With Fresh Eyes ~ Karen Wingate Ep.140

Have you ever met someone who reignites your sense of awe and wonder in God? Someone whose very presence invites you to pause, breathe deeply, and savor the beauty of the journey instead of rushing to your destination? That’s exactly the kind of impact our guest today has. Meet Karen Wingate.

Karen was born legally blind and lived in a world of darkness—until a life-changing, restorative surgery unexpectedly improved her sight as an adult. For Karen, this new vision is nothing short of a gift from God, and she embraces it with a heart full of gratitude. She finds joy in the smallest, most ordinary moments and shares her powerful story to inspire others.

Karen captures her journey and the lessons she’s learned in her award-winning book, With Fresh Eyes: 60 Insights into the Miraculously Ordinary from a Woman Born Blind.

And here’s some exciting news—we’re giving away a copy of Karen’s book! In today’s episode, she’ll share four practical steps to help us see the world with fresh eyes. To enter the giveaway, head to Facebook or Instagram and comment on one of our posts about Karen. Share something you’ve recently seen with fresh eyes, and you’ll be entered to win. The winner will be announced on December 31st, just in time to start the New Year with a fresh perspective!

So, let’s dive in and start seeing the world through fresh eyes together.

Stay connected with Karen!

Book: With Fresh Eyes on Amazon

Website:Karenwingate.com 

Email: karen@karenwingate.com

Here are two FREE Ebooks for you!
1. Shame Off You: 10 steps to shattering shame in your life, HERE.
2. ABC's: CLICK HERE for a FREE E-book to help you combat lies and replace them with God's truth. For more encouragement, check out some of our offerings at www.reclaimedstory.com

Did you know we have a jewelry line that speaks to your identity in Jesus? CLICK HERE to shop. Every purchase helps support our mission to provide healing and hope to women worldwide.

Would you partner with us to spread the message of hope and healing? You can DONATE HERE. Living the Reclaimed Life is a Reclaimed Story, Inc. podcast, An Arizona non-profit corporation.

If you would like to connect with a safe group of women doing real-life together, join our private Facebook page, “Living the Reclaimed Life” or on Facebook or Instagram

Transcript

Transcript is auto-generated

[00:00:00] Denisha: Have you ever met someone who [00:00:05] reignites your sense of awe and wonder in God? Someone [00:00:10] whose very presence invites you to pause, breathe deeply, and savor the [00:00:15] beauty of the journey instead of rushing to your destination? That's [00:00:20] exactly the kind of impact our guest today has. Meet [00:00:25] Karen Wingate. Karen was born legally blind and lived in a world of [00:00:30] darkness until a life changing restorative surgery unexpectedly [00:00:35] improved her sight as an adult.

For Karen, this new vision is [00:00:40] nothing short of a gift from God and she embraces it with a heart full of [00:00:45] gratitude. She finds joy in the smallest, most ordinary moments and shares [00:00:50] her powerful story to inspire others. Karen captures her journey and the [00:00:55] lessons she has learned in her award winning book, With Fresh Eyes.

And [00:01:00] here's some exciting news. We are giving away a copy of Karen's book. In today's [00:01:05] episode, she'll share four practical steps to help us see the world with fresh [00:01:10] eyes. To enter the giveaway, head to Facebook or Instagram and comment [00:01:15] on one of our posts about Karen. Share something that you've recently seen [00:01:20] with fresh eyes and you'll be entered to win.

The winner will be announced on December [00:01:25] 31st, just in time to start the new year with a fresh perspective. [00:01:30] So let's dive in and start seeing the world through fresh eyes together. [00:01:35] Welcome to Living the Reclaim Life Podcast. I'm Denisha. We're glad [00:01:40] you're here for conversations that revive hope, inspire healing, and encourage [00:01:45] you to live a vibrant life with Christ.

So grab a cup of coffee as we chat with [00:01:50] today's guest. Karen, I am so excited to have you on the podcast. Your [00:01:55] story is incredible. 

[00:01:57] Guest: Thank you. I am so glad to be here today. [00:02:00] 

[00:02:00] Denisha: Karen, you were born legally blind and You [00:02:05] remained in your dark world until restorative surgery unexpectedly [00:02:10] improved your eyesight as an adult.

You want to talk a little bit about that? Tell us your [00:02:15] story. 

[00:02:15] Guest: I was born with a genetic defect that at birth I was literally [00:02:20] totally blind. I had eight childhood surgeries that brought [00:02:25] my vision up to at least a barely functional level. I went [00:02:30] to public school. Back in the day before they had special education, and [00:02:35] for some years, I didn't know that I was any different from other kids, but I think it was about second or [00:02:40] third grade, I began realizing there was a reason the teacher put me in the front row, and it wasn't because I [00:02:45] was a bad kid.

I mean, that's what I believed. I was in the front row because I was a bad kid. All the fun kids got to sit in [00:02:50] the back. About age nine, I had my final surgery, and by this [00:02:55] time, I'm realizing there's a purpose for surgeries, and it's supposed to be because your [00:03:00] eyesight's supposed to get better. After that surgery, I didn't see any difference, and [00:03:05] so I was very discouraged and very despondent about my [00:03:10] eyesight.

And I expressed that to my mother, and she said, Karen, God can do miracles. [00:03:15] Well, now, we come from a faith group that didn't necessarily believe in [00:03:20] miracles. I never heard anybody talk that way, but if mom said that, it must be true. So [00:03:25] I decided to start asking God about this. And every day for a couple of weeks, I [00:03:30] would wake up in the morning and I'd pull the covers up over my head and I'd say, please God, let [00:03:35] this be the day that I can see.

And I would slowly move those covers down off my face, [00:03:40] open my eyes. And there'd be no change. And so my prayers [00:03:45] became every other day, once a week, by the end of the summer I wasn't praying. I don't know what got [00:03:50] me to pray this, but I prayed, Lord, help me cope. Help me cope with poor [00:03:55] eyesight in my life.

[00:03:56] Denisha: That's a 

[00:03:56] Guest: wise 

[00:03:57] Denisha: thing to 

[00:03:57] Guest: be praying at such a young age. [00:04:00] To help me to cope. I wonder if God put that idea in my head to [00:04:05] pray that because then I could see how he helped me to cope. And there was a lot of [00:04:10] things to cope. I am living in a sighted world. I am going [00:04:15] to a sighted school. And life was not easy.

[00:04:18] Denisha: We don't know what [00:04:20] it feels like, many of us, to be born totally blind. And throughout most [00:04:25] of your life, you are legally blind. What could you see during that part of [00:04:30] your life, and what was it like for you growing up? 

[00:04:33] Guest: A lot of people think of visual loss [00:04:35] as either you're totally blind or you're totally sighted.

And so I like to say that my world was full of [00:04:40] blurry blobs. That's what I saw. There was no definition. I could see [00:04:45] color. I defined my world by color. I would tell people, don't change your appearance, don't cut your [00:04:50] hair, don't dye your hair, because then I won't recognize you anymore. I had no depth perception.[00:04:55] 

One eye was severely crossed inward. This limited my [00:05:00] ability to read. If I could read anything, it had to be three inches in front of my face. [00:05:05] And I wore thick Coke bottle bottom style bifocals. And so that was the [00:05:10] only way I was able to read. I was able to finally get large print books and audio [00:05:15] books when I was in fifth grade.

Which really opened up the world to me, but up to that point, [00:05:20] everything was just right up nose. I would leave nose prints on the books in order to [00:05:25] be able to see them. But you know, Danesha, I look back and I think about how a [00:05:30] lot of people want to know how that impacted me physically. But there was an [00:05:35] emotional cost to living with a visual impairment.

[00:05:40] Visual loss is isolating because you can't see your friends [00:05:45] across the room. They have to come to you if you're going to engage with them. [00:05:50] Life is full of, Can you do that? You can't do that. [00:05:55] You're not able to do this. We don't want to play with you because you can't play the same games we can. [00:06:00] And so I grew up with this idea that I'm not good enough.

I'm [00:06:05] not good enough to fulfill a career. I had one doctor tell me that no man would want to marry [00:06:10] me because of the way my eyes wiggled. My family was extra critical. [00:06:15] And my mother would constantly be saying, you know, you've got two eyes and if you have [00:06:20] to get down with your nose on the floor to find something, you get down and you use your eyeballs to try to find it.

[00:06:25] I'm thankful that she was trying to get me to use what vision I had, but still it just made me, [00:06:30] made me feel so different from everybody else. I had people telling me [00:06:35] that I should go into rehab, vocational rehabilitation as a [00:06:40] career, That way you can stay with your own kind and help them. I was [00:06:45] also a very competitive person.

I wanted to be normal. I wanted [00:06:50] to do what everybody else did. So I would do a lot of things behind my [00:06:55] mother's back, like riding my brother's bike down narrow two lane roads in [00:07:00] Tucson. I learned how to sew. I joined 4 H and took [00:07:05] piano lessons. And just, I felt like I had to work twice as hard to be as [00:07:10] half as good as everybody else and working twice as hard took 10 times as long.

So [00:07:15] while I was very aggressive about being as good, if not [00:07:20] better than everybody else, there was still a deep inside of me that 

[00:07:23] Denisha: you're never 

[00:07:23] Guest: going to make 

[00:07:24] Denisha: it. [00:07:25] Wow. And contrary to what that doctor told you. You and your [00:07:30] husband live here in Tucson, and you have two grown daughters and two grandchildren, [00:07:35] so it sounds like you were just very resilient and persistent, [00:07:40] but having it be harder, that had to take its toll on you as [00:07:45] well.

[00:07:45] Guest: When I was 11 years old, I accepted Jesus Christ, and [00:07:50] I remember when I was about to be baptized, my minister's wife [00:07:55] said, do you want me to hold your glasses for you? And again, I said, one of those things that I, [00:08:00] you know, where's this coming from? I said, no, if I'm going to give my [00:08:05] life to the Lord, I'm going to give him all of me, including my bad eyesight.

And those words were sort [00:08:10] of, you know, like a little prophecy on, it set the course of where I was going to go, that [00:08:15] I'm going to give this to God. And it's interesting, Denise, I look at that sort of [00:08:20] disparity of my life, that on one hand, I was so independent, so [00:08:25] competitive, so driven to accomplish. And I never felt good enough in God's [00:08:30] eyes that I had to constantly be working to please him, to please my mother, to please [00:08:35] everybody else.

But on the other hand, God was so patiently working with me to show [00:08:40] me that he was the one that I could depend on for everything. [00:08:45] And I learned when I got into those desperate situations where I got in over my head, [00:08:50] that he was the one that I could cry out to, you know? And so in my [00:08:55] desperation of You know, getting lost or about to crane into a ditch, I would [00:09:00] cry for his help and he was always so faithful to answer and [00:09:05] to rescue me out of those situations that I'd gotten myself into.

And so [00:09:10] I slowly learned through my adult life that God is someone [00:09:15] I can call out to, I can depend on. He will provide for me. He does [00:09:20] have purpose for me. He is the one who is going to take me through life. [00:09:25] To marry, to have children, to be what he has called me to be, and to [00:09:30] fulfill the purpose that he has given to 

[00:09:31] Denisha: me.

You know, there's so many of us, Karen, who are [00:09:35] still working on that. Right? Believing God for those things. [00:09:40] What was your journey like for those of us that struggle with that? 

[00:09:44] Guest: You know, again, I, [00:09:45] I hand that disparity between who God really is and I treated him like my [00:09:50] parents, someone who was looking down on me, who was criticizing how I lived life [00:09:55] and that I had to earn my way to his favor and was, there was just so much striving in my [00:10:00] teenage years to try to be.

That perfect person. I even chose to [00:10:05] go into mission work. I was inspired by people like Elizabeth Elliott, and I went to [00:10:10] the Urbana missions conference, and I was inspired to go into mission work, but God [00:10:15] challenged me at one point of why are you doing this? And the truth was that I was [00:10:20] still trying to prove to God that I was worthy of him.

Maybe if I bury [00:10:25] myself in deepest, darkest Africa, and If people can see that God [00:10:30] can use a visually impaired people, maybe then I'll be acceptable to God. And it [00:10:35] was a seminary class on God's grace that showed me that [00:10:40] God accepts me as I am. Warts and all, visual loss and all, [00:10:45] sin and all, he accepts me.

And my responsibility is just to trust him [00:10:50] in faith. And that was so liberating for me, and I think it was from that [00:10:55] point on that I truly learned to become content with who I [00:11:00] am, the way he has made me to be, the way he has allowed me to be, and to say, [00:11:05] Okay, here I am Lord, you do something, you do something with this [00:11:10] person.

And so from age 20, 25 to [00:11:15] 55, that was, I would say, my years of learning to rest in him, to be content with him [00:11:20] and let him lead. You know, that if I was going to accomplish anything, it was going to be through his grace, [00:11:25] through his strength and through his direction. You see such a 

[00:11:28] Denisha: dependence [00:11:30] on him. And such just an amazing growth through all of that to [00:11:35] know that he's going to supply your needs now, as you said, and he's got a purpose and he's going to [00:11:40] utilize everything he's given you.

[00:11:42] Guest: Yes. 

[00:11:43] Denisha: In your mid fifties, you [00:11:45] underwent a surgery for a torn retina, and yet the results were not [00:11:50] what you or anyone expected. Tell us about that. 

[00:11:53] Guest: Because my [00:11:55] eye condition is a genetic defect, the whole eyeball structure was [00:12:00] compromised. And I knew the day could come that I could lose the rest of my vision.

I [00:12:05] was at high risk for several different things, including torn retinas, including glaucoma, and [00:12:10] several other things. And so this was just something I had learned to just appreciate the vision I have [00:12:15] and to live each day and to develop those coping skills in case [00:12:20] the day came that I would lose more of my vision.

I think the thing I worried about was [00:12:25] whether I would notice any changes. My vision is so bad, I thought if anything worse happens, I'm [00:12:30] not sure I would see it. Well, the day finally came that I was seeing some anomalies [00:12:35] and I was almost scared to say anything to the doctor, but I went and my next checkup, I said [00:12:40] something to her and she said, well, it might just be dry eyes.

You're that age that that kind [00:12:45] of thing happens. But she said, your eye issue is so complicated [00:12:50] that I think we should send you to a specialist. so much. I went to the specialist, he [00:12:55] discovered a tear, a retinal tear, but he said that it was an old tear, it was rather small. [00:13:00] He'd rather not do anything because your eyes are so fragile, I'd rather leave well enough [00:13:05] alone.

Come back in three months. Three months things were much worse, and I [00:13:10] literally was losing vision in my left eye. He said to me, we have to operate, [00:13:15] it was one of those situations of, Do surgery and you might lose vision. Don't do surgery. [00:13:20] You definitely will lose vision. Wow. And he said, after surgery, your [00:13:25] eyesight might be back to what it was.

It might be the same. It might be worse. I don't know. [00:13:30] So I went into this surgery knowing that I could lose the rest of my [00:13:35] vision in that eye during the surgery, which was taking a rather a long time. It was under local [00:13:40] anesthesia. And I had gone to the point of just [00:13:45] quoting Bible verses and singing hymns and going through my prayer list just to get this over with.[00:13:50] 

And out of, just totally out of the blue, I make the pun in my [00:13:55] speaking of saying, I didn't see it coming. He says to me, I don't usually like [00:14:00] to make these kind of predictions, but I think I can guarantee After the surgery, your vision [00:14:05] will be better than it has ever been before. 

[00:14:07] Denisha: Oh my goodness, and you went in [00:14:10] thinking, I could lose.

It may not be any different. And now he's saying you're going [00:14:15] to see better than ever before. Oh my goodness, what was your emotional reaction in that moment? [00:14:20] 

[00:14:20] Guest: Remember, I have not been able to see all my life. It has been 55 years with a [00:14:25] severe visual loss. So the first question in my mind was, What does better than ever [00:14:30] look like?

What will I be able to do? What will I be able to see? What [00:14:35] things in my life will be easier to do? How much vision am I going to get? Is it going to [00:14:40] be back up to 20 20? Or will it be just a little bit? What are the things [00:14:45] that I would like to see for the first time? And then, I'm a captive audience here.

I'm on the [00:14:50] surgical gurney, so I have nothing to do but to think about all this. And the next thing I did was just to [00:14:55] thank a God who is so powerful that he could restore sight to [00:15:00] a visually impaired woman at age 55. We hear stories of healing. [00:15:05] We hear stories of God healing cancer or giving somebody back a sight that [00:15:10] they'd lost.

But we don't hear very many stories of someone who's been [00:15:15] born blind who then receives it at age 55. Wow. [00:15:20] And so I, I lay there and I worshiped a God who could do anything, [00:15:25] anything. And then part of retina surgery is that you have to lay face [00:15:30] down for two weeks to allow the eye to heal. And then there's a period of time [00:15:35] after that, that your eye has to further heal before they will put glasses on [00:15:40] you or they'll do anything else.

So I am now spending several weeks wondering [00:15:45] what is better than ever look like? What will be the first things that I'd be able to see? [00:15:50] Wow. 

[00:15:51] Denisha: I can only imagine what those two weeks were like for [00:15:55] you, with this anticipation of like, what happened? What does better than [00:16:00] ever look like? So what happened after that?

Well, 

[00:16:03] Guest: it was surprising. I mean, of course, [00:16:05] I'm thinking that, Oh, let's go back to Niagara Falls. I want to see it, but I, I'm [00:16:10] amazed at the God's bucket list for me was much different than what my [00:16:15] bucket list was. When we first 

[00:16:17] Denisha: met. When our friend Stephanie [00:16:20] introduced us, the two things that I walked away thinking was there's such an awe of [00:16:25] God in your life that just oozes out of your words and what he's done for you [00:16:30] and such a wonder and a curiosity of like Anything is possible.

It's just such a [00:16:35] wonder of what is he gonna do? Who is he gonna reveal himself to be today? And I just see that so [00:16:40] much in you, that awe and wonder. And thinking about those two weeks, like, let's go [00:16:45] back to Niagara Falls. Let's see what I can 

[00:16:47] Guest: see this time. And I think the message that [00:16:50] God had for me was that He is there in the ordinary moments of our [00:16:55] lives.

We all want to think of those grand moments, the big sensational things, the Grand Canyon, [00:17:00] Niagara Falls, the Grand Tetons. And yet God has displayed his [00:17:05] magnificence in the delicate petals of a rose as much as he has in the [00:17:10] mountains and canyons of the earth. And so he took me on a step by step journey [00:17:15] to discover all those things that are just exist right in my every day.[00:17:20] 

One of the things that I tell about in the book that I eventually wrote, my book, With Fresh Eyes, [00:17:25] was the grandeur of seeing a sunrise or a sunset for the first time. [00:17:30] Before it had just been some, you know, patchy colors. For the first time [00:17:35] I stood and I looked in amazement at a sunrise and I realized it's [00:17:40] changing every second.

It's changing from All these different colors, I mean, [00:17:45] God's color palette is unlimited because he's God. He can do that. He can [00:17:50] do more than just create five colors of a sunset. He can create thousands of [00:17:55] various shades and hues. And the sunrise or sunset that I see [00:18:00] here is different to someone five miles away.

It will be totally [00:18:05] different tomorrow. He is far better than any [00:18:10] animator. And he can just do it in a split second. His creativity is just [00:18:15] so vast. He is so extravagant. He's so precise. [00:18:20] I found that not only was I seeing things for the first [00:18:25] time, but I was also seeing God in ways that I had never seen before.

I thought [00:18:30] I had God figured out. I'd been a Christian all my life. I was a pastor's wife. I taught Bible studies. [00:18:35] And suddenly the cover was just blown off of my perceptions of who [00:18:40] God is. What he can do, his plans for people on [00:18:45] an individual basis, that he cared about me. He had this all [00:18:50] figured out back when I was praying as a nine year old.

How do I cope? [00:18:55] 

[00:18:55] Denisha: Wow. What was the first thing after those two weeks when you were able to [00:19:00] open your eyes and really see the new? What was the first thing that you [00:19:05] remember? 

[00:19:07] Guest: Do you really want to know? I do. The [00:19:10] bathroom scale. That was the first thing you could see. That was the first thing. Wow. Just gotta have a sense of [00:19:15] humor.

So, you know, I'm a woman. I want to know how much I weigh after I've been laying on my [00:19:20] face for two weeks. So I walk in the bathroom, and I don't have my new glasses, and everything is just really [00:19:25] whacked out at this point. That. So I walk into the bathroom, and now I am [00:19:30] visually impaired. I do not own a talking weight scale.

That's such a silly idea. [00:19:35] Do you think you want your weight broadcasted to the entire family? I'm not going to ask my [00:19:40] husband. So my method of looking at the bathroom scale is, when I was younger, [00:19:45] to get down on my knees and get three inches away from the digital readout. Now, in [00:19:50] more recent years, I do the spread eagle, bending down double to [00:19:55] try to read the scale.

But, you know, it does the trick. So, this is what I do. I gawk in the bathroom. I [00:20:00] spread myself out. I can't see it. Okay, it's just not time yet. So, I [00:20:05] stand up to a full upright position, give one little wistful look back at the scale, [00:20:10] and I can read the numbers clearly, perfectly. What howl? I think God had this [00:20:15] planned, because if I had seen, for two reasons.

Number one, if I had seen [00:20:20] the thing people expected me to see first, the thing that third graders will [00:20:25] see, the chalkboard or leaves on trees, everybody would have said, Oh, [00:20:30] wow, that's cool. Karen can see better. What's next? Hearing that I could [00:20:35] see the bathroom scale catches people's attention. Did for you, didn't it?

I love it. [00:20:40] I wasn't sure what you were going to say. I was thinking, yeah, you're, you're in your room and then you get up. [00:20:45] That makes perfect sense. I love that. And the second reason is because I'm in the [00:20:50] bathroom. We won't say how much I had on me at that point. And so it's just me and God [00:20:55] sharing that very special moment of the beginning of the journey.[00:21:00] 

And that moment was his. It was the first fruits of the journey that he was about to take [00:21:05] me on. And he had me all to himself, where I could worship him, praise [00:21:10] him for this great thing that he had done. How did this change in your [00:21:15] eyesight affect your perception? I learned that [00:21:20] he, number one, that he truly can do anything.

I learned that he cares about [00:21:25] the ordinary moments of our lives. He cares about women who can't read [00:21:30] bathroom scales. I learned that his creation is lavish. [00:21:35] I believed, headwise, that he had created the world, [00:21:40] but after my surgery, there is no doubt in my mind that there's only [00:21:45] way that the world could have been created was through a divine hand.

I have a [00:21:50] quote that there are other people that have figured that out. Both Francis Bacon [00:21:55] and Louis Pasteur said, a little science distances you from God, [00:22:00] but a lot of science brings you closer to him. And I love [00:22:05] that quote because that's what was happening to me was I was seeing all this detail before it [00:22:10] was blurry blobs.

Now I'm seeing all this detail for the first time and I'm starting [00:22:15] to ponder all that I'm seeing and I'm saying, there's no way. There's no way. [00:22:20] That this could have evolved. It's too precise, too accurate. [00:22:25] Surprising, my daughter became an optometrist. Oh, she says I have nothing to do with me. Yeah, right, [00:22:30] Catherine.

There was the influence there. What can I say? How? She said, Mom, there is no way that [00:22:35] you should have been able to see for the first time. You're 55 years old. Your [00:22:40] optic nerves should have atrophied. And I said, Oh, but Cantharine, I can't see. And she said, that's the [00:22:45] miracle. And then she told me that when she was in optometry school, she'd [00:22:50] been raised as a good Christian girl.

She'd been raised that God created the world, all the Bible stories. [00:22:55] But she said it was when she took a class on the anatomy of the eye and realized [00:23:00] how intricate, how detailed, how everything had to work just [00:23:05] perfectly together for an eyeball to even see how the fluids had to be just in the [00:23:10] right balance.

And she said, there's no way. That the eyeball could have evolved over time. It [00:23:15] had to be the right ingredients, the right concoction, I'm not saying it right. [00:23:20] Everything had to be right from the get go, from the very beginning. [00:23:25] And she said, only God could do that. And that's when she [00:23:30] truly believed in God.

Wow. 

[00:23:34] Denisha: More science, [00:23:35] more God. Yeah. That's beautiful. So you can now see [00:23:40] better than you could, despite what they thought going into the surgery. [00:23:45] I can hear it in what you're saying, Karen. I can hear it in when you describe a [00:23:50] sunrise. How did this renew your spiritual sight? 

[00:23:54] Guest: I [00:23:55] wanted to find out more about God.

I was just hungry to find out more of who he [00:24:00] was, what he could do, what he had [00:24:05] waiting for me, what he was going to do with this. I think I became convinced that God [00:24:10] expects us to do something with the miracles that he does in our lives. And so then I went on a quest of [00:24:15] Of God, what do you want me to do with this great gift that you [00:24:20] have given me?

I'm a writer. I have been a writer for 30 years. It was [00:24:25] my stay at home job while my children went to school. And I think I was at that point in my [00:24:30] life, I was sort of searching as to where I should go with my writing next. I started journaling [00:24:35] and telling Facebook. All the new things that I would see for the first [00:24:40] time.

I would start my post out with, Guess what I saw today? People loved it. I had people [00:24:45] stopping in my restaurant saying, Please don't stop. We love hearing about what you see today. Because it was giving [00:24:50] them this fresh look at what life could be. And it was [00:24:55] making them run out and look at sunsets because I was so excited about, Gee, what am I missing?

[00:25:00] And so I took all of those. Things that I was seeing for the [00:25:05] first time, and that's what became the outline for my book, With Fresh [00:25:10] Eyes. And I love the tagline that they put on that book, 60 Insights into [00:25:15] the Miraculously Ordinary, uh, from a woman born blind. [00:25:20] Yes. Because every day is miraculously ordinary, because [00:25:25] God is in that moment.

And I think that is the big thing that I took away from [00:25:30] all of this, is that God is here in every moment showing up, showing [00:25:35] us how faithful he is, how incredibly powerful he is, how [00:25:40] creative he is, and how much he really loves every single one of [00:25:45] us. 

[00:25:45] Denisha: Learning from what you've learned, Karen, in this walk that you've had, [00:25:50] how can the rest of us take a fresh look at God's creation?

Walk us [00:25:55] through how we can look at a sunset with fresh eyes. he 

[00:25:59] Guest: I'd like [00:26:00] to give you four steps that you can take to be able to see your world with fresh [00:26:05] eyes. The first is to pray. Pray, God, what do you want me to see? What do [00:26:10] you want me to see in your world today? You can expand it to say, who do you want me to see [00:26:15] today?

The next one is to pause. Take time. Take time to look. [00:26:20] Like you said, get out of your office chair, go outside, notice that the colors are [00:26:25] a little brighter out your kitchen window, and run outside. The neighbors will think you're crazy. That's [00:26:30] okay. I tell people, oh, I'm chasing sunsets. Okay, right. But take the time, [00:26:35] pause, so that you can then go to the next step of ponder.

Ponder [00:26:40] what you see, just like I did. Unpack that sunset. Ask yourself. [00:26:45] What colors am I seeing? How many colors? Be like a little, you know, take your grandchildren. How many colors can you see [00:26:50] out in the sunset? Ask yourself questions like, how did this happen? What are the [00:26:55] ingredients that it takes to make that sunset?

Who made all those things? Who made those [00:27:00] things to work together? Light, humidity, water, color, [00:27:05] cloud formations. God had to make all of those things to then bring them [00:27:10] together to make it work and make it beautiful like this. [00:27:15] Ask the hard questions. Ask, why God did you do it this way? Why [00:27:20] not this way? God, why did you create 300, 000 varieties of [00:27:25] beetles?

Weren't three good enough? Are you serious? I'm serious. I did my research. [00:27:30] Wow. And as we ponder and ask those questions, I think [00:27:35] we will be like Francis Bacon and Louis Pasteur, that we will begin to see more of the detail, [00:27:40] and we will be convinced that there indeed is a God who is. [00:27:45] God enough to do all of this.

And then the final step is [00:27:50] to stop and thank him. Thank him for what he has done. Thank him for what [00:27:55] he is going to do in your life. Thank him for what he has provided. I'm going to have two [00:28:00] more books come out in January. And one of them is about gratitude, [00:28:05] of stopping and the first step of being able to be grateful in all things is to have that [00:28:10] mindset of, God, what do I have?

What do I have in front of me? Thank you, Lord, [00:28:15] for sunset, for friends, for lights, for the [00:28:20] sounds that I hear. Just think of all those things that you normally take for [00:28:25] granted in your life and thank him and praise him for all that he has given [00:28:30] you. Oh. I just want to recap 

[00:28:33] Denisha: that because I don't want us to [00:28:35] miss it, like that sunset or that rose petal.

[00:28:40] So I'm hearing four Ps that we're going to pray, we're going to pause, [00:28:45] we're going to ponder, and we're going to praise. Oh, I just love [00:28:50] that. And there's so many more things that we face in our lives, [00:28:55] right? We're talking this month about reimagining our life with God. [00:29:00] So as we look at creation with fresh eyes, how can we [00:29:05] carry that same truth?

Into the hard things in our daily life, [00:29:10] how can I look at a fresh problem I'm facing or a decision I have to make or a [00:29:15] situation that looks dark? How can I transfer how I see my [00:29:20] life's moments the way you've just described, how we can look at creation? [00:29:25] 

[00:29:25] Guest: I had a very hard moment in my childhood that took me years to [00:29:30] get over and somebody gave me this little tip of reimagine [00:29:35] that scene.

Imagine that Jesus is walking through it with you, that [00:29:40] Jesus is there with you in that moment. He was there, he saw, he [00:29:45] knows, and he carried you through that time. And I think that's one thing that [00:29:50] my story has taught me is that God is always there. God [00:29:55] is with us every single moment. In the hard moments, in the happy moments.[00:30:00] 

In the confusing moments when I don't know where to go. In the moments where the lights have been turned off [00:30:05] and I don't know my way out. God will never abandon us. He's always with [00:30:10] us. Do a word search on the words, with you. It just amazes me how [00:30:15] many times the Bible reassures us of God's constant presence with us.

Then [00:30:20] take God, interact with God, invite him into the conversation. Okay, he's here. He's not [00:30:25] just here. He wants to partner with you as you go through this difficult time. [00:30:30] So ask him Lord. What do you see about this? What is your perspective? What do [00:30:35] you want me to do? What do you want me to see? There's a verse that says call unto me and I will [00:30:40] answer thee and show you great and mighty things Which you do not know [00:30:45] Jeremiah 33 3.

That's right. I love it. Yes Do it call on him ask [00:30:50] him because I used to not be able to see people across the room I've learned to ask God [00:30:55] Okay, I can't go find the people I want to associate with. And [00:31:00] so I learned to say, God, who do you want me to see? Bring those people to me [00:31:05] that you want me to impact, to interact with, who will be a [00:31:10] blessing to my life, whom I can bless.

Will you bring those people to me? Who [00:31:15] do you want me to see? That was powerful for me. And learning to invite [00:31:20] God into those everyday moments of my life. I think 

[00:31:24] Denisha: there's so many [00:31:25] things from your testimony that we can take away and use in our [00:31:30] everyday life. I also hear so much trust now that I get to hear more of your story.

So much [00:31:35] trust in that awe and wonder and so [00:31:40] many things as you've described it. Is there an overarching principle that you've learned [00:31:45] in your journey? I mean, I hear the awe and the wonder and the trust. Is there an [00:31:50] overarching principle that you've learned in your journey toward better than ever [00:31:55] eyesight?

[00:31:55] Guest: God really can do anything. He really can. He's God. That's what [00:32:00] God does. He would not be God if he couldn't do everything. [00:32:05] He may choose to not do something or to wait toward a better time of his, [00:32:10] you know, that's based on his wisdom and his discretion. But he really [00:32:15] can do anything. He's going to get you through.

He wants you to get [00:32:20] home to your eternal home far more than you even want it. And he's [00:32:25] going to do everything possible within his permissive will to make sure you get there. [00:32:30] So trust him, trust him. That He can pull you through whatever you're facing. He's not going to [00:32:35] let you get sucked under. He's going to carry you 

[00:32:39] Denisha: and get you all the [00:32:40] way home.

Amen. Karen, your story is so encouraging, just so filled with [00:32:45] hope and really a daily walk with God. I mean, you just see [00:32:50] that all throughout your story. From being nine years old, [00:32:55] praying, help me cope with this, to praying for healing. To then seeing God do something the [00:33:00] doctors didn't think was possible, to getting married, having two kids, two [00:33:05] grandchildren.

And I want to highlight, too, that you are an award [00:33:10] winning author. I mean, that feels like that defied some [00:33:15] odds as well. Right? God is good. He sure is. So tell us a [00:33:20] little bit about with fresh eyes, because after hearing your story, I [00:33:25] want more. I want your influence in my life to just encourage me when I can only [00:33:30] see the blobs in life to see the color again, to see the birds, to see the [00:33:35] sunset, to look a little bit deeper and see what God is doing around us.

So [00:33:40] I personally, I have not yet read your book, but I am going to read because I [00:33:45] need more of this. So tell us about your book, With Fresh Eyes. 

[00:33:49] Guest: With Fresh [00:33:50] Eyes is 60 short chapters that explores each of these [00:33:55] things that I saw for the first time and then gives a spiritual backdrop that [00:34:00] helps the reader, I hope, to see God with fresh eyes and the lessons that we can [00:34:05] learn.

I just saw that so much that it, you know, God didn't do this just for [00:34:10] my convenience, although that was very nice. He had lessons for me to learn. He [00:34:15] wanted me to see him through each new thing that I was able to see. And [00:34:20] he also wanted me to see that he had all this planned out. And so I share all of those 60 things [00:34:25] that I was seeing with fresh eyes and in more detail.

The book is published by Kriegel [00:34:30] Publishing. Just the whole timeline of the way the book came to be after my eye surgery was a gift of [00:34:35] God in itself. And I did not expect the awards at all. I [00:34:40] was totally shocked. Somebody said it, I just had to laugh because somebody said, Isn't [00:34:45] it wonderful that God did this for a writer so she could record the journey and tell us all about it?

[00:34:50] And I'm forever grateful to God for letting me to be able to share the story. The story has gone [00:34:55] far and wide. It has gone international. I was telling you before [00:35:00] we, we turned on the mic that I'm speaking at a school in Hong Kong. That's amazing. That [00:35:05] the Lord is just taking me in places that I never ever dreamed possible.

And a little [00:35:10] shy me that didn't think she was good enough. That God is now taking me [00:35:15] into arenas and amphitheaters. That I never would have dreamed possible. So God has [00:35:20] been so good, so faithful. He has big plans for all of us. Cause God can do anything. [00:35:25] Somebody 

[00:35:25] Denisha: really wise told me that. Karen, would it be okay if [00:35:30] we gave away a copy of your book?

Absolutely. I just, [00:35:35] I think that if we could all share a little piece of something new that we [00:35:40] saw after listening to your story, that would really encourage all of us, whether it be a [00:35:45] butterfly, whether it be a perspective on some hard situation, a decision, a [00:35:50] sunset, the sky. I'll tell you what, let's do this.

I'm making this up as I go [00:35:55] along right now, cause I just really feel led. Like we need to give away one of your books. We need to get this in [00:36:00] someone's hands. So after this episode, as you're listening to this, um, find [00:36:05] Reclaimed Story on Facebook or Instagram. And when you see, we'll post Karen's post [00:36:10] before this episode even hits, comment on one of those posts and share something that [00:36:15] you saw in a fresh way.

We would love to just celebrate with you. And I think you're going [00:36:20] to encourage a lot of other people as they read your comments and you theirs. [00:36:25] We will do a drawing for everyone who commented and give away a free copy of your [00:36:30] book. And we will also have in the show notes and on social media, a way to grab your own [00:36:35] copy, cause I'm not waiting for the giveaways, I'm going to want to get that.

Where can we find your book, Karen? [00:36:40] 

[00:36:40] Guest: You can find it on Amazon, Christian book, anywhere that books are sold. [00:36:45] You can also find me on my website at karenwingate. com, [00:36:50] and I would love to hear personally what you are seeing with fresh eyes at [00:36:55] my website, email karen at karenwingate. com. 

[00:36:59] Denisha: People can [00:37:00] find you on your website for speaking as well?

[00:37:01] Guest: Yes. I have my speaking roster there. I also have my [00:37:05] media kit, and I would love to talk with you about arranging a time that I can come speak [00:37:10] to your group either. On site or via 

[00:37:13] Denisha: zoom. Fantastic. [00:37:15] Isn't amazing. We have so much technology now to allow us to go to Hong Kong, Arizona. 

[00:37:19] Guest: That's [00:37:20] right. And even if the session's going to be at 1230 at night, but we can do this, right?

You can do [00:37:25] it, 

[00:37:25] Denisha: Karen. Thank you so much. And we're going to have Karen back on the podcast. In [00:37:30] January of 2025, because let's start our new year off knowing that God [00:37:35] can do anything. Thank you so much for your time and wisdom. Karen. My pleasure. [00:37:40] Thanks for listening. I pray you found hope in today's [00:37:45] conversation and maybe even feel a little less alone in your story.

Stay [00:37:50] connected with us on Facebook and Instagram at reclaimed story. Want to [00:37:55] learn more about living a reclaimed life and how you can be a part of our growing community of [00:38:00] reclaimers? Check out our website at reclaimedstory. com. All of those [00:38:05] links and more will be in the show notes. And if you enjoyed this inspirational podcast, [00:38:10] be sure to subscribe, rate, and review.

Not only will you be the first one [00:38:15] to know when new content comes out, but it is also a huge help in helping us reach [00:38:20] more people to live the reclaimed [00:38:25] life.