The Miracle of the Hermit Crab E-Book

Dwight G. Alexander

• Herausgeber: Dove Christian Publishers
• Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

The Miracle of the Hermit Crab is a story about God demonstrating his love, care, and plan through the life of a young disabled boy named Anzic Alexander.  Anzic has cerebral palsy and has already had five major surgeries.  He is only eleven years old.  God has showed his love and care to all of us as we are all in need before him.  This powerful memoir shows the different miracles God performed to touch and help not only Anzic, but many people who know Anzic and became a part of his life, convincing them that God is in control.  This book will be a blessing to parents and siblings of people with disabilities.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Foreword

Shriners Children’s Hospital

Anzic’s Operation Throws a Curve Ball

God Gives Anzic a Better Treatment

The Surgery Is Postponed Yet Again

Anzic’s Early Years

The Year after the First Hip Surgery

Anzic’s Sister Dilbi

Anzic’s Favorite Activities

Back to the Drawing Board

The Second Miracle

God’s Purpose and Will

About This Book’s Title

The Miracle

of the

HERMIT

CRAB

The miracle given by Jesus to a young boy stricken with

cerebral palsy

Dwight G. Alexander

The Miracle of the Hermit Crab

Published by

Inscript Publishing

a division of Dove Christian Publishers

P.O. Box 611

Bladensburg, MD 20710-0611

www.inscriptpublishing.com

Copyright © 2018 by Dwight G. Alexander

Cover Design by Mark Yearnings

Cover Photographs by Dwight Alexander

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used or reproduced without permission of the publisher, except for brief quotes for scholarly use, reviews or articles.

Except where noted, Scripture quotes are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

eBook Edition

Published in the United States of America

Dedication

This book is dedicated to our daughters Margarette ‘Maggie’ Alexander, Talitha ‘Balz’ Alexander, Ja-el ‘OB’ Alexander, and Janel ‘Dilbi’ Alexander. Your only brother developed Cerebral Palsy at an early age. Unfortunately, you never enjoyed his full companionship as a healthy brother who can play ball with you, run your errands, climb trees for you, or do other things normal kids do. I had hoped he would be someone you can play with, celebrate with, and eventually, be a man who would help you in many ways as a brother. All our plans and hopes seemed to have gone south; however, God is mighty and supreme in all his ways. We have been tremendously blessed by Anzic’s presence in our lives, and I know you have also when you are around him. He still provides love, friendship, laughter, joy, and most importantly, his adoration for each of you. I know you love him dearly and care for him like no other. He will always be a part of your life and will always provide the moral support we all need.

In writing this book, I hope I conveyed the way the Lord was molding our lives using Anzic. His grace, his love, his mercy, his forgiveness, his corrections, his discipline, and his relationship as a father to us was revealed in the most visible way through Anzic’s life, and we have been tremendously blessed. By embracing Anzic and spending time with him, you will also experience God in an amazing way and he will reveal to you how much he cares and loves each of you. Anzic’s disability is a constant reminder of how much we need each other and how much more we need God.

We were all especially selected and set aside by God to be taught greater lessons through Anzic, and for that, we will always be grateful for his life.

We love you always,

Mom and Dad

Clarinda & Dwight G. Alexander

Foreword

When asked by the author, Dwight Alexander, who is a Christian brother and coworker in God’s ministry, a family friend, and a relative, to write a foreword to this book, “The Miracle of the Hermit Crab” I elatedly agreed to contribute my twosenses on his writing. Little did I know that I would struggle to fulfill my commitment to the author because of how powerfully inspiring this book is and how it emotionally provoked me to frequent tears by the enduring challenges in Anzic’s life and how it served as a beacon of contentment, hope and joy for others to feed on. I have known Dwight Alexander for several years, along with his wife Clarinda, who is closely related to me through a different genealogical path, and their family. The author’s writing reflects his persona of moral character, love, humility, and honesty that are fundamental assets to desired growth in familial relationships. I am humbly blessed to have known the main subject in his story, his beloved son Anzic Alexander, whose life experiences and events have taken me in awe of his capacity to inspire his father, family, and others to appreciate the amazing works of God displayed over and over again through him. His life and journey through series of medical consultations and treatments in Palau and Hawaii involved critical participations by his father, mother, siblings, family helper, medical care givers, and others. And his interactions and relationships with those involved have drawn our attention to also appreciate the value of family and loving sacrifices we must offer to sprout and sustain family bonding.

The author chronicles a beautiful story of his son, who is with physical disabilities and limitations, yet his limitations do not constrain his flourishing personality, character and spirit. I truly believe that Anzic is a beautifully created and unique child of God, and special in the eyes of God and lives he has impacted.

No love is greater than that of a father for his son. This book transports readers like you and me to Palau where a father, along with his wife and three daughters, invites us on a downtoearth, narrative story of his gifted son, whose plight is about seeking health restoration. It can move the readers to tears as it tells of detailed, bucketful of Anzic’s distressing medical ailment and delicate therapies that brought on discomfort, agony, doubt, emotional and spiritual burden upon the family. And by the same token, Anzic’s quest for solution to his ailment brought about spiritual growth and strength, contentment in what comes our way, healing and display of miracles by which God’s grace and love is expressed through his struggles and personality. Throughout the book, his medical journey fed on an intimate, loving relationships especially with his father, mother, and siblings. It inspires us to enhance our understanding of our relationship with our loving God who understands our own limitations, difficulties and challenges in life, and to entrust our life’s struggles and uncertainties to His love and care. After all, don’t we all have disabilities and limitations in one sense or another? Thus, we can be truly blessed by patiently waiting on God’s power and deliverance, as He is always in control over all things concerning our lives. As the story unfolds, one can see and reap the practical lessons on a selfless devotion and love which the father displays throughout the book.

Furthermore, this book is particularly a heartbreaking story of special, loving relationship between Anzic and his father, as lived and caught through the lens of the father’s eyes. And so no one else could have been able to write Anzic’s story but his own father. It tells of the difficult times when the parents seemed helpless in situations like seeing their son in pain and in need of care and comfort, in upsetting and worrying occasions that call for self examination of our faith and trust in God concerning things beyond our control, as well as shining moments that Anzic blesses the hearts of people around him through his ability to sing songs of praise or simply express his thrills and excitements. Furthermore, Anzic’s physical limitations and joyful heart has affected his family and others in enabling them to witness God’s amazing works in and through his life.

I definitely recommend this book to everyone. Adults, families, and special education teachers will find this book a gold mine of personal experiences and lessons to understand, accept, and participate in the life of a child or family member with limitations and disabilities, for moral courage, sensitivity, empathy, and creativity. This book will constantly remind us of our dire need of God’s daily intervention in all circumstances of our lives. The good news is, God has always been with Anzic in all his situations and in control of everything. As with the story of a man born blind in the Gospel of John, Chapter 9, God has indeed displayed His amazing works in Anzic! I hope, through Anzic’s story, that you too may be drawn nearer to God in your struggles!

Uchel R. Naito

1

Shriners Children’s Hospital

As I stood in the hallway with my wife and Mr. Uchel Naito (a worker in the Palau Referral Coordinating Office in Honolulu, as well as a deacon in his church), we watched my son Anzic being pushed on his bed toward the operating room of the Shriners Children’s Hospital in Honolulu. I had a tremendous feeling of helplessness. As much as my wife and I love Anzic, there’s a line where we stop, and Anzic goes forward into the hands and care of others. The realization that I could be helpless at critical moments of my children’s lives was unnerving, to say the least. As parents, we want to be in control, and we want very much to know for certain the outcome of activities and events surrounding our children.

Mr. Naito, understanding our dilemma, spoke quietly: “Let us go to the cafeteria and eat while we wait.” It was obvious there was nothing we could do but wait, as Anzic was in the hands of the doctors. This was a moment when all we could do was to trust the Lord that Anzic was in better hands than our own. As we walked down the hall toward the elevator, I quietly asked God to take care of Anzic for us and to help the doctors do a good job so that he would be able to enjoy life without constant pain.

We spoke little on that short journey to the hospital’s cafeteria, as all three of us searched for words and stories to comfort each other as well as convince each other that Anzic would be all right. I figured we were going to need stories and perhaps a few devotional thoughts to pass the time while we awaited the outcome of the surgery.

I was reminded of the song taken from Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.” Looking up this verse, I ran across the first verse of that psalm, which says, “God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in time of trouble.” And later it says, “The Lord Almighty is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress” (46:7). I was calmed by reading the entire chapter. Meanwhile, Deacon Naito affirmed God’s continual presence in our lowest moments. I looked to him as a leading authority in this area.

Several years before, Mr. Naito was a known authority in Palau—my homeland—with his education and achievements. He led the work in planning for Palau’s water use and wastewater management—a critical work in small island states, ensuring that wastewater is managed properly to avoid sanitary issues. Back then, he was simply a church attendee, one of those guys who would sit in the pew throughout the service and leave just before the service ends. We wouldn’t see him until the next Sunday, as he was engrossed in his work and community projects. Life changed for him and his wife, Ms. Allyn Takada, when he collapsed during a basketball game.

The constraints of the local hospital in Palau prevented the doctors from discovering Mr. Naito’s ailment, and he was referred to Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu. When his illness was diagnosed and made known, he had to change many of his plans. The cost of medicine for his illness was too expensive for the Belau National Hospital as well as the local clinics and pharmacies in Palau to carry, and they were not able to support a steady supply of his medicine. Mr. Naito had to stay in Honolulu to ensure that the medicine he needed was available. He relocated to Hawaii with his wife and son.

Since then, Mr. Naito has almost fully recovered from this disease. We can say that this is a miracle and an act of grace from God. He has transitioned from a productive community life to a fruitful and meaningful church life, in which he serves as a deacon and performs pastoral work for a Palauan congregation called the Ungil Chais Fellowship (ungil chais means “good news”), under the Good Shepherd Church in Honolulu. He most certainly is a leading authority in understanding God’s grace and mercy. Thus, his words of comfort and advice were comforting and brought understanding that God was indeed in control.

His wife, Allyn, serves as the medical coordinator for the Palau Referral Office in Honolulu. Many of the Palau patients traveling to Hawaii (as arranged through the medical coordinator’s office) have terminal illnesses. The Lord has used Mr. Naito to shed His light and to comfort patients with His holy Word.

So, it was a great comfort just having Mr. Naito near us at this time. When he spoke, I could almost sense that the Lord was speaking to us through him. It was reassuring and comforting.

I thought back to the day Anzic was born, when the nurse who delivered him shouted with joy, “It’s a boy!” That was April 8, 2007, and my wife had carried him to full term. I remembered thinking, “Certainly, things will be fine with this one.” Anzic’s older sister wasn’t so fortunate, having been born six months into my wife’s pregnancy. Right from the start, there had been problems due to her premature birth, and we are still dealing with some of the limitations and challenges in her growth and development.

However, Anzic was just as healthy as a baby can be. His eyes were bright and responsive to movements. His head would turn in response to sounds, showing that he heard and had a good sense of direction as to the origin of the sounds. His limbs and movements all indicated a healthy and strong baby.

My first gut reaction to the nurse’s shouts of joy was ecstatic. Here was a child I could call son. A child I could take fishing and farming and do all the manly things with. Someone who would carry on my name and not have it changed when he gets married, and who would have children to carry on the family name even further.

My head was jumping far ahead of me. Would my son be a good basketball player? Would he like baseball? Volleyball? Would he like sports at all? Many things came through my head as to what my son would be like.

As the days went by, Anzic continued to have clear eyes, his hearing was sharp, and his responses and movements were all normal. My wife and I couldn’t be happier. Finally, a son has been given to us, and he would carry on our name. We were so proud.

We closely watched him every day and had great joy in taking care of him. We didn’t ignore our other children, but certainly, Anzic was the center of attention for everyone, including the older sisters. We gave him toys. We looked forward to his first words and his first step. We debated which word he would say first—Mom or Dad.

His mother was already planning where he would go to preschool and kindergarten. She was already envisioning him in Sunday school and church programs. She was already talking about him going on field trips. There were so many plans for him, even before he could eat or walk by himself.

As the months went by, we continued to observe each new development closely. We were assured in every hospital appointment that he would be a strong and healthy boy. Everything looked good, and we were anxious for him to grow up.

As we watched him grow, there were times when I had concerns I couldn’t shake. I would look at him closely to see if there was something wrong with him. For example, I noticed that his mouth was always open, and he continued to drool. All my other children never had this problem. He appeared to be a little slow in his motions, with somewhat lazy movements. At times he seemed slow to respond and looked somewhat confused. While we prepared food, didn’t bother us but chose to be by himself. This surprised us, because when our other children were this young, we had to constantly tell them to stay out of the kitchen; they were intrigued by food and wanted to get involved in the cooking, which caused big messes and made food preparation very difficult. But Anzic preferred just to be alone and watch TV.

I thought certainly that his appearance of weakness or laziness would raise red flags with the medical providers, but no caution came, and no alarm was raised. The continued assurances from the doctors erased my fears, and I looked past those challenges and what appeared to be abnormal behavior. I kept telling myself, “He’s still young, and when he gets older, he’ll be just like me.”

The first real alarm came when Anzic was six months old. In Palau, when a child reaches the time to receive more than milk—to eat baby food and other soft foods—we bring the best food on the island for them. Often, it’s the wild pigeon, a pricey delicacy that only rich and high-ranking community leaders enjoy during festivities. Although hunting pigeons is strictly prohibited by law, there are ways we can get them for the children when they have their first meal. The meat is a little tough, so they cannot chew it, since most children have few teeth at that time. But just sucking the juice out of the meat is fine. It’s a source of pride that one’s child, for their first meal, would eat the most sought-after food on the island, even though it’s not the most pleasant sight, and maybe not very appetizing for a small child. The bird’s feathers are plucked, and the bird is cleaned, but the head remains. Wild pigeons have this black round thing right above their beak which makes them look odd and different.

All my daughters had enjoyed wild pigeon for their first meal, so when it came time for Anzic’s first meal, a wild pigeon was prepared for him. When we presented him his meal and the small pot was opened for him, he looked at the bird and showed disgust. He wanted nothing to do with it. He almost ran away from it.

This, as well as other events of that first year, were special times that we cherished, but they also raised questions about his condition and health.

By his second birthday, he still wasn’t able to speak, eat solid food, or walk. We felt that maybe he needed medical intervention, but every time we brought this to the attention of the doctors, they would tell us that Anzic was growing normally and would eventually speak and walk. They said some children are quick to develop these skills while others are slower. “He’s just one of the slow ones,” they would say.

But to us as his parents, the fact that Anzic was two years old already and still unable to walk or speak was an alarming sign that he might not be as normal a child as we had hoped. Both my wife and I did some soul-searching as we tried to figure out what had happened. Many questions came rushing through our minds, which we sometimes discussed with friends and family. We asked questions: What brought this on Anzic? Was there any action on our part that might have caused it? Did we commit a serious sin that God was punishing us for? And most importantly, what exactly was wrong with our son?

From one doctor to another, we were given the same answer: Anzic was normal, and everything would be fine once he started to get these things in sync. So, we continued to hope, we continued to pray, and we continued to observe and watch.