I Am Hope is stuck in my head. That’s a good thing. I went to the Women of Faith One Day with a couple of friends in Cincinnati on the 14th. I hadn’t been for a long time. Sheila Walsh was awesome and inspiring, Ken Davis was hysterically funny and inspiring, and Scott MacIntyre knocked my socks off with his singing and his awesome attitude.

I didn’t watch American Idol when Scott was on the show so I really didn’t know who he was and didn’t know his history. He shared with us about his blindness from birth and what he can see is like looking through the tip of a straw. He also shared that he was a kidney recipient and my guess is that he probably shares that in his book, By Faith, Not By Sight: The Inspirational Story of a Blind Prodigy, a Life-Threatening Illness, and an Unexpected Gift.

My husband and I worked on separate dialysis units in different hospitals for many, many, years with patients who were awaiting transplant, living with the difficulties of hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. To say it’s a difficult time is a gross understatement. I applaud Scott, he’s come a long way, he announced that he was married and that his wife was with him on the tour. So if you need inspiration to get you through a rough season you will find it within the songs, music, and words of Scott MacIntrye. 

And don’t forget to Donate Life. Those of us who have worked on dialysis units or in transplant centers know how important this is, but it’s the patients and families who understand the meaning of the word gift better than most.

Who or what inspires you?