I Can See Clearly Now

We have for a while considered Lasik surgery to correct our eyesight. Both Naomi and I are visually impaired as our parents unwittingly passed on to us defective eye genes. Everything else that they passed on to us, including my impeccable dance skills and her stunning good looks, we love. So after some deliberation, we decided we won't hold it against them and won't be seeking recompense for the cost of the vision correction procedures. Our plan was to have Naomi have the surgery this year, then Michael would have it next year. We found out recently, however, that new mothers should not go through the procedure. So the only one of us who could have the procedure this year was the one of us who wasn't nursing. Last week I had the procedure done by Dr. Stephen Dell. I opted for the blade-free custom waveform intralase procedure.

At only five minutes per eye, the actual procedure lasted a total of about 10 minutes. My vision was blurry for the rest of the evening, but the next morning I could see clearly for the first time. It is such a good feeling to be able to see unaided after being dependent on specs for such a long time. I had tried contact lenses a few years ago, but with hopelessly small eyes, I gave up the idea as it would take me several minutes to put them in and several more to take them off.

Good eyesight is clearly a blessing. While I was not anywhere near being blind, a significant restoration such as the one I have had is sufficient reason for a little pause. As I considered the procedure, and as I reacquainted myself with the intricacies of how the human eye works, I thought about how our vision is just one complex system in the midst of several complex systems that work together in the body. A complex system that could only be the work of the Master's hand.

I can see clearly now without any help. I can now see the blue skies by day, the stars and the moon by night, the colorful plants in the back yard, the lakes and landscape in the Texas Hill Country, the water in the creek across the street. I can see my daughter's eyes through my own, and her mother's in them.

When was the last time you considered the blessings that you have been given? Have you named them one by one?