Karen Wingate - With Fresh Eyes: 60 Insights Into the Miraculously Ordinary from a Woman Born Blind

As I read With Fresh Eyes, I felt like I was the one seeing for the first time. Karen Wingates vivid descriptions, poignant insights, and overwhelming awe of Gods goodness opened my eyes to the evidence of Gods presence all around me. She dusts the world for Gods fingerprints and finds them everywhere. Then she invites us to marvel with her as we see our world anew.

L ORI H ATCHER , author of Refresh Your Faith

With Fresh Eyes is a true spiritual treasure. Writing with a deep faith and a transparency forged in the fire of trials, Karen Wingate opens our eyes to the many wonders of the life of faith: patience, hope, trust, contentment, and gratitude, to name a few. Her personal stories and practical application will challenge you to see God and his work from a new perspective.

S HAWN M C M ULLEN , vice president of partner relations for the Christian Church Leadership Foundation, and author of Coming Home to Holiness

In this thoughtful and beautifully written book, Karen Wingate provides a refreshing perspective on lifes challenges, renewed vision, and Gods faithfulness.

C ANDY A RRINGTON , author of Life on Pause

Rather than focusing on her miraculous recovery of sight, Wingate invites her readers to see Gods miracles all around them. It is, indeed, an eye-opening book!

J AMES N. W ATKINS , award-winning author, speaker, and editor of Intimacy with Christ

Karen Wingates warm, personal messages are deeply relatable yet challenged me to look at things in a different way. Im grateful for that. Gazing at life through fresh eyes, I was amazed at her perspective and revelations.

C ECIL M URPHEY , author or coauthor of 140 books, including Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story

With Fresh Eyes: 60 Insights into the Miraculously Ordinary from a Woman Born Blind

2021 by Karen Wingate

Published by Kregel Publications, a division of Kregel Inc., 2450 Oak Industrial Dr. NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505.

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Distribution of digital editions of this book in any format via the internet or any other means without the publishers written permission or by license agreement is a violation of copyright law and is subject to substantial fines and penalties. Thank you for supporting the authors rights by purchasing only authorized editions.

The persons and events portrayed in this book have been used with permission. To protect the privacy of individuals, some names and identifying details have been changed.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN 978-0-8254-4681-8, print

ISBN 978-0-8254-7728-7, epub

Printed in the United States of America

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To Karen (Fergy) Ferguson, who dared to believe in Better Than Ever

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the L ORD in the land of the living. Wait for the L ORD ; be strong and take heart and wait for the L ORD .

PSALM 27:1314

L abeled as legally blind since infancy, I wished I could see as others saw, but I never allowed myself to think it possible. At birth, my eyes opened to a veil as thick as an industrial-strength shower curtain liner. Eight childhood surgeries cleared my vision enough to read textbooks three inches from my heavy bifocals and chalkboards from the front row.

That was out of my good left eye. The only thing my severely crossed right eye could see was a fuzzy image of the bridge of my nose. Ninety percent of the time, I looked at life through my dominant left eye. Those surgeries gave me some functional vision but caused damage in other ways that compromised the overall health of my eyes.

With a growing catalog of problems and risks, I knew deep within that the day might come when my sight would further diminish. Early on, I determined to make the most of what vision I had until God and aging chose otherwise. Yet, like accepting any aging process or terminal illness, were never quite ready to hear that things are getting worse faster than we thought.

Then the unimaginable happened. In my midfifties, a random surgery to fix one of my latest issues gave me brand-new eyesight.

Today, I see a world I have never seen before. Birds, clouds, flowers, and numbers on the bathroom scale tattle on what Ive missed. I see the smiles of loved ones, recognize friends halfway across a room, and take Communion without someone handing me the emblems. My visual discoveries opened the eyes of my soul and convinced me beyond a doubt of the existence of a God who has the power and creativity to make an intricate and complex world. A God who possesses such lavish, personal love that he would bestow the gift of sight on one middle-aged woman and teach her to see his beloved children as he sees them. A God who promises to stay with us through the unlit moments of earthly life and lead us to the land where there is no shadow of darkness. A God who has made it simple (but not always easy) for us to see him.

I invite you to watch with me and see how God can walk this journey with you too. See how he can be more amazing than we ever dared to hope. Whisper to him, Give me a fresh look at life, Lord. And then come see a world God created for no other reason than that he wanted to do it for you. Rediscover the blessing of seeing the good, bad, and what we call the ugly or ordinary. Recapture the longing to see Jesus in all his goodness, love, and power. Allow him to remove the veil over your heart so you can see him as he truly is.

Are you ready? Like the Old Testament prophet Moses, do you want to see more than a glimmer of his glory (Exod. 33:18)? Or like the psalmists penned heart cry, do you long for a dew-kissed drop of his intimacy (Ps. 42:1)? Are you ready to hold Gods hand and let him guide you on an incredible journey toward the discovery of who he is? He will not disappoint you. In fact, you may be overwhelmed with the enormity of his creativity, orderliness, and sheer goodness.

I know I was.

So, come join me. Together, lets watch God do the impossible and worship in wonder at how he can make us strong while we wait for his perfect timing. Ive got front-row seats reserved for both of us.

No, not the front row. For you see, I dont need to sit in the front row anymore. Lets go find seats in the middle.