“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.” II Corinthians 12:9
Devon Law was a star student at Geneva, but she didn't sit at the front of the class because she wanted to. She sat there because she couldn't see the board.
When Devon was 18 months old, she toddled into the street and was struck by an oncoming car. Her parents immediately rushed her to the hospital, where the doctors told them that a concussion and severe internal bleeding had damaged their daughter′s eyes forever.
While most doctors told Devon′s parents they had to face reality, one specialist told them never to give up hope. So they kept hoping and praying and, in time, God made the impossible a reality. Although she would never regain her central vision, Devon′s peripheral vision gradually improved.
Growing up surrounded by people who understood her situation, Devon didn't need to talk much about her disability. “It was easy to find ways to deny it. I could put in the extra effort and get things done. I could either fake that I could see or know that people would understand.”
But when she came to Geneva, Devon couldn't fake it anymore. Because of her disability, she had to work with Geneva′s academic support services. “It was kind of embarrassing,” she says. “People started asking questions.”
Devon knew that if she shied away from everything that made her uncomfortable, her life wasn't going to go anywhere. “I had to acknowledge my limitations and come to terms with the fact that I wasn't strong enough to make it on my own.”
She started taking on leadership positions to challenge herself and push her own limits. She served as a health coordinator in her residence hall for three years, keeping fellow students active and aware of health-related issues. She also became a member, and later vice president, of Delta Alpha Pi, a leadership society for people with disabilities.
As Devon gradually grew more confident and comfortable with her disability, she wanted to help other people become more open about their life situations.“Different is not necessarily negative,” she says. “You just have to recognize that each person is part of the kingdom of Christ and can contribute in his or her own specific ways.”
Now a graduate student at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Devon is studying vision rehabilitation therapy. “I'm just here to thank and serve God each day,” she says. “Finding my identity was a slow, arduous process, but loss of vision helped me to see God a little more clearly.”
In a chapel message during her senior year, Devon shared her testimony with the entire campus community. We would like to thank her for sharing her story with us. Click here to listen.
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