Anne And Helen - The One Year Mother-Daughter Devo
Anne and Helen
Bible Blast: Read John 1:1-5
He uncovers mysteries hidden in darkness; he brings light to the deepest gloom. Job 12:22
Johanna (Anne) Mansfield Sullivan was born in 1866 and had an extremely difficult childhood. Her mom was really sick all the time, and her alcoholic father was abusive. By the time she was seven years old, Anne was almost blind because of an untreated eye infection. She lived in darkness. Her mom died when Anne was just eight, and then her dad abandoned her and her brother, Jimmie. The two children were sent to live in a place like an orphanage. While they were there, Jimmie died. Her last hope was getting enrolled in Perkins School for the Blind in Massachusetts. There, she learned very quickly. Before long she could read, write, and use sign language, eventually graduating close to the top of her class. Then she received an invitation that would eventually make her famous.
The Keller family asked Anne Sullivan if she would come and work with their daughter, Helen. Maybe you’ve heard of Helen Keller. Helen was deaf and blind. She was wild and hard to control. It took some time for Anne to gain Helen’s confidence and trust, but once she did, Helen finally learned how to communicate and enjoy life. Anne would run water on one of Helen’s hands while she signed the word water in her other hand to help Helen understand. Because of Anne’s work, Helen was able to live a long, fulfilling life of writing, traveling, and speaking. The movie The Miracle Worker tells the story of Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller.
Imagine being like Helen, never seeing the bright sunshine and blue sky on a clear day or hearing the birds chirp on a spring morning. Sometimes, we may feel like we’ll always have gloomy, cloudy days—we might be sad about a fight we had with a friend or a bad grade on a quiz. But our focus verse says that God “brings light to the deepest gloom.” We need to be patient, but we can count on him to rescue us as he did both Anne and Helen. We’ll see the sunshine again!
