It was summers end when it happened. I had just spent a very nice week of camping with my sister & parents before going back to college in Canada. I was physically packed & mentally ready to get going on the work again. I had only 2 years left with a goal to graduate with a degree as a church choir director. Honestly, I loved Bible school but wasn't sure just how I would ever direct a choir being that I couldn't see the music unless it was 4 inches from my face. I frequently mused about this but thought somehow it would all work out. And it did work out, just not the way I expected.

That last day, I noticed things did not look quite normal. Something was happening with the very little eyesight that I did have. As we traveled home, I noticed a  fog inching its way over my field of vision until I could no longer distinguish shapes, only blurred images. The ophthalmologist diagnosed a detached retina and soon, my mother and I were on our way to San Francisco to see a retina specialist.

Graham Cooke: Everything in your life right now is training. It doesn't matter whether your situation is good, bad or ugly. In one sense, it's irrelevant. It's all about you being equipped in every single situation that you face. You're learning how to receive under pressure, stand your ground and how to say "no" to the enemy and "yes" to God

I was 20, I was afraid, I was alone with my faith. The surgery took 9 hours. After a couple of days, the bubble they had placed in the back of my eye would be gone and then they would know, then I would know…. And so as I lay on my stomach I hoped & prayed for a miracle.