Wilderness to Wellness

By Dr. Nina Knight Ed.D

Building on the themes of faith, perseverance, and love, Dr. Nina Knight presents the most compelling and comprehensive account of unrelenting hope amid lifes most hostile challenges. Highlighting the authors transparent and extensive translation of lifes circumstances and triumphs, the book brings to life the real experiences, hardships, and victories of a life champion in an innovative and engaging fashion. The book contains sacred stories about lifes unpredictable changes and encourages readers to find hope and the courage to love and rediscover themselves. In addition to giving readers a deep understanding of holistic healing and embracing the full provision of God, the book inspires everyone to trust the will and purpose of God for their lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Dec 27, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512768510

Dr. Nina Knight Ed.D

Dr. Nina Knight is a Philadelphia native, an educator, youth advocate, and community volunteer. Growing up in Philadelphia, she spent much time as a teenager attending church with her family, reading countless books on self-help, and playing basketball. A deep appreciation of life and passion for music, education, youth empowerment, and spiritual development influences much of her research and writings. After completing her undergraduate studies in urban education at Penn State University and graduate studies in special education and reading intervention at Saint Joseph’s University, Dr. Knight completed her doctor of education with an emphasis on administrative leadership for teaching and learning at Walden University. She has attained instructional certifications in elementary education, special education and reading intervention. In 2014, one of her most notable research developments on bullying and implications for school reform was published. Dr. Knight has been a caring, dedicated educator for seventeen years. She has served as a school-based teacher, principal intermediary, special education liaison, dean of students, and currently serves as an intervention support advisor.

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Copyright © 2016 Dr. Nina Knight, Ed.D.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-6852-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-6853-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-6851-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016920755

WestBow Press rev. date: 12/27/2016

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

August

Diagnosis

Checking In

Surgery

Home

What Else?

A New Year

The Next Phase

Chemotherapy

Round Two

Radiation

Physical Therapy

Welcome to the Club

Surprise

Survivor?

Healing Scars

Acknowledgments

An unexpected journey becomes even more difficult if you are not fortified by a support system that challenges you to persevere through the task while maintaining your integrity. You must establish faith not only in God and His sustaining ability, but also in those assigned to hold you up throughout the process and carry you when you are unable to take the necessary steps to complete the task.

To my family: I am forever grateful for your assistance. The fact that I’m here to write this book is a reflection of your unwavering love and commitment. Each act of kindness you’ve demonstrated toward me has further proven your love for me. Although I do not say it often, I appreciate and love you.

To my extended family: I thank you for your strength and support.

To my church family: I know I could not have made it through without your continued prayers.

Thank you to my bestie: I appreciate your commitment in seeing me get through the process successfully.

A special thank you to Marie Momma Harrison: Although you were not physically here with me, I felt your spirit of love each step of the way. The opportunity to show your love was always a given, and it was that expression that I missed. Tears fill my eyes when I think of how your journey has given me the strength to complete mine. There aren’t enough words to tell you how much I miss you. Unfortunately, my journey must continue without you, but rest assured that your legacy lives within me.

No matter what with God, you will always win the fight."

—Benjamin C. Knight

Introduction

It’s funny how when God wants you to do something, He speaks so clearly that you are left with no other alternative but to comply, especially if you are striving for His purpose in your life. This book began with the voice of God speaking to me over and over about something that was far removed from my mind. I was perplexed about exactly how God chooses to speak to us. While I was well aware that He speaks to us through His Word, I understood that at times we needed additional prodding in order to comprehend the message.

Often questioned—either directly, or indirectly by a speaker—about God’s purpose for my life, I spent numerous years afraid to ask that question, because I was not sure I was equipped to execute His directive. Fear of responsibility for the task stagnated me, reducing me to the role of spectator as others advanced in their journeys. This stagnation led to frustration because of all that was within me, fighting to come out. Still, the decision to remain in my comfort zone seemed the easiest path to pursue.

However, as I continued to focus on the obtainable, without any clear direction, life happened. And when life happens, it forces you to succumb to the realization that you must become stronger in order to overcome the challenge before you: you must be strong enough not just to get through the assignment, but also to understand how to get through it. This crossroads left me confused about why I had to leave my comfort zone, especially when there seemed to be an easier way to execute the assignment. Thus standing in conflict with myself, I was given a word that startled me.

During one worship service in which I was the expeditor, the guest preacher suddenly turned to me after praying, walked over to me, and told me that there was a book in me and that God wanted me to write that book to tell my story. I just looked at him in bewilderment, because writing a book was never on my agenda. To be honest, I questioned the authenticity of this word as I considered writing a book—something I had never wanted to do. Nevertheless, I stored this message in the crevices of my mind, although I made only feeble attempts to obey its command. After thinking about this charge given to me, I attempted to write down titles of chapters for the book, yet I never sincerely believed in my heart that writing a book was something God desired of me. Now, I know you are probably thinking, But hadn’t the preacher just spoken to you about that? Yes he had, but in my mind, his message was just words with no real significance. After outlining a few theoretical chapters, I gave no more thought to the project and nearly forgot about it altogether.

Several months later, my cousin came up to me after service and asked to speak with me privately. She told me that she’d had a dream or vision in which she had a book in her hand and when she turned it over, she saw my face on the back cover, where the author bio goes. She also told me that sometimes God’s purpose for us isn’t to preach, but to write a book. Now, I know I had never expressed to her a desire to write a book, nor had I shared with her what the preacher told me. So where was this coming from? Confused, I began to reflect on the original message that I’d received. My heart grew anxious as I attempted to disregard everything I was being told. Academically, writing was never my strong point. Why would God want me to write—and write a book, for that matter? It didn’t make sense to me at all.

There are times when you haveto get knocked out by a particular message before you finally decide that it is meant for you—and that it requires your full attention, demanding you to take action. About a month later as I was going to work, a sister in the church texted me to say she’d had a dream about me. My initial response was silence, because I thought it was rather interesting that she would have a dream about me of all people. Curiosity set in, and later in the day I asked her what the dream was about. She proceeded to tell me that in the dream, she went to a workshop of mine and that I signed my book for her. It was titled Wilderness to Wellness.

Now I was floored, totally speechless. My heart knew exactly what she was talking about, and I grew increasingly aware that the task of writing this book was something I would not be able to escape peacefully. Realizing that I needed to embrace the message