Human accomplishments through adversity are some of the most amazing in history. I remember reading about what Joni Erickson Tada has done and still does after becoming a paraplegic. She has brought new, inspiring, and more productive lives to thousands of people by sharing her positive Christian philosophies with speaking engagements, books, and even beautiful artwork done by a paint brush held by her teeth. She’s worth researching.

This week I’d like to briefly discuss another unbelievable example of a young woman. She wrote more than 8,000 19th songs in the 19tn century that many of us still sing today. More than a million copies, so far, have been printed. She wrote over 1,000 poems to publish in 4 books and wrote 2 best-selling autobiographies. Additionally, she co-wrote popular secular songs, as well as political and patriotic songs and 5 cantatas on biblical and patriotic themes. But, because of being such a prolific writer, her publishers encouraged her to use pseudonyms. She used almost 200 different names in all her works. She also was committed to Christian rescue missions and became a public speaker. All that is more than we can fathom, but did you know that she, Fanny Crosby, became blind as a baby?

At 8 years old Crosby described her condition in her first poem. She later stated that it seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that she should be blind all her life, and she thanked God for the dispensation. She said if she had perfect sight offered to her, she would not accept it. She wouldn’t have sung hymns to praise God if she had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things around her.

Crosby once said when she gets to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden her sight will be that of her Savior. A biographer, Annie Willis, wrote that had it not been for her affliction, she might not have so good an education or have so great an influence, and not such a good memory.

In online research, I learned that she wrote familiar songs, just to name a few: “Blessed Assurance,” “Jesus is Tenderly Calling You Home,” “Praise Him, Praise Him,” “Rescue the Perishing,” and “To God Be the Glory.” After visiting a prison and hearing a prisoner’s plea to God, she wrote “Pass Me Not, 0 Gentle Savior.” She sometimes wrote 6 or 7 songs a day.

Her story is incredible. For some time, March 26 was celebrated in churches as Fanny Crosby Day. She passed at age 94 in 1915, hardly slowing down in many facets of work focused on helping others.

If I taught elementary and high school, I would see that students learned about such people like her, Erickson, George Washington Carver, and other marvels who had every reason not to think they could do anything but live to pity themselves. They help us to dream about doing things to make a blessed difference in our world. If we have shortcomings, we can look at these lives.

What about Nic Vujicic who travels the world to help cheerfully inspire people to believe in what God designed them to be—and he was born without legs or arms! We put too much into what we look like on the outside instead of realizing that’s just a body that houses our mind and our soul. We have to “think” first to accomplish our mission in life. And, if we then ask ourselves how we can do this if we have limitations in our bodies, we should learn how people did do wonderful things, even though they were a paraplegic, blind, extremely poor and challenged by race, or even without legs and arms.

So, what are our excuses? Only our souls make it out of this life. Think. Pray. Dream. Believe. Then, research. We already have the “inner tools.” It’s up to us to see that we use them and make it happen to bring joy and hope to this world. God Bless. Bless others. And, have a blessed week.