religion

There is no discrimination, in suffering

/ Carmen McKnight / Leave a comment

At one point in our lives, we’ll experience pain in some form. When the pain is so unbearable that the only prayer coming out of our lips is “Help me, God!” don’t stress over the fact that it’s not lengthy or theologically rich. In those moments the very help we receive is God himself in the person of the Holy Spirit. This presence can be through a particular person, thought of hope or strength, a book someone was inspired to write just so you can find courage through reading it, etc.  Here’s one of my own experience during one of such unbearable painful moments in the past.

Quote from my future novel.

“Laying in bed was the new activity I reluctantly had to accept, chained down by the mystery of unbearable pain. This pain brought along a certain amount of fear at times. But then there was a level of pain I’ve achieved where nothing but silence reigned, no questions, no reasoning, no fear, only silence. It’s in this horizontal position with a face washed by tears that I saw my bed expend quickly suddenly holding millions upon millions of broken diseased infested (physically or emotionally) humans. Their faces also washed in tears, millions upon millions of tears. People of all ages, from every nation, both genders and from all sorts of belief backgrounds. Holy Ghost in the shape of motherly presents sat, tears in her eyes, next to me ever so gently wiping my brow. I found temporary relief every time she did that and I was very grateful. I was not mad, angry, demanding answers or asking questions, because I saw how much God cared for me and her presence by my side day and night was constant. I don’t feel alone. She didn’t have to say one word for I understood every emotion or thought she exchanged with me. In her eyes, I saw how she mourned every single one of us, not just me, and on the bed of suffering, there wasn’t discrimination. It was equally devastating for her to see our suffering. Her heart was wounded and her face was burdened by our collective suffering, an emotion she felt far deeper than we’ll ever understand. Silent, loyal and everpresent by the side of suffering and pain she sat and wiped our sorrows softly.

I had no strength to finish a fragmented prayer I began, but she did it for me by looking deeply into my soul through my eyes and uttering the most intense pleading prayer without as much as parting her lips. But I could hear it. I didn’t understand the strange language full of color and sounds no human being will ever understand or utter. But I knew this was Trinity’s language and I only heard it from the outside, but there was an inner depth I could not hear or see but somehow know it was there. The language was meant for them that much I understand, on behalf of us, their children, whom at one point or another chose to divide among themselves driven by fear and hate. Our choice. Not theirs. A set of chains called “human will” were wrapped around her hands. Every hateful act against one another added more tears and pain to the bed of suffering which began to groan with a fresh wave of pain affecting all of us and her. I looked into her eyes but she didn’t hate us for hurting her. She loved us. Because we were her children.”

I felt the need to add this fragment now before the book is being done (maybe in a couple of years), because some of us may need to read this today.

God Bless:)

Rugaciune

/ Carmen McKnight / Leave a comment

Doamne azi iti multumesc ca m-am trezit si pot respira aerul, pot vedea soarele pe cer, pot merge la baie si imi pot simti fiecare parte a corpului.

Doamne iti multumesc ca desi stiu ce inseamna durerea, azi am pauza, si pot incuraja pe altul.

Doamne iti multumesc ca ma pot duce la munca azi, ca pot retine informatiile din jurul meu, ca pot comunica fara episoade de epilepsie.

Dar cel mai adanc sentiment fata de tine e faptul ca ma iubesti, ca existi, si ca esti cu mine chiar daca nu te vad in anumite zile, nu te simt in altele si am indoile de multe ori. Te iubesc pentru cine esti nu pentru ce poti face pentru mine. Cu tine in viata mea nu ma simt singura, si nu ma intereseaza daca altii cred ca-s bolnava mintal pentru ca am o asa credinta.

Doamne continua sa ajuti pe toti copii tai, printre ei sunt si prietenii si familia mea:)

Amin

John and Paulette Stabb

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(In limba Romana la sfarsit)

On Christmas day while on the ferry making our way to my sister-in-law for Christmas dinner we ran into old and excellent friends, in fact, if not for John Stabb and his trips to Romania after the Revolution in 1989, I would’ve never met Chet:) God works through people.

It’s through them that we found out about Summer and Aurel Macsim, his daughter and son-in-law who live in Hunedoara, and that’s how we found out about Aurel’s Glioma tumor diagnosis on December 31, located in the right side of his head. Since he had an operation on January 4th in Timisoara and the recovery road, although good, is long and tiresome. Just like many of you who know them and their situation we kept them in prayers and thank God for brother Aurel, as some of you know him, recovery. I believe tomorrow he’ll be transferred back to the hospital from Hunedoara.

For some, the recovery is short of a miracle while for others may take time, but if we have faith and believe we don’t go through the suffering alone. God is on our side. Caringbridge.com (aurelmacsim) has regular updates done by Summer, his wife.

We continue to pray for Aurel and Summer through the recovery process and thank God for their well-being.

 

 

În drum spre cumnata mea în ziua de Crăciun ne-am întâlnit cu niște prieteni dragi pe care nu-i mai văzuse-m de mulți ani.

După Revoluția din 1989, John și Paulette Stabb au bătut pământul românesc mulți ani de zile ca misionari, aducând biblii și propovăduind evanghelia. Prin John l-am întâlnit pe Chet 🙂 Dumnezeu lucrează prin oameni.

Stând la povești am aflat că Summer, fata lor, este căsătorită cu un băiat din Hunedoara, Aurel Macsim și împreună au adoptat o fată. Pe 1 Ianuarie anul ăsta Aurel a fost diagnosticat cu o tumoare la cap. Operația a avut loc pe 4 Ianuarie în Timișoara și drumul de recuperare, deși bun, este lung și obositor.

Ca mulți din voi care-i cunoașteți și cunoaște-ți situația lor, i-am păstrat în rugăciuni și mulțumim lui Dumnezeu pentru succesul operației. Cred că mâine va fi transferat înapoi la Hunedoara. Operația, în general, este scurtă în comparație cu procesul, de multe ori descurajator, al recuperării. Dar victoria este a lui Dumnezeu și spre slava lui Dumnezeu. Amin.

Pentru mulți care suferă recuperarea poate veni sub formă de miracol, pentru majoritatea din noi timpul suferinței se prelinge dar dacă avem credință nu vom trece niciodată prin suferință singuri. Dumnezeu este de partea noastră.

Caringbridge.com (aurelmacsim) are actualizări făcute de Summer, soția sa.

Continuăm să ne rugăm pentru Aurel și familia lui, pentru procesul de recuperare și mulțumim lui Dumnezeu pentru bunăstarea lor.

Psalmul 23 este și va rămâne pentru mine un capitol special din Biblie care mi-a adus mângăiere în timpul suferinței. Vi-l recomand:)

Dumnezeu să vă binecuvinteze pe fiecare în parte. Amin.

Quincy

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Tonight while watching the Netflix Original documentary, Quincy, I found out something interesting I never knew about Chet. While living with Grandpa Charlie in Skyway, Seattle, he met and formed a friendship with Quincy Jones’ mother Sarah Wells Jones.

During an intermission of the Bill Gothard Christian Conference called “Insitute in Basic Life Principles” in 1988 at the Seattle Center, most likely at the Key Arena, while reading his Bible outside on a bench a thin lady sat down next to him and soon a conversation began, mostly about the Bible and God, creating an instant bond between the two. Soon after, Chet began visiting her small apartment downtown where she watched a small boy and girl most days. He remembers the good humor they shared while spending time together despite the age difference and the odd homeless look she seemed to have about her. He also noticed that something was a little off with her at times.

In their conversations, the name of Quincy Jones and his brother Lloyd came up and that’s when Chet realized the connection and wondered why would the mother of Quincy Jones live in such a small run-down apartment, knowing absolutely nothing of the personal history between the two. Sarah Jones seemed to be more proud of Lloyd and his important job at the Komo TV station, mentioning him often in the conversation, while hardly mentioning Quincy.

The relationship lasted about six months while Chet moved on to other things in his life and even though their friendship was short-lived, throughout the years he still thinks about her fondly.

Well, I learn surprising new things every day:)

God Bless:)

Loneliness during illness

/ Carmen McKnight / Leave a comment

I began this web/blog site with the intent to keep a track on my medical info, since my short-term memory was seriously injured- still is to a certain degree, which can be a fantastic blessing when I get frustrated over small things, because I soon forget them and I’m left without a reason to stay mad:). Another reason was to encourage, if possible, anyone out there in the same situation as mine.

I had a great job and relationships before the illness, my life was on a high peak of happiness and contentment and I worked hard to get there. That changed literally overnight. But something that took me by surprise was the loneliness that trickled in along with the illness, like two best friends, inseparable and intent on causing trouble. I was cast aside, no longer a productive and effective member of the society. I call it “the silent depression” and I now understand how horribly it afflicts the ill, especially the chronically ill, and the senior citizens. With Lyme, as with other toxic and neurological illnesses, the mental clarity and health deteriorates and one’s personality changes. I used to feed off the energy of multitudes of people and found solitude boring and useless. Not now.

So I sat down this morning having my breakfast of tea and a gluten-free/vegan carrot/banana bread (not my usual breakfast, but I baked last night:) thinking of all the other ill people out there in the world and the loneliness they may be experiencing. What can I say to be of encouragement? What encouragement can I receive for myself?

For those who believe in God remember that He used the most imperfect people, men and women, to do great things through. It’s never too late, you’re never too weak, to ill or too fragile to be a strong force for those around you. I am like Issac who was a dreamer, but God ended up doing great things through. What about you?

Rom. 12:15; 1 Pet. 4:10; Ex. 14:14-The Lord shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace:) These are some verses to encourage you:)

For everyone:

Forgive.

Meditate on good things (health and a cure and remember not everything has been discovered. I strongly believe there is a cure for Lyme, Chronic Lyme, Neuro Lyme etc, even if it has not been discovered yet, but above that I believe that our body has the ability to heal from anything if given the proper balance of nutrients and extracting all toxicity out of it).

Help others. (That means even if you can only pray for them, or smile at them, or give one word of encouragement, it gives you a temporary break away from your troubles).

Make a plan for what you want to do when feeling better and start planning towards that. Here you’ll have to be realistic and change some of the past goals and plans.

The internet is a source to reach out, through support groups, but be careful not to get stuck in the negative cycle of complaining only. Some days you’ll need to unload, and you should do so keeping in mind that your audience is hurt too, but than don’t forget to smile and laugh. (Watch comedies).

The best cure for loneliness is health and being part of the society once again, until then fight like hell to get there, and I promise you once you make it to the other side a wiser person will emerge on the other side.

I’m reading this book now, and I love it. It’s a look into the human body/autoimmune/cell function with a biblical insight as well. For those who don’t have a passion for the medical field, this may be a bit boring, but it’s not hard to understand. Well written and an easy read.

http://www.scriptum.ro/librarie/mai-presus-de-stiinta.html

For those who want the book in Romanian.

God Bless:)

Durerea sufletului, boala corpului, suferinta spiritului

/ Carmen McKnight / Leave a comment

1 Tesaloniceni 5:23 (NTLR)

23 Însuşi Dumnezeul păcii să vă sfinţească în toate şi să vă păstreze întreaga fiinţă – duhul, sufletul şi trupul vostru – fără pată la venirea Domnului nostru Isus Cristos.

Traditional si religios, trupul a fost dat la o parte, gasit fara mare importanta in cercurile religioase urmat indeaproape de suflet, la fel gasit fara prea mare importanta. Numai spiritul omului a fost pus pe un pedestol ca singurul focus important in credinta. E ca si cum am spune, Isus nu e important, nici Duhul Sfant, numai Dumnezeu. In noi exista trei dimensiuni, trei atmosfere, trei lumi intr-una singura. Daca nu intelegem importanta acestor treimi care exista in noi, ne va fi foarte greu sa intelegem treimea dumnezeiasca. Fiecare latura are o importanta egala (nu mai mare sau mai mica) si toate trei au nevoie de o existenta harmonioasa pentru o relatie sanatoasa cu noi, intre noi, si cu Dumenzeu. Dar nu-i usor in a mentine harmonia intre cele trei: trup, suflet si spirit, asa-i? Parca aud deja remarci pline de furie, mai ales din partea extremista a unor crestini, dar pot spune cu convingere ca daca trupul si sufletul nu erau asa de importante nu erau atatea versete in Biblie dand sfaturi cum sa le ingrijim, respectam, hrani, imbraca, cultiva, pastra sanatoase.

Treimea dumnezeiasca exita in noi, pentru ca suntem facu-ti dupa chipul si asemarea Lui (treimii dumnezeiesti).

Daca trupul nu se simte bine, sufletul si spiritul sufera. Daca sufletul e bolnav, trupul si spiritul sufera, daca spiritul e bolnav trupul si sufletul sufera.

Am observat, atat la mine cat si la altii, ca trupeste poti fi sanatos si peste noapte in primejdie de moarte, desii poate doctorii nu pot gasi nimic grav in corp, producand confuzie. Bolile autoimmune, in schimb nu se vad pe masinariile medicale, sunt atata de sinistre si periculoase ca poti muri dintr-o muscatura a unei insecte extrem de mici. Dar bolile autoimmune, am observat, au un lucrul in comun- suflet bolnav care dealungul anilor a tot scurs otrava in corp fara sa ne dam seama manifestat intr-un system imun slabit.

Romani 12:2 a fost tocit in mintile noastre cu o latura spirituala dar, din punctul meu de vedere, incompleta. Nu ai cum sa-ti reinoiesti gandirea, daca esti invatat ca-ci gandurile noastre nu sunt importante, partial importante sau importante numai cand are de a face cu o latura religioasa. Asta inseamna ca unicatul nostrul, RNA, calitatile noastre etc, la care Dumenzeu cu drag a lucrat sa ne formeze nu-s asa de importante ca de exemplu a stii scriptura de la cap la coada si invers.

Sufletul meu a fost bolnav ani de zile, scurgand continu ortrava in corp, in forma de furie si neiertare. Te rog nu fa aceeasi greseala. Sanatatea corpulu si a sufletului sunt in mod egal extem de importante, ca si partea spirituala:)  Incepe a ierta, incepand cu tine si bucura-te de momentele mici binecuvantate din viata:)

Va doresc o zi binecuvantata la toti:)

 

Finally:))))))

/ Carmen McKnight / Leave a comment

I hate Mercy Me’s song “I can only imagine”, oh my gosh I can’t stand that song!!!! I may be stepping on some toes here but I’m sure that every single one of you has at least one song which you hate passionately, even if that song is from a Christian genre. Mine is “I can only imagine”, it scrapes my brains with static noise and makes me want to scream in pain.

Christian genre has a tendency to put a sad twist to most songs (even if they have an encouraging message) unless you’re Toby Mac or Mandisa;) Which begs the questions: Are all the Christians in this world miserable? Christians don’t love to dance and have a good time celebrating life? I know that’s not true, but if you were to judge the christian faith by the songs alone you would think that God is the saddest aspect of life, void of fun, a sense of humor and good taste.

There is a time to grieve, a time to encourage, a time to be a shoulder for someone to cry on and there’s a time to simply celebrate!!!!!! To jump up and dance because life is good, not perfect and definitely not void of challenges, but good none-the-less. So here’s a song I can finally get up and dance and thank God for my life, despite the fact that I have an infection that’s scrambling my brain in a galactic amount of pain. However when I listen to these types of songs I smile, I laugh and I keep on telling myself: It’s just pain, Carmen, not the end of the world, just pain.

Hope you enjoy this particular song as much as I am and have a great time dancing through or despite the challenges in your life because life is good:)

God Bless:)

Vacation

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Four years ago, in the middle of suffering and when my life was spent mostly in bed for months at the time in unimaginable pain, I kept my focus on a particular image; a sunny day in the future enjoying myself as a healthy woman in the middle of nature- God’s creation.  This day came to past a few months back, however, a week ago we enjoyed our first vacation since 2014, four years ago when I fell ill. I can not express the intense joy I felt during multiple moments throughout this vacation and the thanksgiving my heart expressed to God for having the opportunity to re-live such moments, even if at some point the body began to protest intense fatigue. All I did, was to take time and rest, then resume our activities.

Why am I writing this to you? Because you’ve read and seen the side of me through pain and now I want to share the other side, the side of health, the walk of health, the walk towards health. While in pain, I visualized daily the very moments I finally got to live this past week! In the past, although the body was full of death threats, no one could steal my dream hidden deep within. Never give up and if you feel fatigued in your body or in the spirit, take a few moments to rest, then go on keeping your focus on your own image of hope. For me, that image of hope was in the middle of nature, the very nature where my suffering came from through the tick bite but I was determined not to let this pain keep me a prisoner of fear.

If you are in the midst of suffering right now, what would your focus of hope look like?  Joy, peace, love, safety, new friends, health? These are the most important and in the end, these are the fruits of God’s love for us, the acceptance of our own being (the creation of God) and the love of our neighbor. Forgiveness is the way which leads to them, forgiveness and perseverance. (I know some of you will contradict this last part, as I too contradicted this part in the past, especially forgiveness. I found excuses, telling myself that I was not the one who needed to forgive, I was the hurt one and not the abuser, but I was blinded by my own anger and hurt. I forgive so I can heal. I’m also wise and not allow broken people to determine my destiny.)

I wish you a beautiful summer day, a beautiful holiday for those of you who are or will go on vacation and the grace of God may continue to be upon us as always.

God Bless:)

Prima Vacanta Dupa Patru Ani

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Acum patru ani, in perioada intensa a suferintei si o viata traita in pat luni de zile cu dureri de neimaginat, imi concentram gandurile la o zi insorita pe viitor unde voi putea iesi iara-si in natura bucurandu-ma ca omul sanatos de creatia lui Dumnezeu. Aceasta zi a venit cam de cateva luni, dar acum o saptamana, pentru prima data in patru ani familia noastra a avut parte de prima vacanta de cand am cazut la pat. Nu-mi pot exprima bucuria intensa care am simtit-o in orice clipa pe perioada vacantei si expresiile de multumire ridicate catre bunul Dumnezeu pentru asemenea momente. Desi la un moment dat corpul a inceput sa protesteze oboseala intensa, ceea ce ma facut ca sa ma odihnesc, am reluat activitatea mai apoi.

De ce va zic aceste lucruri? Pentru ca in durere, ceea ce am trait in mod real, era deja real in mintea si sufletul meu, si desi toate semnele trupesti erau pline numai de amenintari de moarte, nimeni si nimic nu ne poate fura visul din inima noastra. Nu va da-ti baruiti niciodata si daca simti-ti obosela in corp sau in spirit, lua-ti cateva momente de odihna, fiecare cum are nevoie, dar pe urma merge-ti mai departe, avand permanent in profilul viziunii imaginea sperantei. Pentru mine imaginea sperantei era in mijlocul naturii, aceeasi natura de unde a venit pericolul si suferinta prin muscatura de capuse. Asta nu insemana ca nu iau pas de precautie cand sunt in natura, asta nu inseamna ca arunc intelepciunea si sfaturile, dar nu las ca ceva care mi-a facut rau sa ma tina prizonierul fricii.

Daca poate esti in mijlocul suferintei acum, ce ai vrea pe viitor sa re-traiesti? Bucurie, pace, iubire, siguranta, prietenii noi, sanatate? Astea sunt cele mai importante si in final astea sunt roadele iubirii lui Dumnezeu fata de noi, a acceptarii propriei fiinte (creatura lui Dumnezeu) si a dragostei fata ce aproapele nostru. Iertarea e calea care duce la acestea, iertarea si perseverenta.

Va doresc o zi frumoasa de vara, o vacanta frumoasa pentru cei care sunt sau vor merge in vacante si har si pacea lui Dumnezeu sa continue sa se reverse peste noi ca si pana acum:)