Dr. Jessica Peck: We would like to take a moment to thank our sponsor, PreBorn. When a mother meets her baby on ultrasound and hears their heartbeat, it's a divine connection. And the majority of the time she will choose life. But they can't do it without our help. Preborn needs us, the pro life community, to come alongside them. One ultrasound is just $28. To donate, dial pound250 and say the keyword baby or visit preborn.com/AFR American. Family Radio would like to say thank you to preborn. We value our partnership with preborn as we share some of the same goals, namely the saving of unborn babies and also saving their mother's souls through Jesus. We'd also like to thank you for your support of preborn. You can donate anytime at preborn.com A gift of just $28 provides a free ultrasound for an expectant mother. This NRB broadcast is underwritten in part by preborn. Hello, and welcome to the Dr. Nurse Mama show prescribing Hope for healthy families here on American Family Radio. Here's your host, professor, pediatric nurse practitioner and mom of four, Dr. Jessica Peck.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, hey there, friends, and welcome to my favorite time of day, getting to spend time with you prescribing Hope for healthy families. And listen, it is another day where I am coming to you live from the national Religious Broadcasters Conference. And it is so encouraging to walk the hotel floor, to walk the convention center, and to see people whose mission is you. You who are listening. They're thinking, what are you going through? How can we encourage you? How can we equip you? How can we strengthen your faith? And in a world where there are people who are intending to scare you so you'll buy something or do something or market all of your fears and insecurities and your traumas, it's really, really refreshing to be in this minist. And I'm here today with a, real. With something really special for you. We have got a really special couple here and they are going to share their testimony. And as we walk through our life, we all face things. We all face things. Some things that we expect and some things that we don't expect. And some suffering comes suddenly, some come slowly. But all of that suffering, it changes what we thought life would be and it challenges you and how you think about God. And today we're going to have a conversation not about tidy answers, not about cliches on what to do when you're feeling suffering. We're going to talk about the real depth of that pain and the humanity that we have what happens when God allows something that you never asked for, that you can't explain, that you can't fix, and how faith is formed not by sight, but by trust. And our guest today, Chad Roberts, is a pastor, he's a missionary, a global church leader, and he's going to tell you a little bit about an accident that he had that changed his life. Joining him right here in the studio live, we have his wife, Sadie Roberts, whose journey through this season really reminds us that suffering does not happen in isolation. It impacts the whole family. It reshapes marriage, it reshapes parenting, it reshapes calling and even daily life in ways that you see, in ways that you don't. And together, they're inviting us into a story. And the story has moments and chapters of darkness and grief and surrender, but ultimately deeper trust in a God who remains good even when life goes dark. And they have a new book about their story called Blind Faith, Seeing God Through Darkness. And I hope that you will get a copy of this book. I hope that you will give a copy of this book to somebody, you know who is going through something. You don't even need any words. The words are in the book. Just get the book and just say, hey, I thought this might encourage you. That's it. And it's not pushing readers toward a resolution. It's offering a biblical, honest and hope filled path towards suffering. Well, so, Chad and Sadie, I'm so grateful that you are here. Thank you so much. It's not often we get to have in studio guests, so I'm so grateful to have you both here.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: Thank you so much for having us.
Dr. Jessica Peck: well, most of us can point to some moment in our life. If you have lived into adulthood, you have some moment in your life that's kind of the before and the after. And Chad, I want to start with you and start with the before. We know that you're going to tell us about an accident that you had that changed your life, but tell us about life before that. How did Chad come to know Jesus and walk us up to that moment in your life where everything changed?
Chad and Sadie Roberts: Well, thank you so much for having us today. I think you know the reason why I think that the message of blind faith resonates with so many because we know that, so many of us, we do, as you so wonderfully said, we have doubts, we have questions, we have, we struggle in our faith and we feel like that's the calling that God has on our lives today is to help people find faith in Their struggle. My job today as a blind pastor is to help people trust a God that they can't see. And, you know, when I pictured my future several years ago, I never pictured blindness. Sadie and I, we got married and, you know, we began having children, and our church was growing, and it just seemed like everything was right as it should have been. And then at the age of about 36, I went to Central America to train some pastors. I hiked a very large mountain to the top of a Christian radio tower. When I got there, blood vessels burst behind my eye. It was like looking through a spider web of blood. And what came afterward was two failed surgeries, which eventually led to a torn retina. and it eventually led 15 months later to total blindness. I'm not just visually impaired. I'm 100% blind. And so, you know, here we were, a young family, and, you know, just, doing ministry the best that we could. And then the storm of our life hit us out of nowhere. it came so fast. As my eyesight deteriorated, I just, you know, I thought, how's this going to affect our four children? How's it going to the pressure that it's going to put upon Sadie? How could I go forward leading a church? How could I even preach if I wasn't able to read a Bible? But through it all, Sadie and I say all the time, there's been far more gain than there's been any loss. And we found God nothing but reliable and completely steadfast.
Dr. Jessica Peck: You know, Chad, I'm sitting across the table from you, and I'm looking at your face as you're talking and you're telling this, and I know, you know, you covered a lot of ground and things that happened, and there's a lot of people who are just listening. But for those watching the video stream, I can't help but notice. I feel like I'm skipping to the end. But you have not stopped smiling since you got here. Not. Not since the show started, but since you walked into this room, you have not stopped smiling. And I feel like, as a preview to the end, how. I mean, people are going to sit there and think, did you just not hear what you just said? How are you still sitting there with just radiating joy?
Chad and Sadie Roberts: Well, you know, the book is not my story. It's a teaching book. But what I do, I sprinkle so many lessons that God has taught me along the way. And one of the greatest lessons the Lord taught me is joy is something you choose. I can't just sit there and Wait for joy to come. I can't just. It's more than a feeling. It's more than an emotion. It's a spiritual fruit that the Holy Spirit produces in us. But we have to choose that. And there were many, many days I tell people, when you go blind, when you are a fully sighted person, and then you go blind. One of the things I wasn't ready for is that I dream in incredibly vivid color. I can see everything in dreams. And so there would be nights in the early days, I would wake up from a vivid dream and wake up in the morning, and it's pitch black, and nothing I could do could change it. Well, it was days like that, you know, I didn't want to get out of bed, but I would sit on the edge of my bed and I would say to myself, this is the day that the Lord has made, and I will rejoice and I will be glad in it. And by my first or second cup of coffee, me and the Lord's having a great morning.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, Chad, that brings us to Sadie. All right, Sadie, we know in reality, in marriage, opposites attract. So is there an opposite here to the optimism? What is your side of the story here, that before and after? Because I'm feeling like, okay, is there some balance here that the Lord created?
Chad and Sadie Roberts: For sure, this is not naturally who Chad is. He is, usually pretty grumpy. before.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: She's the fun one. I assure you of that.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: He is usually pessimistic. So this is definitely God, given, this is not natural to who he is.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: That's true.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: I can remember, like, back in 2013, we had just had our second baby, Emmy. And, that was the year that if it could go wrong, it went wrong. Our heat pump went out, the motor in our car went out, and we're.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: Just like our pets. Heads were falling off.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Oh, my goodness.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: That's a line from Dumb and Dumber And I was gonna say, but it was just a really hard year. We called it the Great Depression of 2013. And, that's. I think that was like the. The Lord starting that, because I can remember choosing joy being a theme that we. We would have to get up. We would have to say, our house is 82 degrees and 100% humidity. And we're not going to fight each other today. We're going to love each other.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, that will test a marriage. Quick.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: We can't go anywhere because our car's broken. And it's. I mean, looking back, it's just like the Lord was preparing us like, we've been through some hard stuff. There's going to be more hard stuff. But, he's good, he's faithful, and he's sovereign, and. And we will choose to trust him every day.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, Sadie, let's go to that moment where life changed, where you were on top of the radio tower. How did you learn about it and how did events unfold from there? How did you process what was happening?
Chad and Sadie Roberts: Yeah, I think I've kind of trauma blocked out some stuff, but I do remember the day that he called and said, you know, I can't really see out of my eyes. It feels like I'm looking through a spider web and. And I can just remember, like, I'm trying. I'm a problem solver, and I'm trying to figure out he's thousands of miles away from me and I can't get to him, and he can't get back to me. And it's just. It was so. It was a very overwhelming feeling. And, I had just had a baby, and so I was, I don't know, it was just dealing with postpartum and our third baby. And, it was a lot. It really was. It was very heavy, and I don't remember a lot of joy.
How did you and Sadie grieve that loss of sight differently?
Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, Chad, let's talk about how you handle grief in a different way. Because you have this accident, you know, you have these blood vessels rupture in your eye, and you think, I'm sure, like, okay, well, I'll get back home, we'll get this fixed, and then that doesn't happen, and you slowly come to the realization, this is probably. This is permanent, you're 100% blind. How did you and Sadie grieve that loss of sight or process that differently? Because that's a lot of times when suffering comes in, when you have different personalities and you have different ways of coping and just different ways that God has bent you to, to respond. How did you deal with that?
Chad and Sadie Roberts: People have asked me, what would I go back and do different? And the very first thing that I would do different, I would have put us in biblical marriage counseling, really. I did not realize the trauma that I was going through, and I did not realize the trauma it was putting on my family. I, Honestly, I was just putting my head down and trying to go Sunday to Sunday. I was trying to preach with no Bible and memorize all of my text. And, you know, so I didn't realize how reclusive I was becoming. I didn't realize how one little corner of my home felt Safe. And I didn't want to leave there, and so I would have put us in counseling. Sadie and I, you know, we do marriage conferences. We have sat down with countless couples and led marriage counseling, and I just didn't see how bad I needed it. And then finally, you know, we hit a wall that we just couldn't get over ourselves. And we went to one of the best marriage counselors I've ever met. He shepherded us, he helped us. He loved us, and he helped me see what real trauma is and how I pushed it down. And, So, yeah, I would go back, and that's what I would do different.
Dr. Jessica Peck: That's a really powerful piece of encouragement, because sometimes when something happens, you know it's happening to you. This is something that happened physically to you, and the world starts to spin, and you're just. You just go into survival mode, and you just think, okay, I'm just. Like you said, I'm just trying to get from Sunday to Sunday, just do whatever it is. And it's really hard to even process what's happening to you, much less what's happening to Sadie. Thinking like, well, this isn't impacting you nearly the way it's impacting me, but you've got a totally different weight that you're carrying. Like, what do I need to do? I see him hurting, but how do I speak into that? How do I say that these are things that are really, really hard? And having that encouragement to go to counseling, to know that there are biblical counselors out there who will shepherd you faithfully, that is really encouraging. And I feel like that may be what somebody needs to hear now, even if they're going. You've written in your book that blindness may be unique to you. Maybe that's the specific trauma that you all have walked through. But suffering is universal. And we're coming up already on our first break. Time is going way too fast. But when we come back, we'll talk about how you realized that your story was meant to be shared with others.
More than 7 million American women suffer severe emotional distress after an abortion
Because I feel so convicted as I'm sitting here that there is somebody out there walking through something, just trying to blindly find their way through it. And they need some help. They need some sight, they need some foresight, some guidance, and that may be through biblical counseling. And if that is you, reach out to your church, reach out to the American association of Christian Counselors, who will help you find a Christian counselor to walk through those issues. Listen, we'll be right back with Chad and Sadie Roberts, and we'll be talking about their book some more and their story, but their book is Blind Faith Seeing God through Darkness. Get a copy and give it to somebody who needs it and we'll see you right here. On the other side of this break. Friends, new research is revealing something heartbreaking. More than 7 million American women suffer severe, long lasting emotional distress after an abortion. Grief, flashbacks, and a quiet regret that often never goes away. And my friends at preborn see this pain firsthand in the thousands of clinics they support. But there is hope. And it begins with something powerful. When a woman sees her baby on ultrasound, everything changes. Her baby's chance at life doubles. And for just $28, you can sponsor that ultrasound, bringing a lifetime of blessing. That's what real health care looks like. Inside preborn network clinics, preborn stands on the front lines providing free ultrasounds, compassionate counseling and gospel centered support to young mothers in crisis. They are saving babies. They are healing hearts. They are making motherhood possible. And if you believe as I do, that every child matters and no woman should walk this road alone. Join me today. Sponsor an ultrasound. PreBorn was honored with the 2025 Shining Light Award for financial integrity. So you can give with confidence. To donate, dial pound 250 and say baby. That's pound 250, baby. Or visit preborn.com/drnursemama that's preborn.com/drnursemama or preborn.com/AFR
Love God Love People by Danny Gokey: I've been running in circles Jumping the hurdles Getting caught in that rush. Doing so much I'm feeling kind of worn out all this checking the boxes. Trying to be flawless has me spinning my head catching my breath Too afraid to slow down I tell myself, To keep this up, that God. Wants more than just my love But. I've been complicating things. It's just like me to overthink Gotta. Keep it real simple, Keep it real simple Bring everything right back to ground zero. Cause it all comes down to this. Love God and love people.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That is love God, love people by Danny Gokey. And that's what we're talking about today as we do every day. I am coming to you you live from the National Religious Broadcasters Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. And I am joined in studio by Chad and Sadie Roberts, who are sharing their story that they've written about in a book called Blind Faith Seeing God through Darkness. And if you're just joining in, we've just heard Chad's powerful testimony of experiencing an accident while on the mission field and having broken blood vessels in his eyes that eventually led to total blindness. And now he is a blind pastor who helps people see God. And that irony is not lost on me, Chad. And before the break, Sadie, we were talking about just the different ways that people grieve. And having that external person, that shepherd come in, is really, really helpful. What do you want to add about that? Because I think that is very much a touch point for couples who are going through something thinking, why aren't you grieving like I'm grieving? Why aren't you coping like I'm coping? But God has a different plan for us than that.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: Yeah, so he, Like you mentioned, he kind of turned into a recluse and kind of went into, like, a safe space where he felt comfortable. And, I kind of did the opposite. I overloaded. And, I am naturally a person who loves a lot of spinning plates. And the more things I have going on, the better. I just. I like. I don't like to be bored. But there was that. That season that we were in where I just kind of lost myself. And, I call it now, like, I've been, like, the best supporting actress.
Dr. Jessica Peck: I love it.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: And so, if you are a caretaker, how important it is to care for yourself. And even though you have a ton of spinning plates, just taking care of yourself and, you can't pour out. You know, that's a cliche that we all know, but you can't pour out if you're empty. just finding. Finding time for yourself and the Lord and, building. Building that relationship first.
Sadie and Chad went through Christian counseling after Chad went blind
Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, Sadie, let's talk a little bit more about that, because Chad mentioned, you know, one of the first thoughts that starts going through his head as he's going blind is providing for you is how is the family going to change? And. And knowing that he has that weight on him, thinking, okay, I know nothing that happened to him is his fault, but feeling like this is, you know, my issue that's going to change the family. How do you take care of yourself while also being sensitive? Because I know you're thinking you don't want to burden him by saying, you know, oh, this is affecting me, but it is. How do you navigate that?
Chad and Sadie Roberts: I, We just really. We went, like we talked about, we went through, some Christian counseling. And let me just tell you, when we found our Christian counselor, I didn't know his name for, like, months. And that was beautiful. Like, going into a counseling office and just saying your truth without knowing somebody. Oh, that is so freeing. So wonderful. But, just really just figuring out who each Other was like, I joke that he is very type A and detail oriented. And I am not. I am a free spirit. But, once we kind of hit that wall, we had to figure out who each of us were and how God created us to be and just loving the personality that God gave us. And, once we did that, that's when a lot of things for us in our marriage changed. When we figured out, like, oh, he's not just a fun sucker like he has, and I am just not like, carefree, the killjoy. Yeah. But once we learned about who God created us to be, the good and the bad, and not that God created us bad, but, you know, God gave us these personalities, we could appreciate each other more and we could love each other better and support each other more.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: To tell you how different we are.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Yeah.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: We read NRB four years ago. Okay. Our first nrb. We're standing in the bathroom brushing our teeth, and Sadie says, how did you brush your teeth? I said, I mean, I've never thought about it. I don't know. And I said, I started top left. She said, I went bottom right. We're that opposite.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: That is.
Dr. Jessica Peck: That is a good contrast right there.
One of the contrasts that you make in the book is between isolation and solitude
One of the contrasts that you make in the book, Chad, is that there's a difference between isolation and solitude. Can you tell us what you learned about that?
Chad and Sadie Roberts: Yes. Well, when I went blind, I began to see people with disabilities, people with handicaps. Throughout the gospel, I resonated with them in a totally different way. Remember the story of the man who was lowered from the roof and his four friends lowered him? I can't imagine how embarrassed he was. I did a chapter in the book of the man with the withered hand. And I imagine when Jesus called him forward, it embarrassed him. I imagine that that man kept that withered hand tucked and hidden within his robe because Jesus told him, stretch out your hand. What do you mean, Jesus? The. The deformed, the withered, the messed up. And Jesus said, expose it. Stretch it out. And every one of us have insecurities. We have vulnerabilities. We have traumas. We have things that we try to hide we don't want other people to see. And that's what we talk about in that chapter. Satan does his best work when he can isolate us, when we become reclusive. And that's when he does his best work. But, you know, there's a difference between being, alone with yourself. That's isolation, and that's extremely unhealthy. But being alone with God is solitude. And you have to learn the difference between the two. But God's built us for community. We are the body of Christ. There isn't a. Ah, Ah. One of us that should be isolated or reclusive. It's not how God designed us.
Dr. Jessica Peck: But, Chad, when you had your accident, you were on the mission field. You were literally serving God in another country. You're a pastor. I imagine it has to be really difficult to expose that pain that you have in such a public way, because here you are like, this is what you do for a living. It's not like you're in a completely different field. And wrestling with this question of how does. How did God allow this? Like, why did God allow this? Why does, the age old question that we talked about when you sat, down. Why does God allow bad, bad things to happen to good people? What was that like for you in wrestling that out with your faith? How did that look, that conversation and that faith journey?
Chad and Sadie Roberts: That is an excellent question. One thing the Lord taught me was in Mark 11:22, Jesus said, have faith in God. The Lord showed me that that's not what I was doing. I was having faith in the right outcome. I was having faith in, well, maybe things will change, maybe things will get better. maybe prayers will be answered. God even taught me there's a difference between having faith in prayer and having faith in God. And when you have faith in God, it doesn't matter what the outcome is. You begin to realize that God is good even when life isn't. And that's the journey. You know, when Paul had his thorn in the flesh, he used a word I would have never used prior to blindness. He said, I have been given. I would have never used that word. I would have said, I've been struck by. I have calamity. I mean, never would I have used the word, word given. But that's what the Lord gave me. And, you know, in Psalm 23, it's such beautiful language. David said, the Lord is my shepherd. I, shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. There were lush green pastures of God that I would have never known. I was too busy. I was all over the place. I would have never known them had God not made me to lie down. And it's one of the greatest gifts that God has ever given me.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Sadie, is that where you started thinking, oh, thank you for this blindness, Lord. This is a good gift. How did your faith journey? Because you're a pastor's wife. And cue all of the jokes, right? All of the good and the hard that goes along with that. But watching your husband, who is a pastor, who's vocation is faith. You. You've already said 2013 started off as not a great year, but God was preparing you. What was your conversation like with the Lord as all of this was unfolding?
Chad and Sadie Roberts: I think it really taught me how to lament. And I don't think we as a society do that well. I think we just shove all of our feelings down. And if it doesn't feel good, if it doesn't feel right, if it doesn't feel happy, we just shove it down and get rid of it. And, there's a book, and it's called the Body Keeps the Score. And, And I think that is so true because we don't learn how to deal with those emotions.
Dr. Jessica Peck: We.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: And I think we're scared to just, like, wrestle things out with the Lord if it's unpleasant or if it's not happy. We're. We're scared to bring those things to the Lord and say, this really hurts. And I'm really mad at you right now. I'm really uncomfortable. But that's okay to take that to the Lord and learn how to lament.
Dr. Jessica Peck: And do that well, and that is certainly biblical. I mean, when you read the Psalms you're talking about, I can't imagine. You know, one of my guests told me one time when we talk about how we don't lament well, she said that one of the reasons she thinks David was called a man after God's own heart is because he lamented so honestly, poured out his diary and then published it for the people and said, make it into a song. I mean, I don't think I would be making my diary into a songbook for the people, but that's what David did.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: Yeah. Psalm 23. Wait, no, I messed up again. We just taught this. Chad, what's the Psalm?
Chad and Sadie Roberts: 30.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: Pop quiz right here, where it's like, I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I messed it up and you won't let it go. And now.
Dr. Jessica Peck: I have never felt more normal in my life.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: But, we all quote that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. We put it on baby blankets, we talk about it at women's conferences, but you never get to the end where it's like, bring death and destruction upon my foes. I think David was real and he took that to the Lord, and that's why he's so relatable. And he is a man after God's own heart.
Dr. Jessica Peck: It is so true.
Chad says losing his sight made him a far greater leader
Well, Chad, how did this change your perspective as a pastor? Because there's something to be said for standing from the pulpit and preaching things that, you know, you haven't walked through in the same way. Like after you've walked through the valley of the shadow of death, of suffering, how did that change the way that you looked at the scripture and taught your people?
Chad and Sadie Roberts: Yeah, well, I, in a practical way, I think it made me a far greater leader. I didn't realize how self reliant I was. And then to go to. I can't even walk to my podium without someone helping me. I can't, I can't navigate through the church when it's shoulder to shoulder and people's holding hot coffee. I have to have someone to walk with me. That was devastating to me at first. I felt like I was being babysat. You know, I felt like I'd lost all mobility. And now, you know, whoever's with me, it's one of the sweetest moments of the day for me. And so just learning to trust people, you know, learning that everything's not dependent upon, me. And now I walk in on a Sunday morning and the only thing I'm focused on is the text. That's it. It's like, literally like having blinders on. And I can just focus on people, focus on ministering to people and memorizing the text and saying what I feel like the Lord wants me to say. It's free.
Dr. Jessica Peck: You know, I, as a nurse, I've worked with a lot of people who, who have lost their sight or were born without sight for whatever reason. And they all tell me, and you read in the literature that when you, you lose your sight, your other senses sharpen. Has that been true for you in a physical and or spiritual sense? What has that transition been like for you?
Chad and Sadie Roberts: 100%. And, now, physically, absolutely I can hear like you would not believe.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Really?
Chad and Sadie Roberts: And it wasn't like that before.
Dr. Jessica Peck: That's bad news for your kids.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: But spiritually, you know, the Bible teaches spiritual senses. Oh, taste and see, that the Lord is good. And one thing I've learned out of the book of Hebrews, I think it's chapter five. How do you know when you're growing spiritually? I mean, how do you measure spiritual growth? The Bible measures that for us. It's when you go from milk over to solid food. And it's when your spiritual senses, those powers of discernment, it's when your spiritual senses begin to grow. Babies have senses, they just haven't developed them yet. And so it is with many believers, those senses are there. People. So many Christians think they can't hear the Lord, but they can. And God has given us just in the physical, God has given us spiritual senses. And they have all. For me, they have all heightened when I went blind.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: And I will say, just like the Lord has given him optimism, he is.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Also supernaturally supernatural optimism, he has also.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: Given him supernatural memory. My goodness, he can memorize like scripture after scripture after scripture. And I didn't even know where that really and wonderfully made was.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: So before all this happened to me, I was preaching through the book of Acts. The Lord told me months, before, stop preaching with. With notes. Prepare like you've always prepared, but no notes. I had no idea God was training me to preach blind.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Wow. And looking back now, Chad, would you change it?
Chad and Sadie Roberts: Not for anything in the world.
Dr. Jessica Peck: You did not even hesitate a second.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: Not for anything.
Dr. Jessica Peck: I'm sure you've thought about it and. And to have the confidence in that answer. Not for anything. Sadie, what was it like for you becoming his site?
Chad and Sadie Roberts: so before he had lost sight, we were kind of doing two different things. I was working in a law office, and he was a pastor. And, after that, we decided to do this thing together. And, now we do ministry and every. Do the church together. And I wouldn't change that for anything.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: And if she walks me into a door frame, I'm like, oh, yeah, we did have an argument two weeks ago. She's really holding on to that one.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Yeah, y' all are really real people. And I'm telling you, I know that you all out there just listening or maybe you're watching, but I am sitting in the presence of this couple, and the joy that is radiating from both of you is just truly inspirational. And I'm glad to hear that they're still bumping into the door frame in some sort of conflict, because otherwise we're gonna feel like this standard is just unattainable. You know, I'm glad you made the dumb and dumber reference earlier to make us all feel like, okay, we're talking to real life people here. But listen, when we come back, we're going to talk to Chad and Sadie about real life in their family. How did this impact their kids? They are parents. They got a lot of kids. And we'll talk about how to shepherd them through that. The practical, the logistical, the emotional, but also the spiritual. We'll be right back with Chad and Sadie Roberts.
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Blind Faith. Seeing God through darkness. See you on the other side of this break. The AFR app is a powerful tool, but it does have limitations. You can't use it to change the oil in your vehicle or get rid of carpet stains. It won't walk the dog, won't pick up the dry cleaning or take the kids to practice. But while you're doing those things, you can listen to your favorite AFR content through the app on your phone, smart device, or Roku. Just go to your app store or visit afr.net listen to AFR wherever you go with the AFR app.
The Cross by Anne Wilson and Chris Tomlin: Who. Told you Grace can't reach the messed up ones like you has the devil made you believe the lies he tells are true? When you're sure that you're the One who's wandered too far off it's not too late Just come home to. The cross. Come see the Savior's love that would die to make you new Nothing you have ever done can change what mercy's done for you and if you ever wonder if you are so great a. Cross.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back friends. That is the Cross by Anne Wilson featuring Chris Tomlin. And I'm here today coming to you live from the National Religious Broadcasters Conference. And I'm sitting in studio with Chad and Sadie Roberts. They've been sharing their tremendous testimony of Chad losing his sight following an accident that happened in the mission field that resulted in permanent blindness. They've written a book about their story called Blind Seeing God Through Darkness. And I'm telling you, I have goosebumps from head to toe right now just listening to your story and seeing your faith, seeing your resilience. It is stories like yours that help convince that God is real because it doesn't make any sense. It makes sense. The world understands that. You'd be bitter, you'd be angry, you'd pour yourself into the philanthropy. Maybe you have a good cause. But to say that you've accepted God's sovereignty in your life is just absolutely incredible. And whether it's blindness or any other kind of trial, trauma, suffering, it never happens in a vacuum. It touches marriages and children and your calling and your profession. As you've shared it makes your future look different and it really makes your family function in a different way. And I would love to start with you, Sadie, and talk about your kids. You have four kids and they are like school age up through teenager right now. So they were little when this happened. How do you even begin? Because we've talked about how hard it was, you know, for Chad to realize that. Oh yeah, that was pretty Traumatizing. And you to realize, like, yeah, that's traumatizing for me too. How do you walk your kids through that?
Chad and Sadie Roberts: our girls, they have their own story because they've had a dad who had sight, and now they've had a dad who doesn't have sight. Sight. But, our boys, they're younger, and they've only known dad as blind. And, you know, they each have experienced different things in life, but I think one of the most special things is our third one, Hudson. When he started school, there was a little boy in his class who was visually impaired. And Hudson was paired up with him, just to be his helper. And, you know, most kids would be like, I don't want to. I don't want to have to work at school, you know?
Dr. Jessica Peck: Right.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: But Hudson, he didn't even think anything about it. He was just fun, happy, go lucky. And took Wyatt by the hand and was like, let's go, pal. Let's go to the slide. Let's go to the swing. And just. I mean, because he has, you know, helped Chad around the house, he was able to just team up with Wyatt. And off Wyatt and Hudson go. And it's the cutest thing.
Dr. Jessica Peck: How does that make you feel as a mom to see your kids just stepping up like that and just. What a showcase of resilience.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: Yeah. You can see so many characteristics of the Lord. And, in each of our kids. Our oldest, Piper, man, she is going to be a ministry leader. She shared her testimony a few weeks at school, and 22 kids decided that they wanted more information about Jesus. And, Emmy is, She struggles in school. She has dyslexia. And, school is really hard for her. But I'm like, they're grading you on the wrong things. if they were to grade you on compassion, you would knock it out of the park. And, Hudson has just been full of joy. And, our youngest, John Mark. I actually wanted to name him, Barnabas, the son of encouragement.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Uh-huh.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: And Chad was like, no, he's gonna. He's gonna. No, people are gonna make fun of Hm him and call him Barney. And I have no problem with that. But he really is.
Dr. Jessica Peck: You know, that song is in my head now. But, okay.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: He does embody the son of encouragement and just. I. I think that our kids are really, really awesome.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, Chad, what was it like for you? Because fatherhood had to change when you realized that you were not going to regain your sight, and especially as a dad, you probably felt like you're the strong one, and you're going to be there. And you have this vision of, of things that you'll do. Teaching them to drive and all of that. What is it like accepting the reality of that and pivoting?
Chad and Sadie Roberts: It's difficult. As they get older and they get into sports, it's very hard for me to go to their games. I feel like a shell, but. But I go and, you know, they. They want me there, but I struggle with that, you know, in. In. In First Peter, when it talks about how we walk in the footsteps of Jesus and Jesus suffered and we are to learn from him. In the actual Greek, it means underwriting. It's like the way children learn how to trace letters. Well, when my boys were learning how to read, they would trace letters on my chest and stomach and they would say, dad, is this a B? Or dad, which way is a D? And I would teach them on my stomach, you know, tracing those letters. But that's how we learn to suffer. Well, and, with my kids, I'll never forget we were on our way to church one Sunday. You know we're in the minivan, right?
Dr. Jessica Peck: No, of course.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: I mean, Sadie, please tell me there's.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Goldfish crushed on the floor, some sticky unknown something.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: Yeah, but we're on our way. Sadie's driving. Of course. You know, I'm not.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Okay. Glad that was made clear.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: My girls asked me. They're like, dad, what would you give if God gave you back your son?
Dr. Jessica Peck: Whoa.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: One of my heroes is Hudson Taylor, who is the great missionary to China. Hudson Taylor once said. He said, if God leads me into a place of luxury and a place of comfort, I live by the grace of God. And if God chooses to lead me in a place of difficulty, a place of suffering and hardship, I still live by that same grace. So then Taylor said, the will of God is more of a matter for God to consider than for me. Because either way, I live by the same grace. And I told my kids that, and I said, I've learned how to be happy with eyes, and I've learned how to be happy without them. It's really more of a matter for God to consider than being.
Dr. Jessica Peck: I have learned in whatever circumstance to be content. And Paul wrote that in prison, and he was very limited in that way. He didn't write that from a, ah, luxury hotel, you know, when. When he was in a season of comfort.
Chad says losing his sight has changed his fatherhood journey for the better
Chad, what do you think that you have gained as a father that you would not have had had you not lost your sight? How has your Blindness had changed your fatherhood journey for the better.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: I'm there. I think if I had eyes, I would be everywhere. I would be sipping around town, I'd be flying on flights, I'd be in other countries, I would be everywhere. And now I'm in a position where, you know, I'm with my family all the time. And I think God knew that I was the personality, that I was going to miss all of that.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Okay, that's got me, like, a little teary there because that's really brave of you to say that. That's really brave and definitely something that's a distraction because when you do have sight, our vision, there's so much competing for that, you know, screens and just life going by so fast.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: If you pay attention to scripture, it says almost nothing good about our eyes, but it says everything good about our hearing. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by.
Dr. Jessica Peck: The word of God.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: But what's in the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life. So, you know, it's hard. I. I would love to have eyesight again. I would love to be a fully sighted person. But, what I've gained is far greater than anything, anything I've lost.
How do you see your family changing after Chad's diagnosis?
Dr. Jessica Peck: Sadie, how do you see your family changing after? And it's interesting because you said, you know, your kids have these two different lived realities. How do you see that playing out in your family as a whole?
Chad and Sadie Roberts: well, Chad is the chosen, story time teller. He doesn't read bedtime books, but he will tell some tall tales.
Dr. Jessica Peck: And somehow I believe it already. I believe it. I can totally see it.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: I. We want dad to put us to bed, not Mom. Cool. I'm happily obliged. But, I just think that. I think he's right. I think that we were probably headed down two different paths in life. And I, am thankful that he recognizes that that is the person that he was. And. And, now God has just drawn us together. And so now we get to travel all over the country with our kids, and, we're going to take our kids on plane trips and, really focus on a unit and a ministry as a whole together.
Dr. Jessica Peck: How has this shaped their faith? Because this can be. In one way, children have such a simpler faith, a more genuine faith than we do. And in some ways, it's harder to explain some things to children. How do you see, you know, seeing what happened to Chad? How do you see that playing out in their faith story and their own personal, personal testimony?
Chad and Sadie Roberts: Yeah, like John Mark again, he's just such an encourager so when he sees somebody sad or somebody didn't get their way, he's. He's the first one to step up and say, it's okay, buddy, you know, we'll get it next time. Or he really is an encourager. But, Hudson and Emmy are very similar in the way that they just, they bring joy. And, and then Piper brings just a very seriousness and very consoling, very counselor type person to the situation. And, they're just.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: I don't.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: I don't know. They've just really learned how to trust God. And I don't think that they. I don't think that they see Chad's blindness as something bad. I really don't really, They've all kind of spun it in a way that fits their narrative in life. And just, they. It's a way that they can deal with it and, a way that they really appreciate it. Piper is 15 now and got her permit, and so she. All she needs is an adult over 21 to ride in the car with her.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: There is no one.
Chad and Sadie Roberts: They did not say anything about somebody that has eyes.
Dr. Jessica Peck: I can already see the conversations, the negotiation that is going to ensue and all of the benefits and the sales pitch that is going to be coming your way in that. I love it. Well, you know, as we sit here and, you know, honestly, I can see how your children are resilient because you have modeled that, you have walked it out yourself. And children are going to do what you do and not what you say. And I know that, you know, we've covered a lot of ground a lot of years, more than a decade here. And I know there have probably been a lot of really high highs and a lot of really low lows. I'm sure there have been a lot of moments where it has been difficult, where you do wrestle with doubt and grief. But everybody listening is. Whoever is going through whatever is thinking, how do I get there? How do I get to where you're sitting right now? What would you say to that person who is thinking, I want to be where you are, but I am m stuck. What would you say, Chad?
Chad and Sadie Roberts: I would say, First Peter 4:19. It says, Let those who suffer according to the will of God. That's one thing I struggle, to understand. How do I know if I'm in God's will? I think, you know, when you suffer in God's will, when it's beyond your control, there's nothing you can do to change it. And so, those who suffer according to God's will. Here's what it says. Continue to do good. I would say, don't stop. Keep putting one foot in front of the other. Satan wants you to quit. God wants you to go forward. And I would say, no matter what, no matter how small, small it looks, no matter how difficult it looks, put one foot in front of the other and keep going forward. Keep trusting God, because God is good even when life seems to not be.
Dr. Jessica Peck: It has a different kind of credibility with you saying that. But yes, he will make you lie down in green pastures. We, that is such a beautiful reminder of having walked out and lived that faith.
Sadie Roberts says after Chad went blind, she really got serious with God
Sadie, what do you say, you know, being in that supportive role and that, you know, this wasn't your own personal experience, although, you know, you are married and I'm sure that you have experienced all of that, but you don't have that physical experience. What do you say to people who are supporting someone through going through whatever it is, whatever health journey, whatever, mental health, emotional health, physical health, whatever trial trauma they're going through? What encouragement would you give?
Chad and Sadie Roberts: before Chad went blinded, I'm full transparency. I had a very surface level relationship with the Lord. I, was brought up in church, but I really didn't, I wasn't discipled. And so I didn't know how to study the Bible and, or the importance of, you know, these words that we use like fasting or tithing and community. And I didn't understand those words. but after Chad lost sight, is when I really got serious with the Lord. And so I think that if you are in that season and you have a very surface level relationship with the Lord, it will feel hard. And so I encourage you to get to a Bible study fellowship, to get into a Bible study, to get into community with other believers, to learn how to study your Bible, to do a 40 day fast, to really feel a relationship, a very tangible relationship with the Lord.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Those are really important words of wisdom. And you know, I've interviewed a lot of people who have been through suffering and a lot of people who have done suffering with the Lord and suffering without the Lord. Suffering is inevitable. We are going to have some degree of suffering in this life. But seeing people over and over say, yeah, I'm going to choose to suffer with Jesus, that's amazing. Did you want to say something, Chad?
Chad and Sadie Roberts: I was just going to say, when I first went blind, someone told me, you can either let it grind you down or polish you up. And I chose right, then this will polish me not grind me well.
Dr. Jessica Peck: I am sitting right across from you and I can attest to that. And it is not lost on me that you are a blind pastor helping people to see God. And I think about the other people I've met about Nick Vujicic, a man born without arms or legs who is now the hands and feet of Jesus, or John o', Leary, a man who was badly burned who now carries the message of his soul on fire. God is in the business business of restoration. He is in the business of making beauty from ashes. And I thank you so much for letting us see the beauty that he has made from the ashes of your circumstances. The book is called Blind Faith Seeing God Through Darkness. It's by Chad and Sadie Roberts. And listen, I pray that the Lord will bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you. Thanks so much for joining us today. We'll be right back here tomorrow.
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Jeff Chamblee: Opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
