Women’s Ministry event the incredible story of how God gave her better vision than ever before. Contact her at karen@graceonparade.com [Continue …]

Recent Posts

  • Moving On: How to Walk Away From Unfinished Work
  • Along Unfamiliar Paths: 3 Promises God has Made to You
  • Getting Lost: 6 Strategies to Find Your Way to Where You Need to Be
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"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him."
- 2 Corinthians 2:14

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