I Love Life: A Sioux Falls Woman Triumphs Over Loss of Sight!

Pastor Jeff Hayes of Faith Temple Church shared an inspirational phone call with me this week.  According to Pastor Jeff, Tami Francis of Sioux Falls called him to ask about making coat donations to the weekly Food Giveaways.   Tami wants to help residents that don't have coats.

That's just one part of the story!  Apparently, Tami, who is visually impaired, can sew a coat in 2 hours!  The Sioux Falls woman also sews coats for veterans.  She removes  patches from their old coats and makes brand new coats---reattaching the patches.

Tami's abilities are awesome---in spite of the loss of her vision.  That's what inspired me to call Tami for an interview!  Here's what I learned:

Tami was a trained interpreter for the deaf until she began losing her sight.

"You go for direction in your life and you get that let down.  It's what happened to me. I realize you have to have good vision as an interpreter.  You have to be able to drive and get to destinations...and be able to see your client.  I couldn't do that anymore and I had to find something else to do."

Tami's self esteem took a major hit because of the vision loss!

"I was less than whole.  I felt God was deserting me.  I was told by some individuals that I had to build up my holy spirit and I would be cured.  When that didn't take place, I was angry at God!"

But, the anger was short lived due in part to Tami's positive mental outlook and the loving support of others.

"If my attitude goes in the wrong direction, I lean on these other people to pull me back out.  That's been difficult for me.  It's that love thing.  I didn't grow up with much love and now I'm learning how to accept it."

Although the change has taken time to accept,  Tami says the vision loss has made her a stronger person.

"Losing that and having to appear weak to other people made me face the disability,  I had to deal with it.  Along the way,  God let me see who I am as a person.  Here I was in my mid 40's---seeing the world for the first time and accepting love for the first time.  I wish I could go back and fix stuff I had done in the past."

If you're in the grips of adversity, Tami offers this message of hope!

"There are good people that love you and want to be with you.  People love to help!  I love volunteering.  I love going out and helping others because it makes me feel really good.  I feel I am doing what God wants me to do.  There are so many of us---pushing others out of our lives and thinking we can do everything by ourselves.  Don't do that anymore.  You must let others in your life who want to support you."

No doubt about it!  Tami Francis is a Real Survivor here in Sioux Falls who is definitely making a difference!