Doctors tell a 15-year-old girl her vision problem will
eventually result in total blindness. The trip home from the hospital is quiet. Arriving
home, she sits at the piano. She's had limited lessons and although she enjoyed playing,
she confesses that practicing the piano after dinner was normally a way to avoid doing the
dishes. She starts playing the hymn ``It Is Well With My Soul.'' She can no longer see the
music in the Baptist hymnal, but she plays the hymn as she has never played before.
Seventeen years ago a career
began for Jennifer Rothschild.
``It was just amazing to me,'' says Rothschild. ``It was as if God
symbolically closed one door, then opened another all in the same day. From that point on,
I played by ear in a style I never had before. I must admit, I enjoyed it. It was a way
for me to express things that probably words couldn't at that point. I just believe it was
a gift.''
Two years later, Rothschild discovered she had a talent for singing and writing music.
Rothschild - who lives in Tallahassee with her husband, Phillip, and 6-year-old son,
Clayton - will showcase her talents and discuss her faith at 6 p.m. Sunday at Celebration
Baptist Church.
It was a rare disease that slowly took away Rothschild's sight. She was first diagnosed
at 12 as having Stargart's disease. At 15, doctors discovered that her problem was worse
than first diagnosed. Although she is not sure if her disease even has a name, she
explains that symptoms and prognosis are similar to retinitis pigmentosa (progressive,
degenerative disease of the eye leading to blindness).
Memorized Bible verses became an oasis
When she realized her sight would only get worse, the Bible verses the teachers at her
Christian school required her to memorize inspired her. ``When this happened with my eyes
and I could no longer read, it was amazing to me how God used all those verses that I had
memorized the year before and brought them to life, and they became so real. It was such
an oasis to pull from with all the changes that were happening.''
She cited two verses that meant a lot to her at the time. ``I remembered Philippians
4:13, `I can do all things through Christ.' I was having to learn how to do everything
new. The scripture said that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I
could be a student without being able to see. I could learn how to go through the normal
emotional changes of adolescence, plus the emotional changes that were created by this
disease. I knew that no matter what the challenges were, I could do all things through
Christ.''
She also remembered 2 Corinthians 12:9. ``The Bible says that His grace is sufficient
for us. Although I probably could not articulate it at the time, I was so very aware of
His grace. I'm convinced that His grace just enveloped me and carried me through every
stage of this.''
The faith of her family helped. Her father was a Baptist minister, so the Christian
faith was always present in her family. ``My parents are very steady; they're very strong,
so their response was very realistic, very hopeful, very confident,'' she said. ``They
displayed a lot of faith either that God would heal or faith that God would provide my
needs and do everything that needed to be done if He didn't choose to take the disease
away.''
Disease was opportunity for deeper relationship with God
Rothschild says she has never blamed God for her blindness. ``I'm an extremely
independent person, and I appreciate the freedom and independence that sight represents,
but I guess it's because I really had an opportunity to experience God, my relationship
with Him is on such a deep, deep level because of this disease. It's difficult for me to
resent God for giving me this disease, because in so many ways I see it as an opportunity
He has given me to get deeper and to get richer than I would have been without it.''
Although the doctors say she will never see again, Jennifer has not given up hope. ``I
am not convinced that God will not heal me,'' she said. ``I believe He absolutely could.
We pray every day that He will. I just have an anticipation it may be in a holy place like
a church, it may be in Wal-Mart or it could be through medical means.''
While she would prefer to have her sight, she says she won't be upset if she doesn't
regain her vision. ``Either way I feel God will be glorified,'' she said. ``I could do so
much more, but I wouldn't want to limit God to think that He had to heal me in order to
glorify Himself. He can do as much as He wants to do in the blindness or He can do as much
as He wants to do
in the healing.''
Rothschild's performance Sunday will feature a variety of music, including selections
from her recently released third album, ``Out of the Darkness.''
``A lot of the music is upbeat, inspiring, enjoyable and fun, but then a lot of it is
contemplative and gives people a chance just to relax their spirit and enjoy it.''
Performances a chance to share faith, inspire others
``I always pray that when I have an opportunity to do a concert like this that the
people leave encouraged,'' she said. ``My desire is that when a person leaves a concert of
mine they are much more aware how individually God communicates to them how much He loves
them, and that they leave encouraged and more equipped to handle the next struggle. I pray
that they leave more inspired that life is much more than what we see with our eyes, and
that they're able to gain some encouragement from that.''
Besides her music, Rothschild will also discuss some humorous aspects of her condition.
She will tell how her guide dog was distracted by food in a restaurant, creating an
embarrassing situation. She will also tell about the time she entered the wrong door at
the Miami Airport.
Most importantly, Rothschild will discuss her faith which she believes in some way
relates to everyone. ``Obviously, not everyone in the population is experiencing this
exact struggle of losing their eyesight, but everybody in the world deals with something.
Everybody can identify with this kind of struggle that I'm experiencing on some level.''
