A strong relationship with the Savior and a keen sense of humor have helped Kris Belcher through the hardest trials of her life.
Her challenges began as an infant when doctors diagnosed her with cancer in both eyes. The radiation and treatments that followed left her with limited vision. Then, in 2003, a second cancer diagnosis—a tumor behind her eye—and the five resulting surgeries left her completely blind.
“Life has certainly taken me down unexpected and often unwanted roads,” Belcher says. “I don’t know why it is surprising, because that’s what life is made of. But when those twists and turns come, I just try to hold on tightly to Jesus Christ and to the Father. They are the ones who have all knowledge, and They can see the path’s end.”
Belcher’s unexpected challenges have also brought her unexpected opportunities. She shares her journey through speaking events—averaging three or four each month—and has written two books: Hard Times and Holy Places and Facing the Son.
“When I wrote my first book, it was like going through therapy,” she recalls. “I had to deal with many feelings and questions as they arose during my writing. It seemed like a crash course in seeing the hand of the Lord in my life.”
When writing, she felt that the cancer, surgeries, and blindness that had permanently changed her life were more difficult than she could describe. “I felt that no one could understand my feelings of pain and absolute despair, but Christ could and did,” she continues. “As I wrote, I felt again that He understood and would continue helping me.”
Belcher met her husband, James, soon after she returned from serving in the Kentucky Louisville Mission and says they have been best friends ever since. “James is an incredibly talented floral designer, and we own two flower shops with our partner, Holly. They do the designing, and I do the delivering,” she jokes. “Not really. I leave the driving to those who can see.”
The Belchers live in Lehi, Utah, and have two sons, Christopher and Benjamin. “We’ve been married for twenty-one years and have endured, overcome, and triumphed together through health problems, financial setbacks, parenting challenges, and normal life,” she says.
Belcher, who graduated from BYU in 1997 with a degree in therapeutic recreation, says she became captivated with the field upon taking her first class. “I loved that I could be a part of helping people improve the quality of their lives,” she says. “Having dealt with a disability all of my life, I have had times when something has just seemed too hard or out of reach.”
But through taking small steps, Belcher has come to feel empowered. “Mastering those skills and feeling confident would transfer to other aspects of my life,” she explains. “Wanting to give up slowly changed to feeling that I could overcome.”
And that transformation is a key to therapeutic recreation, Belcher says. “Recreation is a means of helping clients or patients master skills that can be used in other parts of their lives,” she explains. “However, it is the pervasive feelings of confidence that change the person.”
When Belcher went blind fourteen years ago, common responsibilities quickly seemed out of reach. But attending a program at the Center for the Blind in Salt Lake City helped her relearn everyday tasks, such as cooking and cleaning.
“I also learned to use a computer program that reads what is on the screen, so I can navigate on the computer with key commands instead of a mouse,” she says. “This enabled me to be connected through the web and email as well as pursue my desire to write.”
Through all her highs and lows, Belcher has felt strength come through faith. “Being honest in prayer is so important when these times of discomfort come. It is all right to tell [God] how we feel, how scared we are, how upset we are,” she says. “Once we have emptied our hearts, He can fill them with peace, comfort, and courage. Then together we can make the first step and then the next. I am so grateful He will walk the unexpected path with me.”
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Writer: Emily Edmonds
