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3. Manna issue 58 - Remembering God’s Grace and Glory 記得神的恩典和榮耀

A daughter’s medical condition brings timely reminders in faith.

女兒的病情帶來及時信仰的提醒

Christine Chen—Baldwin Park, California, USA 美國加州博恩教會

In November 2007 a cold paralyzed half of my six-year-old daughter’s face 
and took away her smile and ability to blink.
Through this incident, we learned 
that events such as these actions are not so easily managed
—they need the grace of God.

2007 年 11 月，一場感冒痲痺了我六歲女兒的臉，
並奪走了她的微笑和眨眼的能力。
透過這次事件我們得知，
這些動作的行為並非是那麼容易控制的，
—他們需要神的恩典。

A SERIOUS CONDITION 嚴重的狀況

Katie caught a cold during the first few days of November, 
but she got over it soon and seemed to be back to her regular self. 
When we had guests over on the following Sunday, 
I was preoccupied with the preparations for dinner 
and didn’t really have time to pay special attention to my children, 
who were running around the house with their friends.

凱蒂在十一月初時感冒了，
但她很快就好了，並且似乎恢復正常的情況。
接下來周日當我們有客人來訪時，
我正忙著準備晚餐，
並沒真有時間去特別注意自已的孩子，
他們正與許多朋友在家裡跑來跑去。

However, my husband and I both noticed 
that Katie looked a little different from usual. 
We told her, 
“Don’t smile with only half of your face, that’s a bad habit.” 
She told us that she wasn’t doing it on purpose, 
but we didn’t press her for an explanation. 
It was severe enough that our guests noticed and mentioned that Katie looked different.

然而，我和先生皆注意到了，
凱蒂和平時看起來有些不同。
我們告訴她，
“不要只用半張臉微笑，這是一個壞習慣。”
她告訴我們她並不是故意這樣作，
但我們並未逼她做解釋。
直到情況非常嚴重，我們的客人注意到，並提到凱蒂看起來很不一樣。

It was rather late by the time everyone went home, 
so the kids quickly took showers and got ready for bed. 
When Katie was washing her hair she cried out
and said that her eye hurt. 
My husband reminded her to close her eyes when rinsing her hair, 
but she said that she couldn’t. 
We were all so tired that we didn’t spend time trying to figure out what was wrong.

直到大家回家的時候時間已經很晚了，
所以小孩很快就洗澡並準備好睡覺。
當凱蒂在洗她的頭髮時她哭了，
並解釋說她的眼睛很痛。
我先生提醒她洗頭髮時要閉上眼睛，
但她說她作不到。
那時我們都太累了，沒有時間去弄清楚到底出了什麼問題。

The next day was a holiday for the kids,
and I started to become more concerned 
when Katie was getting ready to practice violin before lunch. 
I took a closer look at her and asked her to close her eyes. 
She could only close her left eye. 
I told her to try harder to close both of them, 
and she told me, “I’m trying as hard as I can!”

第二天是孩子的假日，
我開始變得更加擔心，
凱蒂在午餐前準備好要練習小提琴。
我仔細近近看了她，並要她閉上自已的眼睛。
她只能閉上左眼。
我告訴她要努力把兩邊眼睛都閉著，
她告訴我：“我正在盡可能全力努力！”

I realized then that her situation was really serious. 
My husband was at work so I didn’t want to bother him, 
but I wasn’t sure what I should do. 
I wondered why this was happening to my daughter.
Even though I knew that God would take care of Katie, 
I still felt uneasy.

我當時就意識到她的情況確實很嚴重。
我先生在上班，所以我不想打擾他，
但我不確定我該做什麼事。
我思考著為什麼這件事會發生在我女兒身上。
儘管我知道神會照顧凱蒂，
我還是覺得很不安。

All of a sudden, I remembered 
that a brother had just moved to the area from the East coast, 
and he was a medical doctor. 
Although I didn’t know what he specialized in, 
I felt that it was better to take Katie to see him 
because he was a member of our church.

突然間，我想起來，
有一位弟兄剛從東岸搬到這個地區，
他是一名醫生。
雖然我不知道他的專科是什麼，
我覺得最好帶凱蒂去給他診斷，
因為他是我們教會的信徒。

We went to see him that afternoon,
and he told us that Katie had facial nerve paralysis, 
possibly caused by a viral infection from her cold the week before.
He explained that the condition 
(also known as Bell’s palsy) 
wasn’t usually seen in children 
and that it would heal on its own. 
However, it was possible that it could take up to a year before she recovered
—there was no way to predict.

那天下午我們去看醫生，
他告訴我們凱蒂患出現顏面神經麻痺，
可能是由於她上週感冒時病毒感染引起的。
他解釋說，這種情況，
（又稱為貝爾氏麻痺症）
在兒童間並不常見，
並且它會自行癒合。
然而，她很有可能需要長到一年的時間才能康復，
—沒有辦法可以預測。

I was worried that the paralysis would never be healed, 
but I had a peaceful heart when I brought Katie home 
because the brother didn’t give me any reason to believe 
that this would be the case with Katie.

我擔心麻痺永遠無法治好，
但當我帶凱蒂回家時內心卻很平靜，
因為這位弟兄並沒有給我任何理由可以相信，
凱蒂就是這種情況。

INCREASED WORRY 增加憂慮

Because Katie couldn’t close her right eye all the way, 
it got dry very quickly, and she needed to use eye drops every hour. 
When I brought her to school the next morning, 
I told the secretary 
that she needed to have someone help her administer the drops. 
The secretary said
that any medication given at the school required a doctor’s signature.

由於凱蒂一直無法閉上她的右眼，
眼睛很快就變乾了，她每小時都需要滴眼藥水。
第二天早上我送她去學校的時候，
我告訴秘書，
她需要有人幫她滴眼藥水。
秘書說，
學校提供任何藥物都需要有醫生的簽名。

I explained that they were only artificial teardrops and not medicine, 
but the secretary told me that without a doctor’s signature 
I would have to come every hour and give Katie the drops myself.

我解釋說那只是人工淚液，不是藥水。
但秘書告訴我，若沒有醫生的署名
我將必須每小時過來親自給凱蒂滴眼藥水。

I wasn’t able to come by every hour,
so I decided to see if Katie’s teacher would be willing to help us. 
I was a little intimidated by the teacher 
because of her stern appearance, but I told her, 
“Katie can’t close her right eye 
so she needs to have eye drops put in very often.”

我無法每小時都跑過來，
所以我決定看看凱蒂的老師是否願意幫助我們。
我有點害怕老師，
因為她看起來很嚴肅，但我告訴她，
“凱蒂無法閉上她的右眼，
所以她需要經常滴眼藥水。 ”

Unexpectedly, she responded immediately,
saying, “I know, this is Bell’s palsy.
Give me the eye drops, I will help her.”
She even comforted me by explaining
that she had a cousin with this condition
and that I shouldn’t worry so much. 
I really thank God for this teacher’s understanding and help 
so that the day passed by peacefully and without worries.

沒想到她立刻回應，
說：“我知道，這是貝爾氏麻痺症。
把眼藥水給我，我會幫助她的。”
她甚至安慰我解釋說，
她有一個表妹也遇到這種病，
我其實不用太擔心。
我真的很感謝神有這位老師的理解和幫助，
這樣這一天就平安無憂的過去了。

I expected Katie to begin recovering soon, 
but her condition got worse instead of better. 
Even though the brother said that she would heal naturally, 
and I knew that God would take care of her, I had little faith.

我以為凱蒂很快就會康復，
但她的病情不但沒有好轉，反而更加惡化了。
雖然那位弟兄說她會自然痊癒，
而我知道神會照顧她，但我卻沒有什麼信心。

I worried a lot about Katie, 
and I did some research online on Bell’s palsy. 
It would have been better not to do this
—the more I read, the more unsettled I became.

我很擔心凱蒂，
我在網路上作一些貝爾氏麻痺症的研究。
假如沒有這麼作就會更好，
—我讀得越多，就更加越感到不安。

Advice from friends combined with the information I found online increased my worry and fear. 
I heard and read things like 
“early detection brings early cure,”
“you should try acupuncture,” 
“you should try corticosteroids,” 
and “if you’re not careful and she doesn’t get treated soon, 
her face could be paralyzed for life.” 
I was very worried after hearing “paralyzed for life,” 
and I started to lose my faith and trust in God.

朋友的建議加上我在網路找到的資訊更增加了我的擔憂和恐懼。
我所聽到及讀到類似的事情就如，
“早發現早痊癒”
“你應該嘗試針灸，”
“你應該嘗試類固醇，”
“如果你不小心，她沒有及時得到治療，
她的臉可能會終身痲痺。”
我一聽到“終身癱瘓”後就感到很擔心，
我開始對神失去信心和依靠。

REMINDED OF GOD’S GRACE AND GLORY 提醒神的恩典和榮耀

Although my faith was low and my mood fluctuated with Katie’s condition, 
I gradually came to see how God was with us throughout this time.

儘管我的信心很低，情緒也隨著凱蒂的病情而起伏，
我逐漸明白了在這段時間神是如何與我們同在的。

It was difficult to endure seeing my child suffer. 
Because she couldn’t close her right eye, 
I had to put a bandage over it to prevent her cornea from drying out during sleep. 
Her right eyelid was completely paralyzed, 
her right arm and fingers were hard and swollen, 
and even the slightest touch to her cheek caused a lot of pain.

看到自己的孩子受苦，是很難忍受的。
因為她無法閉上自已的右眼，
我不得不用繃帶蓋在眼皮上，以防止她的眼角膜在睡覺時變乾。
她的右眼皮完全痲痺了，
她的右臂和手指又硬又腫，
即使輕微觸碰她的臉頰也會引起劇烈的疼痛。

She had to use her hand to open her mouth when she ate, 
and she couldn’t speak clearly. 
Her face looked distorted 
because the skin and muscles on the right side of her face were pulled back very tightly.

當她吃飯時必須用自已手打開嘴巴，
她也不能清晰說話。
她的面容看起來是扭曲的，
因為她臉部右側的皮膚和肌肉被拉得很緊。

But thank God, Katie never complained about any discomfort or inconvenience from Bell’s palsy. 
Even when her classmates repeatedly asked 
why she only smiled with one side of her face, 
she was never embarrassed or offended by them.

但是感謝神，凱蒂從未抱怨過任何貝爾氏麻痺症帶來的不舒服或不方便。
即使祂同學一再的詢問，
為什麼她只能用一半的臉微笑，
她從來沒有因為他們而感到尷尬或生氣。

Since Katie had always been active, 
we were used to her bumping into things 
and getting small cuts and bruises. 
However, one day, she ran into something with more force 
and started crying from the pain. 
We were worried because the sound of her crying was strangely muffled,
and, while the left side of her face was contorted with pain, 
the right side didn’t move at all.

由於凱蒂一直很活躍，
我們很習慣她會撞到東西，
並且出現小割傷和瘀傷。
然而有一天，她很大力重重的撞到某個東西，
並開始因為很痛而哭。
我們很擔心，因為她哭泣的聲音聽起來像被悶住一樣，
當她的左臉因疼痛而扭曲時，
右邊一點都沒有動作。

I knew that God was watching over her,
but when I saw her like this
—a bubbly, lively child now in pain and physically altered
—I could no longer wait patiently for her to recover. 
I felt that every day passed by slowly 
and that it would be impossible to reach the two-week mark
when patients normally started to heal.

我知道神有看顧她，
但當是我看到她這個樣子，
—一個夢幻活潑的孩子，現在卻飽受痛苦和身體變異，
—我再也無法耐心等待她康復了。
我覺得每天都過得很慢，
並且很有可能無法觸及兩週的時間點，
那是病人通常開始康復的時間。

Nevertheless, we believed 
that God had a good reason for allowing this to happen to Katie, 
so the only things we could do were to pray and trust in God.

儘管如此，我們相信，
神有充分理由的允許這件事發生在凱蒂身上，
所以我們唯一所能做的就是禱告並信靠神。

I prayed to God, 
“I know now that smiling and blinking are difficult 
if we do not have your permission. 
You have watched over details as insignificant as these! 
We never knew how to cherish these things. 
Please have mercy on our weaknesses.”

我向神禱告，
“我現在知道微笑和眨眼都很難，
如果我們沒有得到您的准許。
您一直都會察看這些微不足道東西的細節！
我們從不懂得要如何珍惜這些事物。
請憐憫我們的軟弱。 ”

I thank God for listening to our prayers.
It is through His love and mercy that we can thank and praise Him. 
We have experienced that smiling and blinking are a grace from God 
and that His creation is marvelous and unfathomable.

我感謝神垂聽了我們的禱告。
就是透過祂的慈愛和憐憫，我們才可以感謝和讚美祂。
我們已經體驗到微笑和眨眼亦是神的恩典，
而祂的創造是又奇妙又深不可測。

Little by little, Katie started to recover movement on the right side of her face.
By the third week, she was able to move her eyelid more and more, 
and after one month she was almost completely healed.
Now, she is back to normal. 
Thank God for His mercy; 
He did not let us worry long over her condition. 
Every time Katie smiles and blinks now, 
we are reminded of His grace and glory.

漸漸的，凱蒂她的右臉開始恢復運動能力。
到了第三週，她就已經能夠活動她的右眼皮越來越多了，
一個月後，她幾乎完全康復了。
如今，她已恢復正常。
感謝神的憐憫；
祂沒有讓我們長時間擔心她的病況。
現在，每當凱蒂微笑和眨眼時，
我們都會想起了祂的恩典和榮耀。

Through this experience, 
we have been able to reflect on the blessings and love
that God has given to us. 
We realized that we easily overlook His grace.

透過這次體驗，
我們就能夠反省祝福和慈愛，
是神賜給我們的。
我們意識到自已很容易就忽略祂的恩典。

As Psalm 104:10-14 tells us,

正如詩篇 104 章 10-14 節告訴我們的，

He sends the springs into the valleys;
They flow among the hills.
They give drink to every beast of the field;
The wild donkeys quench their thirst.
By them the birds of the heavens have their home;
They sing among the branches.
He waters the hills from His upper chambers;
The earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works.
He causes the grass to grow for the cattle,
And vegetation for the service of man,
That he may bring forth food from the earth.

10耶和華使泉源湧在山谷，流在山間，
11使野地的走獸有水喝，野驢得解其渴。
12天上的飛鳥在水旁住宿，在樹枝上啼叫。
13他從樓閣中澆灌山嶺；因他作為的功效，地就豐足。
14他使草生長，給六畜吃，使菜蔬發長，供給人用，使人從地裡能得食物，

God is the one who created the heavens and the earth. 
If animals live without worries, 
what about us, the children of God? 
Will He not protect and watch over us?

神是創造天地的主。
如果動物活得無憂無慮，
那麼我們呢，神的子女呢？
難道祂不會保護並守護我們嗎？

We have once again experienced the wonders of God’s creation. 
May He have mercy on all of us and strengthen our faith.

我們又再次體驗了神創造的神蹟。
願祂賞賜我們所有人憐憫並加強我們的信心。

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