Blog

Hanging Out With Superheroes

I have been blessed to hang out with Superheros for almost 18 years. I am not talking about Batman, Superman, The Black Panther or Wonder Woman. No, my Superheroes do not wear capes or have really cool toys. Well some of them might disagree with that statement. My Superheroes are some of the strongest and giving people I know. Let me share some of their stories.

Good Sam/Florida Cancer Specialist Heroes: These group of heroes from Good Samaritan Medical Center have helped keep me alive for the past 17 years. They are Nurses (Shoutout to 4 South), CNA’s, Housekeepers, Maintenance Workers, Patient Transport, Dietitians, Techs (from various departments), Therapist (from various departments), Food Services (they still check to see if I want anything), Admitting and the parade of Doctors. They each work long hours with little fanfare. If they were to read this post, they would be embarrassed. Because they didn’t choose to be super heroes for the applause. They definitely would not call themselves Superheroes. But I do. These unassuming heroes show up for work each day and save lives. Thank you.

My Medical Team: This list could go on for days. One person I have to mention by name is Dr. James Harris. He is definitely a Superhero. Dr. Harris was my oncologist for almost 17 years before retiring earlier this year. He was the type of doctor who gave you his personal cell phone number and told you to call him if you needed. Over the years, Dr. Harris received many phone calls from my wife Laura. He always answered. Dr. Harris truly cared for each of his patients. I saw him walking the halls of 4 South on many early mornings. When you mention the name Dr. Harris be prepared to hear some amazing stories. Thank you.

Fellow Overcomers: I have been blessed to sit next to or walk the halls with many patients over the years. I have been inspired by their strength and love for life. They have taught me how to navigate through my own crazy beautiful health journey. We have laughed. We have cried. We have shared stories. We have remembered those that fought a tough battle. We have become family. Thank you.

The OC Drivers/Visitors: These are the family and friends who have taken time out of their schedules over the years, to give me rides to treatment/appointments and have sat with me many times. The pressure they have taken off of my bride is amazing. It has been wonderful to hear their stories over the years. Thank you.

My Rockstar: My number one Super Hero is my wife Laura. She has been by my side from day one of this crazy beautiful health journey. Over the past 17.5 years, Laura has worn many hats. She has had to make a lot of tough decisions. She has been and will continue to be my Rockstar. Thank you. Love you.

Those are the Superheroes in my life. They are greater than any Super Hero Hollywood could ever create. I pray you have these type of Superheroes in your life. ~OC

0

Why A Christian?

I am a Christian. A lot of my family and and friends are Christians. There are 2.18 billion Christians worldwide. That is a lot of people. But why do so many people call themselves a Christian? Have you ever spent time asking yourself that question? I think it’s a pretty important question to not only ponder, but to have an answer. Here is a little of my story answering this very important question.

I grew up in a home where everyone believed in God. We were taught to treat people with respect. To love our neighbors. And don’t you ever take the Lord’s name in vain. But we did not attend church on a regular basis. Not that my parents had anything against church. We just did not make it a priority. My brother and I were baptized at the local Baptist Church as children. I considered myself a Christian at that time, but could really not tell you why. That started changing in 1985.

I graduated from Twin Lakes High School in 1984. Yes, I am that old. After high school, I was not really sure what I wanted for the rest of my life. Then in 1985, a group of cheerleaders from my old high school were involved in a terrible car accident on their way home from a competition. Several were injured and one young lady was tragically killed. I did not know this young lady very well, but I knew her. Her father was actually one of my middle school teachers. We called it Junior High back in the day. That accident rocked a lot of people. Including myself. At Debbie’s funeral several people shared how short life was and how were we choosing to live it. I walked away from that funeral with a lot of questions. How was I living my life? Was my life making a difference?

Several months later, I truly accepted Jesus into my life and was baptized. I wish I could tell you that I turned away from my old life and everything was full of sunshine from that day on. Sadly that was not the case. For several years, I walked in between my old life and my new life in Jesus. Then one of the greatest things in my life happened. My parents moved away from West Palm Beach, FL. Wait. What?

In 1988, my parents house was bought by the airport and they decided to move away from West Palm Beach. At the time, I was attending Palm Beach Atlantic University and living at home. With my parents moving, I decided to move on campus. A life changing decision. I was blessed to have some great roommates in Tim Tate, Ben Starling, Pedro Linares and Bruce Speers. They were patient with this young guy who had a lot of questions about faith. Besides my roommates, Tim Moffett Jennifer Vaughn, Julie Tyler and Babs Tate decided to pour life into me. Never any judgement. Just a lot of understanding and a bunch of grace. It was during that year that I fully surrendered my whole life to Jesus. I have been far from perfect since making that decision, but I have continued to seek after Jesus.

Today as I walk through this crazy beautiful health journey, I am grateful for those people who built into me all those years ago. They helped me become the person God created me to be. Thank you.

Because I saw firsthand people living out their faith and sharing it with me. Because I have seen God use a broken person (me), to help encourage many as I walk through this crazy beautiful health journey. The only answer I have for any of that is Jesus. That is why I am a Christian. ~OC

0

Purpose In The Suffering

Who wants to go through life without any pain or suffering? I think most of us would sign up for that life. Nobody wants to suffer or see a loved one suffer. Unfortunately, as long as we have breath in our lungs we are going to deal with some type of suffering. Thanks for that reminder Todd. Sorry. Just sharing some real truth. Since suffering is part of life, can we find purpose in the suffering?

I do not believe our suffering is random. I believe every storm we face in life has purpose. Sometimes that purpose takes time to reveal itself. But as a Christian, it brings me comfort that even Jesus suffered. He suffered for us. The purpose behind Jesus suffering was to take our sins. Think about that for a moment. Jesus came to earth knowing His purpose was to die for our sins. That wrecks me every time I take the time to truly reflect on that ultimate sacrifice.

At the beginning of my crazy beautiful health journey almost 18 years ago, I did not see the purpose for my pain. All I saw and felt was the pain. The uncertainty. I definitely did not see any purpose. How could God take my pain and turn it into a crazy beautiful journey? I was about to find out.

As some of you know,  I spend a lot of time at medical appointments and plenty of time in the hospital. When my crazy beautiful health journey started almost eighteen years ago, those appointments and hospital stays were an annoyance. I definitely did not see the purpose early on. But as I started talking with fellow patients and listening to their stories, I began to see the purpose behind all those appointments. When people are scared and dealing with a life changing diagnosis, they just want to talk with someone who can relate to their story. Enter Todd “OC” Shoemaker. I know a little about dealing with life changing diagnosis. I do not say that to put the spotlight on me. Believe me, I never wanted to be in this position. I was happy with my life before I started walking this health journey. But here I am almost eighteen years later and I would not change a thing. It has been my honor to walk beside countless individuals as they started their own crazy beautiful health journey. Some were already friends before they started their journey, but so many strangers have become friends during the journey. I have rejoiced with friends as they celebrated a positive report from their doctor. I have held the hands of many as they faced the end of their journey.

I continue to be overwhelmed that God has allowed me to walk this journey for almost eighteen years and counting. I am humbled that God gave me purpose in my crazy beautiful journey. I am thankful that I listened to God and decided to embrace the purpose for my pain.

I do not know what pain you are dealing with today. Maybe the storm you are facing seems overwhelming. You wonder how there could be any purpose in your current circumstances. I get it. I have been right where your standing. Confused. Angry. Overwhelmed. Lost.  I have walked through everyone of those emotions. But please believe me, there is purpose in the pain. It might take time to find it, but if you will hold on and seek God’s direction you will find the purpose for your suffering. And when you find that purpose, life will never be the same. I promise. ~OC

0

To The Person I Lost,

Dear Person I Lost,

You are missed every day. It’s hard knowing I will never hear your laugh again. I will miss your encouraging text. I will miss celebrating the holidays with you. I will miss celebrating life with you. I wish you would have reached out to me. I wish I would have reached out to you more. I try not to blame myself. I know I wasn’t the problem, but it’s still hard.

I go through most days asking a lot of questions. Could I have done more? Could I have asked more questions? Why didn’t I asked those tough questions? Why didn’t I say yes to more lunches, instead of always being too busy? I am sorry. I hope you know I really care for and love you.

I go through moments of being angry with you because you chose to leave us. I wish you would have fought harder. But then I realize how hard you did fight. How hard you tried to live.

I am happy you are not suffering anymore, but how I wish you could have found that healing here on earth. I know you tried.

I am sure the days will get easier, but it will take awhile. I will seek God’s guidance, comfort and strength. I know that’s what you would want. I will carry on until we meet again.

Finish Strong,

From the Person Who Misses You

0

LOVE

The Bible mentions Love between 500-800 times based on the translation. I guess love is pretty important to God. It’s kind of like when your mom would use your full name. You knew she was serious. So I think love is pretty important, if the Bible mentions it hundreds of times.

Today the word love is tossed around so causally. We love our sports teams. We love the latest music from our favorite artist. Who we love by the way. We love our favorite tv show. And who doesn’t love Taco Tuesday? We love everything. Or do we?

Do we love the homeless person begging for money, food or a job at the stoplight?

Do we love the refugee?

Do we love the person who worships differently than us?

Do we love the person who speaks a different language than us?

Do we love the atheist?

Do we love the addict?

Do we love those in the LGBTQ+ Community?

Do we love the Democrat?

Do we love the Republican?

Do we love the Independent?

Do we love the person who’s opinions are different from ours?

Do we love our neighbor?

How did you answer those questions? Did you cringe a little as you read through those questions? When I read the scriptures, I do not see where God looked down on any of the groups above. I do not read where He avoided them. I do not read where He judged them. No, when I read God’s Word, I see where He loved them unconditionally. Are we doing that? Are we at least trying?

Today, I would encourage each of us to examine what Love truly means in our lives. Are we living out the true meaning of Love? ~OC

0

Selfless Love on 9/11

Today, we remember that Tuesday morning eighteen years ago. Hard to believe, it has been eighteen years since we watched in horror as the tragedies of that day unfolded. There was a lot of hate perpetrated that day. Hate that not only changed the lives of many families, but the life of a nation. But as we reflect back on that Tuesday morning, I hope we will remember there was a lot of love happening that day.

The Man In The Red Bandana. Welles Crowther, a 24-year old equities trader is credited with helping at least a dozen people get out of the South Tower of the World Trade Center. This young man gave his life helping complete strangers.

Let’s Roll. A group of strangers came together to take back United Flight 93, preventing further mass destruction.

Put Back On The Uniform. Retired US Marines, Jason Thomas and David Karnes were complete strangers at the beginning of that Tuesday in September. But as they watched in horror what was transpiring at the World Trade Center, they put their uniforms back on and headed into the chaos. They are credited with saving two survivors.

More Than a Tour Guide. Army Specialist Beau Doboszenski was working as a tour guide at the Pentagon on 9/11. He gave medical aid to the injured outside and rushed into the Pentagon to help others trapped inside.

These are just a few stories of heroism from that Tuesday in September. As we remember and pay respect to all the victims of the 9/11 tragedy, let us not forget there was a lot of selfless love happening on that tragic day. ~OC

0

What My Crazy Beautiful Journey Has Taught Me About Living

When people meet me, they are always amazed how positive and upbeat I am. I have been asked more times than I can count, why I am not depressed? Doctors love asking that question. I guess people just think I should be hiding under the covers and living in pure devastation. Obviously they have never met me.

No, I have decided to live a life full of adventure and gratitude. It is a choice I have to make on a daily basis. Sometimes a hourly basis. I made the decision early on in this crazy beautiful health journey, to not allow my health issues to consume me. Not let it become my identity. I made the choice to be grateful for all the blessings I have experienced on this journey. That has truly been a life changing choice. Choosing to live with a heart of gratitude has allowed me to remain upbeat and full of joy. Yes, there are still some very tough days, but the blessings far outweigh the negatives of this journey.

I have also found that writing and talking about my journey has been very healing. It has also given my family and friends permission to ask about my journey. That has been important for everyone.

Humor has also been positive. If you know Laura and I, you know our humor tends to be on the dark side. And we do not apologize for it. Laura and I have been given the stink eye more than once when it comes to our dark humor. Our humor is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it works for us. Hey, if you don’t like it, go get your own life threatening health issues.

This crazy beautiful health journey has taught me that when I am truly living, I do not have the time to worry about the negatives this storm brings.

During this journey, God has also revealed his purpose for my life. It’s pretty simple. My purpose is to encourage and love others. Not just people who look and think like me. No, that would be easy. No, God has called me to encourage and love everyone He brings my way. That is not always easy, but the blessings have been unbelievable. I love this crazy beautiful journey God has me traveling. I would not change a thing. ~OC

0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑