Free Blind Hope: An Unwanted Dog & the Woman She Rescued by Kim Meeder and Laurie Sacher Page A

flashlight. She walked in front and led us up the trail. My friend Risa followed her closely, and I stumbled along in the very back.”
    “Yikes, girl, I’ve been on the beach at night and it
is
dark!”
    “I could see where Karen was walking. She had the light, so I kept looking ahead over her shoulder to see every root, rock, and hole. But by the time I reached the same hazards, the ground under my feet was completely black. Karen’s light helped me stay on the path, but I was constantly tripping and stumbling, always fighting for my balance. I had no light of my own to help me. The farther we walked up the path, the more dangerous it became. Every time I lost my footing, I just got more and more frustrated.”
    “And when it’s that black, even your equilibrium gets a little sideways.”
    “It was so hard! And right when I wanted to scream out loud, a thought flashed through my mind.
My life is just like this
. I had been stumbling in the darkness, and I desperately needed my own light, my own relationship with God.
    “Right there, on the dark trail, I prayed a simple prayer. I acknowledged to God that all this time I had been living my life in the darkness. I told God that I didn’t want to live like this anymore. So I asked if he would show himself to me, if he would give me his light. And then … he did.
    I desperately needed my own light, my own relationship with God
.
    “At times, there have been people around me who knew God and shone with his light. By using the light of another instead of my own, I had no idea what lay ahead. Even though others offered gentle leadership and gave me ideas of what I was supposed to do, I would still get discouraged and often just go my own way. Apart from God, there is only darkness. Looking back, I can now see that those were the darkest and loneliest times of my life.”
    I nodded. “It always amazes me that we know we can’t successfully travel this life on our own but that knowledge alone isn’t enough to stop us from trying anyway. We still keep choosing to thrash around in the dark.”
    Laurie’s gaze shifted toward the window, and I saw a shadow of a smile. “That night was a turning point in my life. It was the moment I became fully aware of how much I desire God to lead me, to show me his light. I want to know who God is. He heard my simple prayer, and for the first time, I could see his light and not my darkness.”
    I leaned back in my chair and opened my hands. “Wow, Lou! What a powerful picture! You could’ve continued to respond with the same old frustration, the same old evasion, the same old excuses—but you didn’t. Way to go. I’m so deeply proud of you.”
    Laurie glanced back outside at some finches at the birdfeeder. “It’s time, you know? Time to stop pretending. How ridiculous—and yet how wonderful—that everything I’ve ever learned in the past about God was clarified in that moment of walking in the dark. Just like Mia chose to trust me, it was time for me to choose to trust God. I needed to demonstrate confidence, not only in my heart but also with my actions, that God would lead me with his light. It was time for me to believe that no matter how far I had fallen away from God, there was no darkness so deep that I could fall beyond his willingness to be my light.”
    With my hands folded under my chin, I gazed across my office at Laurie. I wondered if she knew just how much she had moved me. What a joy it was for me to share in her tears and laughter. At that moment, I knew that no parent on earth could be more proud than I was of my friend’s growth and triumphs.
    Just like Mia chose to trust me, it was time for me to choose to trust God
.
    Laurie’s glance drew back from the window and focused on me again. “If I’m going to trust, believe, and listen to God, and if I’m going to walk in his light, I must first do one thing: I must choose to. Like my precious Mia discovered, it hasn’t helped me at all to simply know