By Brad Campbell

Hi, all. Just a thought to help start your weekend.

My wife and I recently visited “Ivy Green,” the birthplace of Helen Keller in Tuscumbia, Alabama. As members of our local Lions Club, we feel a unique connection to Helen Keller’s partnership with the Lions and her challenge of the organization to be “Knights of the Blind.” We enjoyed walking around the grounds, touring her home and the little cottage where she and her teacher Anne Sullivan spent so much of their time, seeing the memorials, and peering into the kitchen and icehouse.

But what stands out for most people is the small spot near the back corner of the house where this water pump stands. If you’ve ever used a water pump, then you see no difference in this one. That’s all it is. That’s all it does. Homes of the time with no running water utilized the water pump for all their needs.

This water pump, though, happens to be the very spot where young Helen Keller, through the constant dedication and hard work of her teacher, made her first real breakthrough, realizing that the water she felt on her hands was also the word being spelled into those hands. The live performance of “The Miracle Worker,” which we experienced on this same trip, brought that particular moment to an amazing point at the ending of the play — the moment when Helen finally “got it!”

Do you, as a Christian, remember your “place?” As one who was formerly blind, but can now see the grace of God, do you remember the moment of your breakthrough? There was that specific moment in time when you finally “got it,” and you realized what the Great Teacher had been trying to get you to understand all along. There was that place, which may now seem near and dear to your heart, where you experienced Him for the very first time.

Let me invite you to revisit that place, that time, that experience. You don’t have to make a road trip or take a vacation to do it. Just let your heart go there. Remember what it felt like when His Word finally made a real impact on your life. Remember what it sounded like when, as a blood-bought Christian, you heard “Amazing Grace” sung with such enthusiasm it brought tears to your eyes. Remember what it looked like to see the glory of God as your world changed. Remember those who helped bring you to that moment in your life.

The miracle worker, indeed. Anne Sullivan held such a grand title in Helen’s life. My prayer is that you will experience the loving kindness and the enduring patience of your own Miracle Worker. Are you paying attention to the working of His hands in yours? Remember! It’s a trip worth taking!

Just a thought. ’Til later.