If you're like most kids, you spend lots of time playing sports. And this is where most accidents involving your eyes happen. Oh, sure, you say, nothing will ever happen to me. I'm invincible! Well, accidents do happen, and if you can keep your eyes safe, that?s all the better.

Last year, there were 100,000 eye injuries caused by sports. That's way too many. Most of these injuries probably could have been avoided by wearing sports glasses. A number of your favorite athletes wear or have worn eye protection either because they have had eye injuries, or they want to prevent them. So, if you plan any of the following sports, protect your eyes by wearing goggles or special sports glasses:

The ABC's of Eye Care

Did you know that you learned to see, just like you learned to walk and talk? Visual skills start from birth and continue throughout your life. If these skills are not well developed, this can be trouble when it comes to learning. In fact, 80% of what you learn is how you see if. Your vision plays a huge role in your growth, development and performance.

Having trouble at school:
If you're not getting good grades, or you can't see the chalk boards, there's a good chance it's because you need glasses. If you have poor vision, school will always be difficult and stressful. (Okay, you can't use this excuse all the time.) The longer this goes on, the further you'll fall behind and the harder it will be to keep up with your classmates.

And you know what that does?
Not being able to do well in school, being held back and getting "special" attention from the teachers hurts. It brings your confidence down because you're constantly being told, "pay attention", "you're wrong", or "stop playing around."

Then what happens?
Many kids give up and stop trying so hard. So go easy on your eyes. Ask yourself a few questions:

Animal Vision Facts

Did you know?

Dogs: Unlike humans, dogs don't see colors.

Cats: Cats, tigers and other felines have strong vertical pupils to see up and down. In strong light, a cat's pupils close to a tight slit. In dim light, they become almost round. Cats and their animal cousins have excellent night vision.

Horses: Horses and other grazing animals have horizontal pupils to see sideways while eating from the ground. A horse's eyes are twice the size of human eyes. Horses are colorblind.

Rabbits: Rabbits need to watch for hawks from above and foxes from behind. They have eyes that bulge out on either side of their head.

Eagles: An eagle's eye is larger than a human's eye. Eagles and hawks have the best eyesight of all animals. They can spot a rabbit hopping through the underbrush 1,000 feet below.

Owls: An owl's eye is one-third the size of its head. The pupils are very large to improve night vision. The night-hunting owl?s eyes are so large that they cannot turn in their sockets. To follow the path of a field mouse, the owl swivels its head and can twist it around to look backward.

Camels: A camel's eyelashes may measure as long as four inches to protect its eyes during sandstorms.

THE ANT AND THE CONTACT LENS

A true story by Josh and Karen Zarandona

Brenda was a young woman who was invited to go rock climbing. Although she was very scared, she went with her group to a tremendous granite cliff. In spite of her fear, she put on the gear, took a hold on the rope, and started up the face of that rock. Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breather. As she was hanging on there, the safety rope snapped against Brenda's eye and knocked out her contact lens. Well, here she is, on a rock ledge, with hundreds of feet below her and hundreds of feet above her. Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping it had landed on the ledge, but it just wasn't there. Here she was, far from home, her sight now blurry. She was desperate and began to get upset, so she prayed to the Lord to help her to find it. When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but there was no contact lens to be found. She sat down, despondent, with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to make it up the face of the cliff. She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of that verse that says, "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth." She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me." Finally, they walked down the trail to the bottom. At the bottom there was a new party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?" Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across the face of the rock, carrying it on it's back. Brenda told me that her father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a picture of an ant lugging that contact lens with the words, "Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You." I think it would probably do some of us good to occasionally say, "God, I don't know why you want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it's awfully heavy. But, if you want me to carry it, I will." God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called. Yes, I do love GOD. He is my source of existence and my savior. He keeps me functioning each and every day. Without Him, I am nothing, but with Him...I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. (Phil. 4:13)

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