SHEILA BOUCHARD

How many of you have had your eyes checked in recent years? Not much of a big deal typically, right?! You check in and possibly pay your co-pay, or if you’re fortunate, don’t have one. They take you into a room and take pictures of your eye (“Put your chin here,” “Rest your head on the top bar,” “Follow the red balloon with your eye”) … then, they might do a puff of air into your eye and have you sit a minute. Next, they might try and take an actual picture of your eyeball. All these things help them get a basic image of your eye. Next, onto the exam room… let the fun begin if it hasn’t already! LOL! All this is routine for the average Joe but not for the average special kiddos.

Sam recently had his eyes checked, and I have to say, he has come way far! His 1^st exam was in high school. Until then, he didn’t seem to have eye issues, but then we realized he was squinting more. Now you must picture this: Sam was not verbal and could not express anything you and I might recognize and communicate (Blurry? Pain? Seeing closer and not far?). How the heck would they test?

His 1^st exam was pretty much an experiment. Fortunately, we found a very patient eye doctor, and it was a woman, which made Sam smile. They took the best pictures they could from the machine, and we attempted all types of ways to get him to tell us what he saw on the board. That first time was an epic fail, except for the doctor’s patience and creativity. Somehow, the doctor was able to put together a mock lens from the measurements she took. She put these mock glasses on Sam, and we took him out to the waiting room to check things out, and sure enough, he sensed the difference they made. When we asked if he could see better with them or without them, he pointed to them and smiled. Thus, his first glasses were ordered!

Fast forward maybe ten years and several appointments to his most recent appointment a couple of weeks ago. I was so excited on my way to the appointment because I got this brilliant idea on the way there – I was sure it would work! Sam had begun to use his “Talker” (or communication device), and I imagined him pointing to the letters on the keyboard as the doctor asked him to identify what he saw. I was sure he could do it! Yay – Mom’s got a plan!! Woohoo! This eye appointment would be ‘new and improved” – LOL!

So… we go through all the preliminary stuff and go in the room. I’m ready to share with the doctor my plan. She loves it. We set everything up: Sam’s got his “Talker” on his lap; she puts the letters on the screen, but… she asks me to hold the patch over one of his eyes as she runs the computer to put up the letters. I, Mom, am all excited for Sam to show his stuff, right? The first letter goes up, and Sam picks a random letter to amuse us. We try another and then another, and what does Sam do? He decides it’s time just to hit random keys… ugh…

Creativity comes into play, and we try a couple of different things. Finally, I get the idea to go back to an old way we’ve tried – which is the letter “E” that goes up, down, to the left, and to the right. First, we ask Sam to point out – is it going up? Down? Right? (that way) or left? (that way). By now, Sam is in full random mode…  “I’m going to give them any answer to try and shut them up”! Eeek!

Then I get a vision to make him a picture with the 4 “E’s” and have him point to it as the doctor puts it on the screen. I suggested to the doctor that she make another mock pair of glasses with some lenses, and low and behold, between those two things, he made progress. As I stood by the dark wall pointing to the letter, the doctor sat by Sam, and he told her the correct “E.” After much trial and error, we arrived at a new eye prescription that helped Sam see better.

When I left there, I felt like I had been through a calisthenics class. Calisthenics is a set of bodyweight exercises by which you work out your muscles using minimal equipment” (taken from www.calisthenicsworldwide.com). I felt like we had tried everything, shy of standing on our heads, to try to help Sam. The workout was real! LOL.

Sam has his new glasses two weeks later, and it is so worth it. I was sure to tell the girl at the desk that the doctor more than made her keep that day and deserved a raise, only to be told that she owns the practice, ha-ha.

As I came near to finishing this, I started thinking about my own eyesight and my need for glasses to read and see close-up. Then I heard, “How is your spiritual eyesight?” Are you seeing through the lens of hurt? Unforgiveness? Jealousy? Pride? Is your eyesight cloudy like with cataracts – that you can barely see the beauty right before you because of the build-up of sickness? Do you wish your eyes were a different color? Does God have to do calisthenics to have you see through His lens? Is He trying to get you to see patience? Hope? Joy? Forgiveness?  (You fill in the blank)? The blind man could not see naturally, but his senses were in such fine tune with things around him. When you look at something that’s right in front of you versus from the mountain top, it changes perspective and how you see things.

I just returned from a family retreat and can see how God is adjusting my lens to see as He sees. He confirmed it through another message after I came home. I am so thankful God doesn’t mind doing calisthenics to give me a new vision. I pray we are all open to let the Lord adjust the lens, not only of our eyes but of our hearts, so that we can see clearer and as He sees.

And… the next time you go to a mundane eye appointment – whisper a prayer for all the families who may be doing calisthenics just to get their kiddos to see clearly.

Sight, my friend, is a gift! And so are you!