I have been inspired and encouraged by recent conversations with new friends who are blind. 

 Last week, I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Ron Milliman, professor of marketing in the school of business at Western Kentucky University. I had arranged the interview weeks before, and as I was checking into my hotel the young man behind the desk asked why I was in town. When I told him I was interviewing a professor at the university who is blind, he said, “Oh is that Dr. Milliman? I had a class from him last semester. He’s a great teacher! He’s funny, too. He told us always to be sure to raise our hand anytime we had a question and he’d be sure to respond just as soon as he saw it.”

So the humor of “Dr. Ron” preceded him, and it continued to sparkle during our conversation. 

 Dr. Milliman has more than 40 years of business experience, having worked in sales, sales management, marketing, advertising, market research, and of course in academia. He is a national officer in the American Council of the Blind. I got the distinct impression that blindness for Dr. Milliman is sometimes an inconvenience, but rarely more than that. He continues to rack up accomplishments at a quicker rate than most of us.

 This week I’ve had the privilege of becoming acquainted with Adrijana Prokopenko, who lives in Skopje, Macedonia. She reads Connected and other Christian Record publications online, and she decided to get in touch via email.

 Adrijana, 29, was born prematurely and became blind not long after she was born. She grew up in a culture that places little emphasis on accommodating the special needs of its disabled citizens, but she only paid enough attention to her difficulties to get past them and move on. 

 After completing high school, Adrijana qualified for a scholarship to attend Ovebrook School for the Blind in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She stayed for 10 months, building her computer skills and her abilities with the English language. She also learned to snow ski!

 She got another scholarship, this time to Eastern Mediterranean University in North Cyprus, where she studied English language teaching. Most of her professors had never met a blind student before, but she reports they were eager to have her there—for their own education as well as hers.

 Adrijana returned to Macedonia in 2003, determined to help other people with disabilities. After many disappointments, she was finally hired to teach English in a school for the blind in September 2006. She reports that she now has 50 students in her English classes, ages 10 to 17.

 The indomitable spirit of Ron and Adrijana makes me wonder why I sometimes think I can’t accomplish things that I find challenging. They remind me of the young David, who, while still a teenager, was called to confront the giant Goliath. Unfazed by the giant’s imposing physique and sneering bravado, David brushed aside the apparently insurmountable challenge and issued a challenge of his own: “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty.” Whereupon he flung a sling ball straight into Goliath’s forehead, and then proceeded to lop off his head before the Philistine army could figure out what had hit their hero.

 I am grateful for Dr. Ron and Adrijana and other modern-day Davids who remind me that the time for giant-slaying has not passed. May their tribe increase!