"Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ
Jesus." - 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Helen Keller was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama on June 27, 1880. At 19 months of
age, she contracted meningitis. The disease rendered her both deaf and blind.
Through the help of Anne Sullivan, who was partially blind, Helen started
learning how to write and read. Anne started teaching Helen the names of objects
by pressing the manual alphabet into her palm. She learned to speak by placing
her fingers on Sullivan's larynx to hear the vibrations. In what was seen as a
miracle, Helen learned to read and write in Braille and became exceptionally
proficient in the ordinary educational curriculum. She graduated cum laude from
Radcliffe College. Despite her handicaps, Helen was not only grateful; she
devoted her life to assisting the deaf and the blind. She toured the world to
promote the education of the persons similarly disabled. "For three things I
thank God every day of my life," Helen said. "Thanks that He has [given me]
knowledge of His works; deep thanks that He has set in my darkness the lamp of
faith; deep deepest thanks that I have another life to look forward to - a life
joyous with light and flowers and heavenly song."
Each of us has a special circumstance, a special hardship, given to us to draw
us closer to the Lord. Are you grateful for the circumstances in your life?
Today in prayer, give thanks to the Lord for the hardships in your life that you
may depend more fully upon Christ's grace.
"I thank God for my handicaps, for through them I have found myself, my work,
and God." - Helen Keller
God's Word: "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is
made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my
weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's
sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in
difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2002, Devotional E-Mail DEVOTIONS IN PRAISE AND
THANKSGIVING pkennedy@devotional.com
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
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