Ginny Owens (GO) journey to success in the music industry is not the typical account. Her dream was to be a high school choir director, but schools would not hire her when they realized she was blind. Ginny has sold over a million albums in her career and performed thousands of concerts. She has a non-profit organization called the "Fingerprint Initiative" that champions humanitarian relief around the world. Her new CD is entitled "Say Amen." Ginny is interviewed by Dr. Schuller (RHS).

RHS: My guest today is someone I haven't met until now. Her name is Ginny Owens. Her journey to success in the music ministry is not a typical account. Her dream was to be a high school choir director, but schools would not hire her when they realized she was blind.

Today, she has sold over a million albums in her career and performed thousands of concerts, including one at the White House. She has a non profit organization called "Fingerprint Initiative" that champion's humanitarian relief around the world. She has a new CD out called "Say Amen." Welcome with me, Ginny Owens. Hi.

GO: Hi.

RHS: Well they may not see but they're beautiful..

GO: Oh thank you.

RHS: ..your two blue eyes.

GO: Thank you very much.

RHS: You're welcome. Don't thank me; I had nothing to do with it.

GO: Thank you for noticing.

RHS: You were not born blind.

GO: No I had minimal sight until about the age of two and a half or three, and then I lost the little bit of sight that I had due to a hereditary condition, but I haven't really missed it.

RHS: Do you have any memories of the first two years of your life?

GO: Very few. I don't remember seeing much. I remember my family and I remember certain little things that we did here and there and time that we spent together, but I don't remember too much about seeing the world and seeing color, which I guess is good because then I don't feel like I've missed out on too much.

RHS: Tell me how have you handled this sightless condition so positively?

GO: Well I think it all comes back to the fact that any time we have a challenge in our lives, it can either make us very frustrated and very angry, or it can point our hearts and our hopes toward heaven. It can also give us a deeper faith and a deeper strength of character, too.

So for me, I think the Lord has really challenged me to not only believe in my eternal future with Him, but to believe that if I am unable to see, that there is a purpose even in that. He doesn't place any of us on this planet without a purpose. So if I am here and if I am here without being able to see, I know He has a wonderful and distinctly beautiful plan for my life, and that is what gives me hope every day.

RHS: So your faith is very conspicuous, Ginny. How did you get this faith? As a child?

GO: I did. I came to faith at a very young age. When you're a kid, life can be challenging because kids can be mean. But when you're a kid and you have a disability or if you have something that sets you apart and makes you different, it can be very, very lonely.

And I remember my mom told me one time, she said "you know Ginny there are going to be days when Jesus is not only your best friend, but He's also your only friend. And that's what you have to remember." So even as young as elementary school age I remember learning that.

RHS: How did blindness change your life?

GO: Well there is this age old wisdom that says ‘what doesn't break you will make you stronger,' and I do think that what happens when there's something that can break you or almost break you is that you have a choice to make. You can decide whether it will embitter you and make you angry at the world, or whether you will choose to allow that circumstance to give you faith and to inspire you to continue on.

So I live in the hope and the faith that He always has bigger things planned for us than we could ever imagine. And He always dreams so much more for us than we could ever dream for ourselves.

RHS: Tell us about your Fingerprint Initiative.

GO: Well the Fingerprint Initiative is an organization that we started a few years ago to inspire our friends and fans to give to local ministries. So when we do concerts at various places, we will work with a non profit or a charity in that city by doing a food drive, or I will go speak with school children or work with special needs kids. We do anything that can serve the community and also invite that community to serve in its own backyard.

And then sometimes we do big projects once every couple years. For instance, we've built a Habitat for Humanity house. And we also work with other organizations like International Justice Mission; so many different things.

RHS: You're a Christian and it shows. How did you come by this faith, through your mother and father?

GO: I did. My grandfather and my father were pastors, and my mom told me bible stories probably from before I was born, so I came to faith as a very young child, maybe about three or four.

RHS: Wow. Now tell us about your new CD.

GO: I have a new CD called "Say Amen." Most of the songs are hymns and spirituals from the past several hundred years of history. And some of the songs are just beautiful pieces of poetry, many of which I've reset to new music. They are songs of faith that I have come to love and appreciate so much in my journey.

And then there are some new songs. The title track "Say Amen" was inspired by a young lady who was facing terminal cancer. She and I wrote the song about five months before she passed away. And then that song became even more significant the next year as my mom faced cancer. So it was a song that she says now really has blessed her and given her hope.

RHS: Now may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. And may God give you peace in your going out and in your coming in, in your lying down and your rising up, in your labor and in your leisure, in your laughter and in your tears until you come to stand before Jesus in that day in which there is no sunset, no dawning, only eternal life forevermore. Amen.

Thank you. Thank her for me. Ginny Owens, singing for us now. The opening line that she will be singing is "my life flows in endless song above earth's lamentation. I hear the sweet and distant hymn that hails a new creation." Sing for us, Ginny.

© Copyright Hour of Power 2009. This interview was conducted by Robert H. Schuller from the pulpit of the Crystal Cathedral and aired on the Hour of Power, September 20, 2009.