{"id":303750,"date":"2015-11-23T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-23T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/an-ordinary-childhood\/"},"modified":"2015-11-23T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-11-23T17:00:00","slug":"an-ordinary-childhood","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/an-ordinary-childhood\/","title":{"rendered":"An Ordinary Childhood"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>guest: Ginny Owens | Series: Transcending Mysteries | FamilyLife welcomes singer-songwriter Ginny Owens to their staff meeting. Ginny shares how God answered her mother&#8217;s prayer for her purpose, and talks about her ordinary childhood in Mississippi, despite her blindness. Ginny, who played piano and sang songs with her grandfather since she was knee high, tells what she did to fit in as a teenager.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ginny Owens shares how God answered her mother&#8217;s prayer for her purpose, and talks about her ordinary childhood in Mississippi, despite her blindness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/No_Podcast_Copyright_Notice.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"339.36k","filesize_raw":"347503","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2906,2822],"tags":[5867,5869,5866,5868],"podcast_series":[8111],"cwp_profile":[9410],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-303750","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-becoming-a-christian","category-growing-in-your-faith","tag-even-in-her-blindness","tag-gods-beauty-revealed","tag-gods-sovereignty-in-the-life-of-christian-recording-artist-ginny-owens","tag-life-circumstances","podcast_series-transcending-mysteries","cwp_profile-ginny-owens","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/303750\/an-ordinary-childhood","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/303750\/an-ordinary-childhood","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"ZQ2UnyoO8L\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/an-ordinary-childhood\/\">An Ordinary Childhood<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/an-ordinary-childhood\/embed\/#?secret=ZQ2UnyoO8L\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;An Ordinary Childhood&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"ZQ2UnyoO8L\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg",508,508,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kfairris@familylife.com","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/kfairrisfamilylife-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Ginny Owens shares how God answered her mother's prayer for her purpose, and talks about her ordinary childhood in Mississippi, despite her blindness.","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2015-11-23.pdf","transcript_content":"<strong>Bob: <\/strong>Before she was three years old, Ginny Owens went blind.She not only realized that her world had changed, but she began to realize that everybody was viewing her differently.\n\n<strong>Ginny<\/strong>: What happens, especially when you can\u2019t see, is that people maybe can\u2019t imagine what that would be like\u2014to not see. The only way that they know to react to that is to\u2014I don\u2019t know\u2014maybe just to treat me differently, for lack of a better phrase\u2014maybe that\u2019s shouting because they think I can\u2019t hear or maybe it\u2019s just talking to the person I\u2019m with. For whatever reason, people don\u2019t know how to treat me like normal.\n\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> This is <em>FamilyLife Today <\/em>for Monday, November 23<sup>rd<\/sup>. Our host is the President of FamilyLife<sup>\u00ae<\/sup>, Dennis Rainey, and I\u2019m Bob Lepine. We\u2019ll get a lesson today in what it means to walk by faith and not by sight with our guest, Ginny Owens. Stay tuned.\n\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\n<strong>1:00<\/strong>\n\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\nAnd welcome to <em>FamilyLife Today.<\/em> Thanks for joining us on the Monday edition. I\u2019ve got to tell you\u2014this is going to be a treat. You remember, back last summer, we had Jeremy Camp stop by. He performed for our staff, and we got a chance to dialog with him\u2014great time with him.\n\n<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> It was. As our listeners know, Bob has a propensity toward getting his friends, who are music \/ Christian music artists, here on <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. I dutifully bow and, occasionally, I\u2019ll bring a hunter or a fisherman on. [Laughter]\n\n<strong>Bob: <\/strong>But they have to have something redemptive in what they do\u2014\n\n<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>There you go! Fishermen are redemptive.\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> That\u2019s right. After Jeremy Camp was here, Ginny Owens came by. I said, \u201cWould you mind performing for our staff as well?\u201d We gathered the staff together in our team room, and you and I had a chance to interview her. This was your first time to meet her.\n\n<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>It was. You know, Bob, a lot of people have challenges when they enter a profession.\n\n<strong>2:00<\/strong>\n\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\nHers is a very unique challenge. I just have to admire this young lady as to how courageous she is and persevering\u2014she\u2019s had some tough, tough circumstances come her way.\n\nWhat folks are going to hear, this week on <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>, is a great story of redemption.\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> And some great music to go along with it. Our staff was gathered\u2014so you\u2019ll hear them as we listen in to the conversation we had recently with Ginny Owens.\n\n[Previously Recorded Interview]\n\n<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>As we do this interview, I think it\u2019s important to read a passage of Scripture. In John, Chapter 9 [verses 1-5]: \u201cAnd Jesus was passing by. He saw a blind man who had been blind from birth. And His disciples asked him, \u2018Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?\u2019 Jesus answered, \u2018It was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.\n\n<strong>3:00<\/strong>\n\n\u201c\u2019We must work the works of Him who sent Me while there is day; night is coming, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.\u2019\u201d\n\nGinny Owens is a song writer\/singer and, now, an author of a brand-new book called <em>Transcending Mysteries<\/em>. It is kind of the marriage of the Old Testament, and the words of Christ, and her story\u2014as a young lady, who grew up with the gift of singing\u2014a fascinating story as she shares it in her book.\n\nJust in case our audience doesn\u2019t know her, she\u2019s had three\u2014three Dove awards. She\u2019s had six number-one singles. Worldwide, her album sales have sold more than a million. She\u2019s currently the worship leader of a church in Nashville and an adjunct professor at Belmont University.\n\nWe would like to welcome you to the broadcast, Ginny.\n\n<strong>4:00<\/strong>\n\n<strong>Bob: <\/strong>Welcome Ginny Owens. [Applause]\n\n<strong>Ginny:<\/strong> Thank you.\n\n<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Ginny, you had an interesting beginning. Your mom was cautioned about something that was taking place as you were being formed in the womb. Explain to our audience what that was.\n\n<strong>Ginny:<\/strong> My parents both knew that there was a really good chance that I could inherit the degenerative eye conditions that were a part of my dad\u2019s family history. He had inherited those\u2014although he has great vision and he can drive\u2014but my grandmother was totally blind. They knew there was a great possibility that I also might be faced with some of those challenges. My mom prayed that, whatever the case would be, that my heart would be for God and that, even if I couldn\u2019t see, that I would trust Him with my life.\n\nWhen I was born, it became obvious very quickly that I did have some eye problems.\n\n<strong>5:00<\/strong>\n\nI did have vision until I was three years old. Then I lost what little vision I had after a treatment that they tried on my eyes.\n\n<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>You had a buddy growing up, as a little girl, who marked your life\u2014your grandfather.\n\n<strong>Ginny: <\/strong>Yes, definitely. My grandfather was a pastor and just a very gentle soul. I was the first grandchild. My grandfather and I were\u2014were both the introverts in the house. When everyone would come for Thanksgiving and Christmas, he and I would eventually end up hiding somewhere together\u2014[Laughter]\u2014hanging out. He would patiently sit and sing hymns in whatever keys I could play them in, as a child, learning to play piano. He was always wonderful about that and just would talk to me about life. He and my grandmother, in their own way, seemed very strict. We knew we\u2019d better be on our best behavior\u2014\n\n<strong>6:00<\/strong>\n\n\u2014but still, every time we saw them, they\u2019d take us for ice cream; and we would do fun things together.\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> For you growing up, with your grandfather as a friend \/ as a close companion, and your parents \/ your family\u2014Jesus was there all along; right?\n\n<strong>Ginny: <\/strong>He was! We had our definite twists and turns. My parents divorced when I was pretty young. That was definitely a challenge\u2014but one in which both my parents are wonderful people and both were wonderful to us\u2014my brother and I.\n\nWe were very surrounded by folks who love Jesus. We were in church every week\u2014every time the doors were open, we were there and learning. Although I became a Christian at four \/ at the age of four, I think you learn a lot about who Jesus is, especially, when you face a disability or a physical challenge.\n\nI remember there were several times, in my younger years, when my mom would say:\n\n<strong>7:00<\/strong>\n\n\u201cYou know, Ginny, Jesus is always your best friend; but there are days He\u2019s going to be your only friend. You have to trust Him in that.\u201d There was a very current reality\u2014a presence to Jesus that sort of was obvious to me, at a very young age, I think.\n\n<strong>Bob: <\/strong>When you began\u2014and again, I don\u2019t know if you can remember, at age three, beginning to lose your sight\u2014but that had to be a fearful experience, as a young girl\u2014the loss of something that you were depending on.\n\n<strong>Ginny:<\/strong> You know, it\u2019s funny\u2014I don\u2019t remember seeing very well, but I do have this memory of looking for my eyes everywhere\u2014like trying to figure out where they were \/ like looking for them under the couch. See, they were still in my head; but they didn\u2019t work\u2014so I just was looking for them, trying to figure out where I could find them. I really don\u2019t remember, other than that, having any fear or panic around the process. I think that\u2019s the gift of being so young when I lost the little bit of sight that I did have.\n\n<strong>8:00<\/strong>\n\nMy parents were <em>wonderful<\/em> about just making sure that my childhood was normal. The neighbors would panic because they would look out and see me in the top of the dogwood tree. They would be like, \u201cUmm\u2014should we call the fire department?\u201d My mom would always say: \u201cGinny\u2019s my careful child. She\u2019ll be fine.\u201d [Laughter] I had roller skates, and I loved skating down steep driveways and riding my bike all over the neighborhood.\n\n<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>Yes, I want to stop you there\u2014how did you ride your bike?\n\n<strong>Ginny: <\/strong>I don\u2019t know! I think\u2014[Laughter]\u2014I think, once I grew up and realized, \u201cOh I could potentially go to the wrong house,\u201d it changed my bike riding because then I was just like\u2014all of a sudden, really self-conscience about that \/ and who might be seeing me and where I might be going\u2014but before that, I just\u2014I knew where everyone\u2019s house was. Obviously, I\u2019d hear the cars and get out of the way\u2014I didn\u2019t think about it.\n\nI keep trying to see if I can apply that same principle to my life now\u2014just, you know, sometimes, you just have to go for it, and do things, and be brave and not wonder: \u201cOh what if I do this wrong? What if I go to the wrong house?\u201d Obviously, I <em>knew<\/em> all my neighbors. That helped as well, but there was just a fearlessness.\n\nOnce\u2014I remember having to learn to ride without training wheels, and my dad running behind me, and trying to keep the bike on target as parents always do. Then after that, it was good. I loved riding all the time.\n\n<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>You also said that you pranced on top of a gymnastics beam.\n\n<strong>Ginny:<\/strong> A balance beam\u2014yes.\n\n<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>Yes?\n\n<strong>Ginny: <\/strong>My parents were, again, they let me do anything that other kids were doing. One of those things I got to do was to take gymnastics, which I absolutely loved. I probably wasn\u2019t any good at it. Walking on the balance beam probably was a lot\u2014very helpful for my balance. Learning how to do summersaults and all those things were great for coordination.\n\n<strong>10:00<\/strong>\n\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\nI even took ballet. It was fun to pretend to be a princess and to pretend to be graceful, as lots of other kids have enjoyed doing.\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Did you ever ask your mom why she was as hands-off with you as she was? Was she\u2014I\u2019m imagining myself, as a parent\u2014and thinking I would be diving in to try to protect.\n\n<strong>Ginny:<\/strong> I think she did in her own way, but I think she knew that I had to learn to be involved in life. I think my dad, just having grown up with a blind person as his mother, he also knew how important it was that I learned to be independent and that I learn to take care of myself.\n\nI would say they weren\u2019t really \u201chands-off\u201d\u2014they just insisted that I do everything other kids did. In a way, they were more hands-on. My mom\u2014she didn\u2019t want me to have nervous ticks or do different things. Somebody has to tell you: \u201cHey, the world can see you doing that. You don\u2019t want to do that. You want to look in the direction of the person you\u2019re talking to.\u201d\n\n<strong>11:00<\/strong>\n\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\nThose are just cues\u2014social cues\/visual cues\u2014that I had to learn. They were really hands-on about teaching me all those things.\n\n<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> One of the things that parents can\u2019t protect their children from, whether they have sight or whether they don\u2019t, is the cruelty of kids. One of the things that, as I was reading your book, that I just winced about was what happened to you when you were in the fifth grade.\n\n<strong>Ginny:<\/strong> Fifth grade was not my best year, but I have since learned it was not the best year for many people. [Laughter]\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Yes, I want to find out: \u201cHow many of you would say, \u2018Fifth grade was not a good year for me\u2019?\u201d Yes\u2014lots of folks. [Laughter]\n\n<strong>Ginny:<\/strong> Yes, I think it was not so much fun. I went half of my day to\u2014well, maybe a little bit more than that\u2014to a public school. Then I went part of the day to a school for the blind. Most of my time was with kids who could see. They needed someone to pick on, so that often ended up being me.\n\n<strong>12:00<\/strong>\n\nI remember there was a girl\u2014I even remember her name, which is so hilarious.\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Let\u2019s just go ahead and share it with everybody\u2014[Laughter]\n\n<strong>Ginny: <\/strong>It was so unique\u2014I always want to look around on Facebook<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> and see if she\u2019s still there. [Laughter] She was the popular girl\u2014she was the girl we all wanted to be with and be like. She would come into the lunch room, and she would take my lunch if I brought it in\u2014either if I had a tray or if I\u2019d bring in my lunch box, she would grab it and pull it away. She\u2019d say: \u201cI have your lunch. What are you going to do about it?\u201d Everybody would laugh. Almost like she thought I didn\u2019t know that she had moved it away or something like that\u2014which, of course, I always <em>knew<\/em> what she was doing\u2014I just didn\u2019t know exactly what to do or how to fight back. She\u2019d pick Rice Krispies<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> off my Rice Krispies treat, while I was trying to eat it. She was\u2014a real gem. [Laughter]\n\n<strong>13:00<\/strong>\n\nCompared to things that happen\u2014especially today, with kids getting bullied and so many things like that\u2014 it\u2019s minor. I think, at the time, it just highlighted, for me, being different. It felt like the end of the world because you just\u2014you see life through the lens that you have to work with, at that time, which is: \u201cWow! The popular kids don\u2019t like me. They want to pick on me all the time.\u201d\n\n<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> You said in your book that what happened then was the beginning of pervasive feelings of loneliness and isolation\u2014feelings that haunted you well into adulthood.\n\n<strong>Ginny:<\/strong> Yes. I did recover from that. I went on to be very involved in school\u2014very proactive about being part of every organization I could\u2014I was a cheerleader; I ran track; I was in choir, and band, and\u2014[Laughter]\n\n<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Hold it; hold it. [Laughter] You ran track\u2014\n\n<strong>Ginny:<\/strong> I did.\n\n<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> \u2014what did you run?\n\n<strong>Ginny:<\/strong> I would run the 440, and the 200 relay, and a couple things like\u2014\n\n<strong>14:00<\/strong>\n\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> I ran the 440 too.\n\n<strong>Ginny: <\/strong>Did you?\n\n<strong>Bob: <\/strong>How did you stay in your lane?\n\n<strong>Ginny:<\/strong> Oh, I would always have a sighted guide. I had no ability to stay in my lane without a sighted guide\u2014so that helped.\n\n<strong>Bob: <\/strong>So a sighted guide\u2014somebody running in front of\u2014how does it work?\n\n<strong>Ginny:<\/strong> We would run beside each other. We had these little\u2014kind of a little strap-thing that you would connect to each of your arms. It worked wonderfully. In fact, I\u2019ve been trying to find one of those so I can run with my friends now; but I don\u2019t know where to get them.\n\n<strong>Bob: <\/strong>Somebody has to be able to keep up with you though.\n\n<strong>Ginny: <\/strong>Well, I had to be able to keep up with them\u2014it was usually guys with really long legs. It was a lot of fun.\n\n<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> All the time your grandfather spent with you\u2014plunking on a piano and singing, and writing, and singing along with you\u2014resulted in you spending a good bit of time, as a child, in your room, singing to your dolls\u2014\n\n<strong>Ginny:<\/strong> Yes.\n\n<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>\u2014and writing songs.\n\n<strong>Ginny: <\/strong>Yes.\n\n<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> If I would have asked you what you wanted to be, at that point, when you grew up\u2014\n\n<strong>15:00<\/strong>\n\n<strong>Ginny:<\/strong> I would have said: \u201cI want to be a singer. I\u2019m going to write songs and play them for everyone.\u201d That\u2019s what I thought was going to happen.\n\n<strong>Bob: <\/strong>Do you remember any of the songs you might have written at 12, or 13, or 14.\n\n<strong>Ginny:<\/strong> Oh yes, definitely.\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Would you pull one out of the old repertoire that maybe nobody\u2019s heard before?\n\n<strong>Ginny: <\/strong>One of the first songs I ever remember writing\u2014I thought it sounded just like Amy Grant\u2014Amy Grant and Kid\u2019s Praise combined\u2014[Laughter] \u2014so Psalty and Amy Grant. It went like:\n\n[Singing] Don\u2019t forget the water. Don\u2019t forget the soap.\n\nDoesn\u2019t it sound like Amy Grant?\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Yes.\n\n<strong>Ginny: <\/strong>\n\n[Singing] Don\u2019t forget the bathtub or you\u2019ll have to give up hope.\n\nThis is the spiritual part:\n\n[Singing] Don\u2019t forget Christ Jesus. He will cleanse your soul \u2018cause He\u2019s the only One who can\u2014make\u2014you\u2014whole!\n\n[Applause]\n\n<strong>16:00<\/strong>\n\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> I think there\u2019s a kid\u2019s album in you somewhere.\n\n<strong>Ginny:<\/strong> Well, there\u2019s something\u2014I don\u2019t know. [Laughter]\n\n<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> You ended up going to Belmont University.\n\n<strong>Ginny:<\/strong> I did\u2014I loved it! Belmont was\u2014I think after\u2014being in Jackson, Mississippi, growing up, and living there \/ especially in high school, when I was so involved in school\u2014even as I was fighting with my inner self about who I was, and who I was going to be, and if people were ever going to accept me, as a real person, even though I couldn\u2019t see\u2014I also had roots in Jackson. I thought: \u201cI\u2019ll never leave here. This is where I want to be.\u201d\n\nThen I started to hear about Belmont from several folks. They had a scholarship they were giving away to a student who had a physical disability and would potentially need some financial aid, but had been an achiever in school. They ended up giving me the whole thing. That was how I ended up there\u2014\n\n<strong>17:00<\/strong>\n\n\u2014which is kind of crazy\u2014but God has definitely a sense of adventure and a sense of humor that I am always delighted to know about.\n\n<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> You used a phrase\u2014as you were describing what was going on in your life\u2014that I want you to unpack for those of us who can see.\n\n<strong>Ginny: <\/strong>Sure.\n\n<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>You said you wanted to be treated as though you were a real person.\n\n<strong>Ginny: <\/strong>Right\n\n<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>Help those of us who <em>see<\/em> understand why that\u2019s an issue for someone who can\u2019t.\n\n<strong>Ginny:<\/strong> That\u2019s a great question. I\u2019m not <em>sure<\/em> what goes through a sighted person\u2019s head when they encounter a blind person; but I know what goes through my head when I encounter somebody that has a physical or mental disability that is obvious to me \/ or a challenge that is obvious to me. I want to be really careful what I say\u2014I don\u2019t want to say the wrong thing, and I want to treat them normally\u2014but I\u2019m afraid I\u2019m going to mess up and not do that well.\n\n<strong>18:00<\/strong>\n\nAll that to say, I know what it is to feel a bit of fear when you encounter somebody that you go: \u201cOkay, this person is not exactly like me. They don\u2019t encounter the world the way that I do every day.\u201d\n\nI don\u2019t\u2014it\u2019s hard for me to really know how people look at me\u2014but I think what happens, especially when you can\u2019t see, is that people maybe can\u2019t imagine what that would be like\u2014to not see. The only way they know to react to that is to maybe just treat me differently, for lack of a better phrase\u2014maybe that\u2019s shouting because they think I can\u2019t hear or maybe it\u2019s just talking to the person I\u2019m with.\n\nThe other day, I went to get my license renewed because you still have to do that even if you can\u2019t drive. The guy kept telling my friend: \u201cShe\u2019s not looking in the right place. Can you tell her to look in the right place?\u201d I was just like: \u201cWow! This is so complicated,\u201d\u2014like: \u201cIf I can\u2019t look in the right place, maybe I can hear you and you could tell me.\u201d [Laughter] There are always just\u2014\n\n<strong>19:00<\/strong>\n\n\u2014people do not, for whatever reason, people don\u2019t know how to treat me like normal\u2014like they would treat each other.\n\nAs a young person, especially as a teenager, I thought the most important thing I could do was to downplay my blindness\u2014to make sure it didn\u2019t define me by almost pretending it didn\u2019t exist. I think I eventually learned that wasn\u2019t the answer\u2014that it does exist. Part of what we do is: embrace it, and talk about it, and confront it\u2014but definitely, it\u2019s hard sometimes to get up and think, \u201cI want to encourage people that I am normal.\u201d Trying to figure out how you\u2019re going to do that every day can be a little bit exhausting, at times; but it\u2019s also a gift in its own way.\n\n<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> I really like what you\u2019ve said there because you\u2019ve just helped those of us, who can see, understand that people with all kinds of disabilities\u2014not just those who are blind\u2014want to be treated as human beings, who have normal needs, just like everybody else.\n\n<strong>20:00<\/strong>\n\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\nWe need to be careful to respect them and not treat them as something less than a person made in the image of God.\n\n[Studio]\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> We\u2019ve been listening to the first part of a conversation that we had, not long ago, with Ginny Owens\u2014recording artist, singer, and songwriter. We\u2019re going to hear more from Ginny this week; but I think you made a great point, Dennis\u2014we have to recognize that we all have special needs of one kind or another. We all have challenges that we face; and yet, we want to affirm the dignity and the worth of every human being.\n\n<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>Some of our limitations are seen\u2014like after you spent some time with this young lady, you\u2019d notice that she is blind. Others of us have limitations that can\u2019t be seen. We all want to be loved \/ we want to be cared for. The thing I want to impress on our listeners today is:\n\n<strong>21:00<\/strong>\n\n\u201cIf you\u2019re a single person, you need to learn this art of putting others\u2019 interests above yourself\u2014Philippians, Chapter 2. If you\u2019re married, you already get this lesson because you\u2019re in a very close relationship with someone who has some limitations\u2014but apply it fresh, perhaps\u2014maybe you\u2019ve had an argument the past day or two and you just need to let your spouse know you love them and you\u2019re proud to be married to them.\n\nIf you\u2019re raising children, would you implant this kind of heart in their chest?\u2014so that, as they encounter people who have needs, they\u2019ll not recoil away; but they\u2019ll press into them, and love them, and care for them, and speak with respect and dignity to people who do have limitations.\n\n<strong>Bob: <\/strong>I\u2019ll just add\u2014if you want to hear some great music, we\u2019ve got some links on our website, at FamilyLifeToday.com. You can listen to Ginny singing <em>Be Thou My Vision<\/em> and some of the songs that she is best known for. Watch the videos.\n\n<strong>22:00<\/strong>\n\nGo to FamilyLifeToday.com. If you\u2019re interested in a copy of Ginny\u2019s hymns CD, it\u2019s called <em>Say Amen<\/em>. We\u2019ve got that in our <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> Resource Center as well, along with the book that Ginny has written with Andrew Greer, called <em>Transcending Mysteries:<\/em><em>\u00a0 <\/em><em>Who Is God, and What Does He Want from Us?<\/em>\n\nAgain, you\u2019ll find all of this when you go to FamilyLifeToday.com. Or if you\u2019re interested in the book or the CD, and you\u2019d like to order by phone, call 1-800-FL-TODAY. So, the website, FamilyLifeToday.com; or call 1-800-358-6329\u2014that\u2019s 1-800-\u201cF\u201d as in family, \u201cL\u201d as in life, and then the word, \u201cTODAY.\u201d\n\nNow, here in this week, where we are celebrating Thanksgiving in the United States, we want to make sure that you know that we are thankful for you! We\u2019re thankful that you listen each day. We\u2019re thankful when we hear from you and you share with us about how God has used this program in your life.\n\n<strong>23:00<\/strong>\n\nIn fact, we heard recently from a school teacher who said, \u201cI didn\u2019t think I needed to listen to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> because I\u2019m a single woman.\u201d She said, \u201cBut the things you\u2019ve been talking about are helping me, as a school teacher, as I work with young people.\u201d So she said, \u201cI\u2019m tuning in regularly.\u201d That\u2019s a great encouragement to us. We just want to say, \u201cThanks for listening.\u201d\n\nThanks for supporting the ministry of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> as well. We are listener-supported. We depend on your donations to be able to accomplish all the things God is doing through this ministry.\n\nIf you can help with a donation today, we\u2019d like to express our thanks by sending you a copy of a book that Barbara Rainey has written for families. It\u2019s called <em>Growing Together in Gratitude<\/em>\u2014a collection of stories designed to be read aloud or older children can read them for themselves\u2014stories of thanksgiving \/ stories of gratefulness\u2014all designed to promote a spirit of thanksgiving in everyone\u2019s heart. We\u2019ll be happy to send you a copy of the book when you make a donation, online, at FamilyLifeToday.com.\n\n<strong>24:00<\/strong>\n\nOr you can request it when you call 1-800-FL-TODAY. Or you can mail your donation, along with your request, to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>, PO Box 7111, Little Rock, AR; our zip code is 72223.\n\nNow, tomorrow, we\u2019re going to hear more from Ginny Owens; and we\u2019ll hear some music tomorrow, including the song that she is probably best-known for\u2014the song, <em>If You Want Me To<\/em>. Hope you can tune in for that.\n\nI want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team. On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine. We will see you back next time for another edition of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\n\n<em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas.\n\nHelp for today. Hope for tomorrow.\n\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\nWe are so happy to provide these transcripts to you. However, there is a cost to produce them for our website. If you\u2019ve benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\n\nCopyright <sup>\u00a9<\/sup> 2015 FamilyLife. 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