Scott MacIntyre - By Faith, Not by Sight: The Inspirational Story of a Blind Prodigy, a Life-Threatening Illness, and an Unexpected Gift

Praise for By Faith, Not By Sight

Scott is a brilliant example of achievement in spite of adversity. His passion, faith, and sheer talent shine in this book. Read on and prepare to be affected, effected, and forever changed. We were!

ALICE AND SHERYL COOPER,
SOLID ROCK FOUNDATION

This book is full of surprises. It is so much more than a book about someone who refused to let blindness stop him from finding his own song. It goes far beyond his amazing success on American Idol. Its not even a book about someone who has continued to overcome obstacle after obstacle. This is a book about the power of love to transform every life, every day, if we dare to believe. It inspired me, I believe it will touch you deeply too.

SHEILA WALSH,
BEST-SELLING AUTHOR, SPEAKER, AND ARTIST

If you watched Scott MacIntyre compete on Season 8 of American Idol, you might think you know his life story. But you only know a small part of it. There is much more to tell, and now Scott has done just that, in his new book, By Faith, Not By Sight. He holds nothing back, discussing in intimate detail what it is like to be visually impaired, to love music, to fight a life-threatening illness, to live alone in London, to compete on Idol, and to find the love of his life. There are lots of surprises, lots of laughs, and lots of tears. This is also the story of a loving family, one youll want to be a part of when you read Scotts inspirational and revealing autobiography.

FRED BRONSON,
MUSIC EXPERT AND JOURNALIST, BILLBOARD MAGAZINE

Scott captured our attention the moment he walked on the American Idol stage. There was a warmth and sincerity about him that drew us in. I think more than a few calls were made from the Smith house in support of Scott! What weve seen on camera just scratches the surface. Scotts moving story will inspire everyone who reads it.

MICHAEL W. SMITH,
GRAMMY-AWARD WINNING SINGER/SONGWRITER

By Faith,
Not by Sight

By Faith,
Not by Sight

The Inspirational Story of a Blind Prodigy,
a Life-Threatening Illness, & an Unexpected Gift

Scott MacIntyre
with JENNIFER SCHUCHMANN

2012 by Scott MacIntyre

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Page design by Mandi Cofer.

Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

Scripture quotation in chapter 5 is taken from THE ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION. 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.

Scripture quotation in chapter 34 is from the Lexham English Bible, Second Edition. Copyright 2010 Logos Research Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

MacIntyre, Scott, 1985
By faith, not by sight / by Scott MacIntyre.
p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-8499-4721-6 (hardcover)

1. MacIntyre, Scott, 1985 2. Singers--United States--Biography. I. Title.
ML420.M1384A3 2012
782.42164092--dc23
[B]

2011053186

Printed in the United States of America

12 13 14 15 16 17 QG 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

PROLOGUE
Competing Realities

If an illusions all you really are
Its all a big mistake
Cause dreams are what were living on
And its the reason hearts will break.
FROM SWEET DREAMS, SCOTT MACINTYRE

I dont feel very good.

I dropped the cup, spilling the water on the floor. The nurse tried to help me, but I had become unresponsive. When I couldnt respond to her questions, she began frantically pushing buttons on the machine and trying to adjust the tubes. It was immediately obvious to my parents that she couldnt figure out what to do. They could tell something was terribly wrong as they watched the nurses demeanor grow more panicked. Another nurse came over to help.

Hes coded, the first nurse said.

Mom, who was already standing close to my bed, moved in closer. She didnt know exactly what had happened, but she knew it wasnt good.

The nurses continued to talk among themselves.

Check his vitals.

I cant get a reading.

BP?

Falling.

Mom started praying out loud. A social worker suddenly appeared by her side, as if she had been notified of an impending crisis. Mom looked to Dad for help. He was sitting about ten feet away from her on the other side of the bed. With all of the medical people moving around, she couldnt see his face at first, but as more people rushed toward the bed and Dad stood up to make room for them, she finally got a glimpse of his expression. He was staring at me with horror in his eyes.

By now, loud alarms were beeping and everyone in the room knew something terrible was happening.

The nurse in charge of the ward rushed around the corner.

His blood pressures falling and we cant stop it, one of the nurses told the charge nurse.

Lord, protect him! Mom prayed out loud. Please protect Scott.

The charge nurse took my vitals and then adjusted some of the controls on the dialysis machine. Using a syringe, she inserted medication into the lumen. A tense minute passed while everyone waited to see what would happen.

Two and a half years later
April 8, 2009

I knew what was at stake.

I was in the bottom two. After the commercial break, Ryan Seacrest would announce which one of us had the lowest votes and that person would be going home.

The commercial break ended, and it was time for the announcement. America had cast thirty-four million votes for their favorite idols, and I had the lowest total. The difference in votes between the next closest contestant and myself was infinitesimalless than one-tenth of one percent. But standing on the American Idol stage, I didnt have the luxury of worrying about the difference in votes. I was going home.

Unless . ..

Season eight of American Idol was the first time the judges save had been introduced. The save gave the judges veto power over the votes. Regardless of the vote total, the judges could use the save to keep a contestant in the competition for at least another week.

Singing was the only thing that could possibly save me now. I needed to give my last song everything I had in hopes that the judges would use their one and only save. My fate was in their hands. If they chose to use it, I stayed. If not, I was headed home.

I would be singing for my lifemy life on the show, and the future of my life in music.

Even Ryan Seacrest, the ordinarily enthusiastic Idol host, seemed subdued as he handed me the microphone. I took it from him and licked my dry lips. Everything was riding on the next two minutes. Ryan introduced the song, and as the first notes of my music played, I decided to just let go of everything Id been thinking about and be present in the moment.

On cue, I opened my mouth and started singing.

Immediately I realized there was a huge problemthe sound in the monitors wasnt working! If I couldnt hear myself sing, I had no way of knowing whether I was on key or in time with the music.