I enjoyed the book very much. As I read the book, I felt like God was giving me assurance that Hannah is going to be just fine.  I worry so much about her future.  God has a plan for her.  Fanny was blind and nothing was impossible for God.  With Hannah, nothing is impossible either.  I’ve seen it myself in my own life.  I needed this reminder.  I will keep praying for my sweet precious Hannah.

Some of my favorite parts of the book:

She had puritan heritage and she was very proud of it.

She may have been blind, but her mind was amazing.  She said everything was neatly stored in her mind.  Once she learned something she never forgot it.  She knew exactly where to find it when she needed it.  She new her memory was a gift from God and also considered her blindness a gift from Him as well.

Fanny memorized five chapters of the Bible each week, and by the time she was 15 (with the help of her grandmother and later their landlady) she had memorized Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Proverbs, Ruth, Song of Solomon and many Psalms.  It took her two years to learn them and she never forgot them.  Fanny did this blind — unable to read for herself, and fully dependent on memorizing Scripture by hearing the words and not seeing them.  This meant a great deal of work for whoever was helping her, reading the Scriptures over and over until Fanny had them committed to memory.

When asked, “You’ve written so many great hymns, but I wonder, if you think sometimes how your life might have been if you had your eyesight?”  She replied, “..God had a plan, a good plan.  He opened the door.  I would not exchange my life for anything.”

She was born in a poor family.  Her father died before she turned 1.  She spent her life ministering to the poor and those in need.  She ministered through her poems and songs.  They believe she wrote over 9,000 poems/hymns. 

God one allowed her to dream and SEE.  She was so thankful that the first time she would ever see a person’s face it would be Jesus.    [I’m adding here….that I hope the second was her precious baby girl she lost at only a few weeks old]

Another thing that stood out in the book is how she was treated as she got older.  When she was young people would assist her, find her a seat and were kind to her.  But, as the world changed, she found herself in a world with people he no longer cared.  They did not assist her, she would have to stand on a train without a seat and was talked down to.  Makes me so sad.  I don’t know how anyone could treat another person so unkind.  But, that is the world we are in today.  So busy, so into ourselves that we do not see others that need a kind word, assistance or just a seat on a train.  

One of the hymns she wrote, “To God Be the Glory” is one of Josiah’s favorites right now.  The kids also love “Praise Him, Praise Him”.

I listened to the book on audio (Audible.com), but here is an amazon link tot he book.