A Tremendous Impact

I got my first pair of glasses when I was about four-years-old.  Boy, did I hate those things.  And because I hated wearing them, I fought my mother over wearing them; not just when I was little, but for years.  So the only time I actually wore them was at school.  The second I got home from school, I pulled them off.  And I never seemed to put them in the same location twice.  So every school day we went through the same routine; looking for Marjie’s glasses.  My mother would stop all activity and send me and my siblings on the hunt for them.

The search wasn’t as difficult during the school week because I’d only had my glasses the day before.  But I never wore them outside of school, which meant that I didn’t wear them on weekends or school holidays, including Christmas and Easter.  And if you think we had quite a time finding my glasses after a two-week Christmas break, imagine how intense the search after summer vacation. 

So it’s no surprise that my eyesight got progressively worse over the years.  At age 15, going into tenth grade, I had to take Driver’s Education.  The class was a part of the high school curriculum because the California state law required it for graduation.  Well, my eyesight wasn’t good enough to get my driver’s license, so I didn’t want to take the class.  Therefore, I went to Mr. Sim, my instructor, and asked him if there was anyway that I could get a waiver and be excused from the class and still graduate high school.  I said, “It’s a waste of time to take this class when I’ll never pass the eye exam to get my license.” 

He said, “I agree.  So let’s see what we can do to help you pass the eye exam.”  He called my mother.  Together they took me to the eye doctor.  The optometrist referred me to an ophthalmologist, and the ophthalmologist completely reversed my prescription.  When I tried on my new glasses, everything was so blurry, I couldn’t read the eye chart three feet away.  In a panic, the optician called the doctor, who assured him that that was the correct prescription and it would take my eyes a couple of weeks to adjust.

In about two weeks, my eyes had adjusted and things were so clear, I now wore them all the time. That’s the same basic prescription I wear today.  I completed the driver’s education class, graduated high school a couple of years later, and got my driver’s license. 

God had His hand on my life as far back as I can remember, even though I wasn’t saved until age 17.  As a teenager, I had no idea how necessary it would be for me to have a driver’s license.  But God knew, and He used Mr. Sim to impact my life in a tremendous way.  God prepared me for life.