Hi,andrew,

I lost my sight 11 years ago and can relate to some of your feelings. 
Many people feel awkward around a blind person or a person with a 
disability in genral. This is not so much to do with you but with 
them as they do not know how to relate to you. You can help them by 
putting them at ease, by taking the initiative.Once they see that you 
are just an ordinary guy and that your lack of vision is not a lack 
in the ability to communicate and relate, I am pretty sure they will 
be more at ease around you.

I would very much encourage you to use your cane though. I am not a 
good cane traveler at all but I feel very insecure when I do not have 
my cane. I want and need my cane because it gives me independence. 
yor cane does not make you any more or less blind than you are. wen 
you are blind you are blind. A Blind person with a cane is an 
independent blind person and it will help your selfconfidence  and 
that in turn makes other people more confident in you and in 
themselves relating to you.

I do not know much what to advice about you finding your place in 
church and how you can serve. I think we each face that question, 
blind and sighted alike.  What might help some is if you talk to 
people and state your needs. For example, it might help if your 
church secretary could email you your church bulletin in advance and 
if someone could send you the text for next Sunday's hymns in advance also.

Thank you for sharing and we will keep you in our prayers.

Take care and God Bless,

Doris




At 10:55 PM 4/1/2009 -0400, you wrote:
>Hi all
>
>I hope you all are doing well.
>
>I  am doing okay.
>
>I  been having struggles to do with my blindness and stuff.
>
>I  been feeling down allot. I  have been feeling like I don't have 
>any friends.
>
>At my church I been kind of treated like I am blind and not included.
>I  tend to get lonely when I get left sitting on my own.
>
>I  am worried about my future. I  am trying to decide what to do with
>my future.
>
>
>I  just want to be excepted for who i am. I  don' know what I should
>do to serve god. My church does not seem that helpful in the areas I
>would like to serve in and stuff. I just again want to be excepted and
>treated like everybody else.
>
>I don't use my cane because I am afraid of being labeled a blind 
>person more so.