I made an appointment with a Cataract, Refractive & Corneal Surgeon named Milan R. Patel, M.D. The "cataract eval", as it was called, was going to cost $250, and I'd just spent my last dime on the eye doctor a few days prior, so I borrowed the money from my parents.
What was I thinking? Honestly, I don't know. I wasn't scared. I was just taking the next right action and walking in faith. For months I had been on a spiritual journey and for some reason I just knew God would take care of me. I had been learning that I was a child of God (we all are) and that my job was to show up and His job was to do for me what I could not do for myself.
But I have to back track a little again...
Around the middle of October, 2010, I had been sitting in my car outside the grocery store, watching people walk in and out. I was on my lunch hour, and I had $1.50 to my name - in change - and I was hungry. I was talking to God and writing in a journal and here is some of what I said:
God, I don't know why I keep finding myself in this situation where I am completely broke. I know I have made some really poor choices in my life and I've been a poor steward of your gifts. I am able-bodied and you have given me talents that I have squandered. I want to do better, but I'm scared and insecure. I want to believe that you will care for me. Please show me what I am doing or thinking that impedes my gifts from you.I considered going back to work hungry and feeling sorry for myself, but the hunger instinct won out, so I walked into the grocery store with my $1.50. I got to the counter with my microwave meal hoping that I would have just enough money on my debit card to make up the difference in price. The card was declined and I owed the store $0.69.
"Hold on, I think I have that in pennies in my car. I'll be right back," I told the check-out lady.
She reached into her pocket, pulled out the 69 cents and said, "Here."
"I'll pay you back tomorrow when I get paid," I said.
"No," she said. "Some day I am going to be somewhere and I'm going to need some change and I will be blessed because I helped you today."
I knew she was right, and I couldn't help the tears that filled my eyes. "Thank you," I said.
And long before that...
I worked for a small CPA firm and was chosen to assist in non-profit audits. I was given a good bit of continuing education on non-profits and was even assigned the duty of filing an application for tax-exempt status for one of our clients. One of my favorite jobs was auditor of the Georgia Baptist Children's Home, because I loved to read the minutes of their meetings and learn how God was working in the lives of those they helped.
And in 1998...
I was pregnant with my second daughter and learned that she was breach two days before going into labor. I had an emergency C-section and shortly after she was born and while I was in recovery, I overheard a nurse say, "This baby is not breathing."
"Are they talking about our baby?" I asked my husband.
"Yes, honey, they are talking about our baby," he said.
The next two weeks were almost unbareable. We went home without our new baby, who had been rushed to NICU and intubated. My mother-in-law picked me up every day and drove me to the hospital an hour away to see my daughter in NICU.
One morning before we left, I opened the paper to see a story about the Georgia Baptist Children's Home's new headquarters that was being built in Palmetto. Having audited them, of course I was interested in the story, but I don't think I would have missed it even if I had not had that experience because there on the front page was a big picture of the stained-glass window that was to go into their new building. It was a picture of Jesus and the children! I have been unable to find a picture online of the exact window, but it looked something like this:
I knew right then that God was going to take care of my baby! And he has! Today she is a beautiful, healthy 12-year-old. She is also left-handed, so I call her my backwards child!
Back to November 5, 2010...
Dr. Patel ran a number of tests. My vision in my right eye tested 20/350. He even did an ultrasound of the eye to make sure that my retina looked healthy. It did!
We began to discuss the costs of surgery. I told him that I had some friends who said they were raising money for me and that I was charged with the task of "paying it forward." I told him I hoped he had some kind of foundation or something that I would some day be able to contribute to. He said, "Actually, I have been wanting to start a foundation but haven't done that yet."
"Oh my God," I said, "I know how to do that!"
We made a deal that for part of the cost of my surgery, I get to set up his foundation! Dr. Patel is from India, and he explained that in India, the cost of cataract surgery is only $10. He wants to set up this foundation to receive donations that will be used to restore sight to people in India!! Because I am broke, God is going to use this experience to help people in another part of the world!!
"I think this is a God moment," I told Dr. Patel.
"I think it is too," he said.
Continued...
Absolutely Awesome
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