Celebrating Disability

This article was written on October 10th, 2021. 

This week, I celebrated my 9th anniversary of being blind. 

Some may read that sentence and wonder why I said “celebrated.” But in fact, I celebrate the day that I was admitted to the ER with a rare autoimmune condition (TENS) that eventually led to my vision impairment every year. Most of the time, my “TENS-iversary” celebration includes a fancy dinner, enjoying the warm glow of sunset, reflecting on what God has done through the years as we scroll through pictures and journal entries, and creating an “ebenezer” to commemorate what God has done. 

I have often been asked why I celebrate the day that prompted so much pain, heartache, missed expectations, and physical challenges. So today, I’m sharing just a few of the many reasons why I celebrate the day I became a person with a disability. 

I celebrate my disability because… 

…it uncovered a deeper joy 

My disability and particularly my chronic pain stripped away the shallow happiness that our generation loves to live on. But once the numbing comfort was uprooted, I found a deeper joy beneath – a joy that is based in eternal truths rather than circumstantial niceties -- a joy that has to be fought for, but that is completely worth fighting for.  I am so grateful that my joy is rooted and established in Jesus rather than in myself or my surroundings, because now I know that it will outlast these temporal things. 

…it brought me nearer to Jesus 

Scripture tells us that God is close to the brokenhearted and downtrodden, and the years of pain and grieving have given me both a desperation for and a comfort from God that I believe I could not have known on earth without them. I have a front row seat to daily miracles and a constant reminder to long for my eternal body with him, and for these, I am grateful. 

…it showed me my calling 

Those who have been around The Banquet Network for a while know this organization would not exist if it weren’t for my “TENS-iversary”. God absolutely used my vision loss to gift me with a truer vision – a vision for churches that are transformed by embracing people with disabilities and a vision for the largest unreached people group in the world – people with disabilities – seated around the banquet table in the kingdom of God. You can hear more about my story and the origin of The Banquet Network here.

Wherever you are reading this, you likely have had a day similar to my October 11, 2012. A day when your life was turned upside down. My hope and prayer are that you would be able to celebrate that day, perhaps first out of faith that there is something to celebrate that will be revealed and eventually out of the knowledge of the abundance that it led to. Let us strive to be a church that is full of people who are celebrating the way that God has used our disabilities and sorrows to reap joy and transformation.

By: Amberle Brown, Co-Founder of The Banquet Network