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Time?

10/27/2014

1 Comment

 
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How did it get so late so soon?
    Its night before its afternoon.
       December is here before its June.
          My goodness how the time has flewn.
             How did it get so late so soon?  ~ Dr. Seuss

Last week my mom visited me from Dallas, Texas.  My mom is retired, has been for thirty years. She is eighty years old and is able to travel and do lots of painting.


She is a very talented artist and is educated with Montessori training. In other words, she’s trained to be a teacher and she is very good with children.  I mean look at how I turned out! (smile)

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I tell you all this because today, my mom spends most of her time either cooking or watching TV. My mom can’t operate her flip phone (too complicated!).  But she has a very complicated satellite setup in her home with multiple providers of entertainment television. All controlled by a remote control that baffles me! This controller is nothing to my mom! When you watch her operate it, you think you are at NASA. It is a thing of beauty to watch her operate the controls.

This is important because where there’s a will there is a way. My mom has a will to watch television, therefore, she is able to do it. 

Why am I really telling you all this stuff? Who really cares? 


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I am haunted by a quote that I heard a long time ago “Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind.” I think about this concept and it bothers me. While my mom was visiting me, I found myself wishing I had more time. Time to teach, time to reach others. My mom has this ability but chooses not to, I don’t have that ability and I want to.

Then it hit me.  My mom is teaching me how to reach other people. When she cooks for her family and friends, she’s showing that she cares about them. When she comes to visit me, she shows me that even though she is eighty, distance does not matter, she loves me more than the difficulty of travel. 

 Her ability to operate a complex controller shows me you are never too old to learn! Also with her TV watching, she shows me that we all have time to do the things we want to do.  Is watching TV all the time good? I don’t want to judge. Maybe when I am eighty perhaps, I might want to do that too.  All I am saying is you get to choose how you spend your time.


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Right now, I choose to spend my time writing my blog, reading scripture and preparing to be healed.  In my mind I have planned on what I will do when I am able to walk and talk again. I know that day is coming so I am prepared. 

 I like to think about the words of Coco Chanel who said, “Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.”  What does that mean? To me, it means accept where I am, but prepared for it to change for the better! 

I don’t need to think about where I am and why I got here. That is wasted time.  Instead I choose to occupy my time with things that lift me up and lift up people around me. 

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How does this relate to you? As with my mom’s example, you’re never too old to learn something new. Also with my mom’s example, you can spend time doing whatever you have in your heart. 

With my example, no matter your circumstances, you can always keep a positive attitude and help other people, if by nothing more than your smile.  I’ve found that many people are encouraged by watching me struggle all the while with a smile on my face. I have learned that the world is watching.  The way I behave influences  other people.

What are your circumstances? Are they positive or negative? How do you think others see you? Most importantly, what is the imprint you are leaving?

Think about these questions as you make your next move. See you next week.

Remember, tough times don’t last but tough people do.

 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Romans 8:18

1 Comment

Hey God, I can't hear you!

10/20/2014

2 Comments

 
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I want to start off with a funny story. 

There was an engineer who worked for Intel. He was walking to a nearby building when  he happened to walk by a pond and heard, "Hey buddy pick me up." The engineer looked around and saw a frog. Again the frog said "Hey, pick me up." The engineer did just that. 

The frog said "If you kiss me I'll turn into a beautiful woman." The engineer smiled and put the frog into his pocket. 

The frog said "Seriously, if you kiss me I'll turn into a woman and give you a big kiss." The engineer took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it and put the frog back into his pocket.

Frustrated, the frog yelled, "If you kiss me I will do anything you want!" The engineer pulled the frog from his pocket and said, "I am an engineer with a very busy schedule. I don't have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog, NOW THAT'S COOL!"

I tell you this story because sometimes we don't know if we hear God or not. We ask ourselves, "God I can't hear you, are you there?"

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I asked this question, about communicating with God, to a friend who shared with me a most interesting story. It is really a gem.  I want to share it with you and hopefully you will share it with someone else.

I feel like God wanted me to tell you something important, are you ready? 

The story:
There was a woman who was meditating on God's word and asking the same question I was. The question: God, I cant hear you, are you there? 

She saw a vision of three men standing in a row. Next she saw Jesus walking towards the men. He walked up to the first man and put His arms around him and held him.  He went to the second man and started talking to him in a very animated fashion.  Jesus was wagging His finger in the mans face. Finally, Jesus walked up to the third man and just stood there. Jesus stared at the man and said nothing. After a few minutes Jesus just walked away. 

The woman asked Jesus, "What was that all about?"  Jesus said, "I will explain it to you. The first man was in pain, and all he needed was a hug from his Lord. The second man was veering off the path and needed correction. What do you think the third man needed?"

The woman said, "I have no idea. I assumed you didn't want to talk to him because he had rejected you or annoyed you. That's why you just ignored him!"  Smiling, Jesus said, "Why do so many of my children feel this way? You are wrong. You see, the third man was doing exactly what I wanted him to and he needed no correction or guidance. Therefore, I left him alone to continue down his path."

The third man's situation is the one that really confuses us, at least it confuses me!  I feel like I always want a sign from God, anything to guide me and verify that I am going in the right direction. In those moments I think of this story and realize, I might be going in the right direction and I just need to have faith to continue moving forward.

If I veer off the path, God will be there to correct me. If I get hurt, God will be there to put His arms around me. No matter what happens, my job is to keep moving forward.

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The mistake most people make is not doing anything until they get a sign. God is clear that he wants us to move and then the sign will follow.

It takes faith to move forward and that's all God cares about, your faith. 

This blog post is an act of faith. I am writing this for someone who is sitting on the sidelines and waiting for a sign to move.

Have faith, He is with you and will pick you up if you fall down, and guide you if you fall off the path.  The important thing is MOVE!

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.  Hebrews 11:6

2 Comments

Hey Akhil, it's me, Akhil!

10/14/2014

9 Comments

 
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"I'm sure you have been enjoying all your health, especially after the ordeal you have endured.  I wanted to remind you of what it was like, because I know how easy it is to forget the bad times. I know the mind blocks painful memories by simply suppressing them. I think it is important to carry the miracle of your healing with all of its pain.  

"Let's start at the beginning. You were diagnosed with ALS in July of 2011. You rejected that diagnosis. Maybe that was just denial, but regardless, your health declined. You foolishly continued to work until December of 2012. 

"Fortunately, you took a vacation with your family, a cruise. It was fortunate because you were healthy enough to enjoy the time with your family. I want to remind you that it was the last trip that you would take without assistance. I want to remind you of the pain you felt when you realized that independent travel was over.

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"In December of 2012, a lot of things happened. You realized you could not drive anymore without having an accident. You also realized it was time to leave your job. Remember how hard it was to tell your boss that you were leaving? Remember what it felt like to tell your team goodbye?  These are people that you lived with, mentored, and went to battle with. All these people were family and all of them were sad to see you go. You were saying goodbye to independence.

"Your company did a great thing for you. They took care of you and made sure your family was well looked after. Even Jack Hand, your CEO, personally gave you assurance that all would be well. Good news, they lived up to their word.

"Then the struggle began. for some reason your health declined rapidly. Your hands stopped working and your legs started getting weaker.  Every time you spoke, you felt as though you had a frog in your throat. You couldn't say certain sounds anymore and it frustrated you. Only people close to you were able to understand you. You had a couple of caregivers that were taking care of you during the day, but as time wore on they got worn out. I remember you praying for someone to take care of you because now you needed care 24 hours a day!

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"This person had to be very special. It had to be a man because you needed to be showered and helped with all your toiletry needs. I'm sure a woman would have been fine, but I think it would have been awkward.  Also he had to be very caring and Christian. Those two qualities were non-negotiable.  Enter God.  My daughter Corinne put a message out on Facebook asking for help. No qualifications, just help. That's how Russell got here!

"Russell lived in Ridgefield and was only a mile from your home. He had been unsuccessfully searching for a job for four years. He comes to your home, hoping to get a job and made the most outlandish statement during the interview, 'You are going to be healed, Akhil!'  At that moment you did not know if this guy was a lunatic or a gift from God. Fortunately for you, he did not turn out to be an  axe wielding murderer. 

"His whole family turned out to be very strong believers in supernatural healing. I want to remind you that it was Russell's family that pulled you through your times of doubt. God knew you could not take this journey alone and He took care of you.  There were many times when you wanted to quit.  And by quit I mean suicide. Remember how lonely you felt even though you were surrounded by people. People tried to make you feel better by saying they were praying for you, yet nothing good was happening. At least, nothing was happening as far as you knew.  God was doing things in the background and he was waiting for you to have a little faith. 

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"All along you thought the battle was with your body, wrong!  Your real battle was in your mind.  Remember how at one moment you were fine and a thought comes to you, 'You can't move. You will never be able to move!' 

"You panic. You can't explain it to anyone. No one will understand, so you just sit there, sweating. Nothing has changed yet you are covered with perspiration. The words of Paul came to your mind, 'our battle is not with flesh and blood, it is with the powers and principalities of this world.'

"You understood what that meant. You're not fighting with your body, you're fighting with the demons of your mind. This was especially bad at night. Fear gripped you and wouldn't let go, You were afraid of being alone, afraid you couldn't call out, afraid you would suffocate.


"Remember how you overcame this? You gave into your fear for one minute, and then you started focusing on your breathing. In out, in out, in out. You did that until you started focusing on what you were grateful for. At the top of the list,  your family, Russell's family, your friends, and finally you were back to normal. You call this exercise 'mental gymnastics'.

"Your mind was your biggest enemy and your biggest ally. In order to survive you had to discipline your thoughts, and become ruthless with eliminating damaging ideas. Its not as easy as one would think, right? But you made it!   

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"Finally you made some promises to yourself. I want to list these promises for you incase you have forgotten. 
  1. You were going to teach/preach about the goodness of Jesus. 
  2. You were going to setup a ministry for healing others. 
  3. You were going to take your family on another cruise, without any assistance! 
  4.  You were going to continue with your blog. 
"Did you do all these things, Akhil? Did you remember how you felt? Did you remember how you wanted to do the most basic things for yourself, but couldn't? 

"Akhil, I don't know where you are today. I do know that God loves you and has always had big plans for you. These plans scared you and you wanted to press the eject button but God was with you.  Say, ' hi' to Russell and his family for me. Remind them how they were part of the miracle!"

No, I am not schizophrenic.  I know that I am going to be healed. And I do not want to forget what it felt like to have ALS. I wanted to write a letter to myself to capture the experience. Maybe some of you can get an insight into what is going on in my mind right now. Maybe some of you can benefit from my positive thinking. Or, maybe not :-)

Tell me what you think, I am curious. And by the way, if you could give your future YOU advice, in two or three words, what would it be? For me it would be, be grateful!

"...the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not." 
Romans 4:17 

9 Comments

I have an answer.

10/6/2014

11 Comments

 
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Suicide, according to Webster’s: “ to take ones own life”.

Suicide, according to Akhil: “to end a long ordeal”.

I asked those questions last week on my blog because I was contemplating how to end my long ordeal. Of course I’m talking about ALS.

Because of my thoughts, I wanted to hear answers to three important questions:

1.     Is there a God?
2.      Is Jesus my Lord and Savior? (Does he really love me?)
3.      Is there any reason to stay here? (Can I check out early?)

I got some interesting answers from lots of people. I was actually amazed how many people responded. I was most amazed by God’s response!

Yes, God responded to my questions.

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Here’s what happened. My big question really was, “Does God really care about me?  Does he know I am struggling? Is he asleep at the switch?”

He knew I needed encouragement. It came in the form of two people: Tim and Phil.

I have known Tim since I was sixteen. We used to play Dungeons and Dragons together. (Don’t judge me!) We also had the most insane friends and we did all sorts of things that would be considered priceless by the producers of "Jackass"! Nonetheless, we survived and are friends today.

Tim lives in California, near LA, and does graphic design.

He came to visit me on Tuesday of last week. We reminisced over old times and laughed a lot. That was encouraging, but that was not the answer from God.

The answer from God came as Tim was leaving. I was in the middle of being fed through my tube and I looked over at Tim and said, “I am sorry you have to see me this way.” Tim responded: “I don’t see anything. All I see is my friend, someone with whom I have a long history!”

I was imagining how people saw me: sick, helpless, useless.

Through Tim I saw how God saw me: Akhil.

Chalk one up for God!

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What about the other question: Is there any reason to stay here? (Can I check out early?)

Phil Camden is someone I don’t know. He’s from Australia right outside of Sydney and was the senior pastor of Hillsong Church.

If you know the music of Hillsong, you know it is very impactful. Last year two things happened to Phil.  First, he was diagnosed with ALS and second, he found my blog.

He commented on my blog and we stayed in touch over the internet. Last week, he had an occasion to meet with a relative in Portland! He contacted us and asked to come visit. On Saturday he came over to my house. We talked and I asked him if he ever thought about an early checkout.

The answer from God came through Phil who said, “I want to keep ministering to the people as long as I have breath. Although I have stepped down as senior pastor and I have retired, I still have opportunities to help other people find their way.”

He continued, “You also have an opportunity to help others.”  I was surprised and asked him what he was talking about. I told him I can’t move and I can barely talk.

He told me that my blog was the vehicle. He said that although people don’t always comment, I am changing hearts all over the world. He finished by saying, “Even if no one else reads it, I do!  Keep writing for me.”

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You can see God's timing. When I needed an answer, God showed up!

In summary: I still have purpose, as long as God has me here, I still can contribute.

So there you have it. God does exist, he sent his son for me (and you), and I need to stick around to see how this movie ends.

TO BE CONTINUED…


Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 
Matthew 7:7-8

11 Comments



    The video is Akhil's journey with ALS.  Painful to see but the faith his family shows is uplifting.
    ​
    God continues to show his love for us through his people.  Thank you to everyone who has reached out to us, prayed for us, visited Akhil, brought us a meal and served us however God led you to serve.  Continue to follow those urgings from God in serving those who are struggling.

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    Akhil and Laura Jhaveri

    Applying the skills they've learned in over 20 years of marriage, this couple faces the challenges of ALS together. MND or motor neuron disease is deadly with no known cure.  The Jhaveri family has to endure this battle and show the world God's love!

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