“Even in the darkest places, God can shine.”
- Ashley
TRANSCRIPT:
In my 20s I had the life of my dreams, had everything perfect. I was a registered nurse, newly out of school and newly married, and then in 2009 was blindsided by a diagnosis that I have a genetic retinal disease that is slowly robbing me of my vision. It was devastating to feel like you have everything together and then for it all to come crushing down. The diagnosis is incurable. There’s no treatment for it. There’s no medication. There’s no surgeries. I realized that this was going to change my life forever and everything I had known was going to be different. I was in denial for a long time, still wanted to drive, still wanted to go to work. Then the depression worsened, and it started to turn to anger, and I had so many questions for God. You know, why me? Why is this happening? I got no answers at first. I couldn’t see past the diagnosis. I couldn’t see past the bad things.
Several months ago, I was in Jennie Allen’s Restless Bible Study. We had gotten to the part of surrendering and something really hit home for me, that God wanted me to give this struggle to him, because he could use it for his good and he could turn my life back around and help me to see the good in what was happening. Walking away from the study that day didn’t change my diagnosis. It didn’t change my eyes. As far as I know, I’m still on the same path, but now I see why, because he can use this for his glory, and he can use me to show others that even in the darkest places, he can shine and he will show you how beautiful life is, despite struggles that you may have.
