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The Gift of Brokenness

Sometimes I feel broken.

There are times I look at my life and see all the ways I fall short. Maybe it was my negative attitude or words that negatively affected someone else.

There are so many ways to feel broken- physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually. In the middle of our brokenness, it’s easy to agonize over whether or not we can ever be acceptable to God or be used by Him during our brokenness. I know I struggle with this sometimes.

During this crazy beautiful health journey, God has taught me a valuable lesson about being broken.

Our brokenness is a gift. A gift? Yes, a gift because our brokenness connects us to other people walking through their own brokenness. A gift because our brokenness brings us closer to God. It is during our brokenness that God makes us whole.

Sharing our brokenness brings meaning and healing to our crazy beautiful journey.

Blessings happen during the brokenness. As I have shared my health journey with others, people have reached out to me and shared how my journey has helped them walk through their own crazy beautiful journey. It has been a blessing to see God move through my brokenness.

Being broken is a gift, because through our brokenness we recognize our need for God. Because only through God can our broken life be made whole.

I am so grateful for the gift of being broken. During my brokenness God has continued to love me and use me in spite of my brokenness. What a gift.

My prayer for you is that during your brokenness, you will look to God and allow Him to use you during this time. I pray you will find the gift of brokenness as God puts your broken pieces back together. ~OC

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Run Your Race

I remember my first marathon. I was ready. I had done the training. I was prepared. I had beat cancer. I was going to own that 26.2 miles. Then on the day of the race, I made a major tactical error. I tried running somebody else’s race.

As the runners lined up for the race, I decided to make my way to the front of the line and run with the Kenyans. The elite runners. I was ready to run with the best. Well, you can probably figure out what happened next. I started out at a pace that I had never run before. Those elite runners left me in the dust. By mile one, I was exhausted. Had I blown my chance at completing my first marathon because I decided to run somebody else’s race?

How many times in life have we tried to run a race that was not designed for us? I know I have on many occasions. And just like that marathon, running somebody else’s race can leave you exhausted. Burnt out. That’s because God designed a specific race just for us. He designed that race at a pace we could handle and be successful.

Like my marathon experience, we decide we like the race the person next to us is running. Their race seems more smoother than our race. Their pace is quicker than our pace. They seem to have it all together. Their race seems so much more exciting than our race. I want that race. Of course, we fail to realize what it took for that person to get to their race. The struggles. The disappointments. The training. The pain. No, all we see are the results of those struggles and we decide that is the race for us.

How many of us are running a race that was never designed for us? Don’t be afraid to raise your hand. We have all been there. It’s exhausting isn’t it? Today I want to encourage each of us to run our own race. The one God specifically designed for each of us. The race He has helped train us for. Maybe it’s not as smooth as we would like. Maybe it’s filled with a lot of hills and bumpy roads. That’s okay. Because through each of those struggles, God is growing us into the person He desires us to be. Guiding us to a victorious finish line.

I am happy to say, I completed my first marathon after that rocky start. After trying to run with the elite runners at the beginning, I recovered and started running the race I had been training for. It was at a much slower pace, but it was the pace designed for me to be successful. I was running my race. ~OC

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The Art of Truly Living

Who remembers the first cellphone? Who remembers waiting until after 7pm on weekdays to make phone calls? Who remembers dialup? Oh, how far we have come in the area of technology. Today everything we need is right on our cellphones. Does anyone actually now somebody’s phone number?

Technology has come a long way in the past 20 years. I am definitely thankful for all the advances in technology. I am actually typing this message on my cellphone. We do not even have to go shopping anymore. We can order everything online. Modern technology has made life pretty easy.

But as technology continues to make life easier, I believe we have slowly stopped living. Have you been to a restaurant lately and looked around the room? Just about everyone is looking at their phones or taking pictures of their food to post on social media. Remember, if we do not post it on social media it did not happen. During this age of tremendous technology growth, we have become more obsessed with having “Followers” and less concerned about actually making Friends. Everything is surrounded around the next perfect social media post.

As technology continues to evolve, we have devalued the art of conversation. No, texting does not count as real conversation. We have devalued sitting around the table and sharing life with another human being. People are so obsessed with technology today, that we are actually missing life. We are losing the ability to truly live.

Truly living is going to dinner with family and friends and actually talking. It is reaching out to a sick friend. Truly living is feeling the sun hit your face as you walk along the beach. It is sitting with a friend as they face the storms of life. Truly living is being fully engaged in the lives of family and friends. It is being present in the moment.

Today, I would encourage you and myself to commit to the following:

Commit to spending quality time with family and friends.

Commit to having one real conversation a day with a family member, friend or a complete stranger.

Commit to putting the technology away during visits with family and friends.

Commit to taking a break from social media once or twice a month. I promise you will survive.

Commit to planning for some adventure with your family and friends. Then actually do it.

Commit to meeting with a friend once a week.

Commit to serving others.

Commit to stepping out of your comfort zone every once in a while.

Commit to reading a book or playing a board game, instead of watching tv or playing on your phone/computer.

Commit to investing in the lives of others.

Commit to embracing beautiful interruptions.

Commit to truly living.

***Warning!! Do not try doing all these at once. Your brain might explode. Ease into them.

I know following through with these commitments will not be easy. We are so used to living in the world of technology. It has just become a way of life. Like I shared earlier, I love technology as much as the next person. But guess what? I love people, real conversations and spending quality time with family/friends more than technology. I hope you will join me as we find our way back to the Art of Truly Living. ~OC

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Walk In Victory

Today’s a new day! Nothing has ever surprised God. Not that bad medical report. Not that broken relationship. Not the death of a loved one. Nothing has ever caught God off guard. Remember that the next time the enemy shows up. What might be a surprise to us, is not a surprise to God. Trust and Believe. Walk In Victory Today. ~OC

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Masterpiece

Today’s a new day! Whatever your past mistakes, God will take you where you are and start molding you into the Masterpiece He created you to be. ~OC

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Life Is Short

Life is short. Time isn’t promised. Love hard. Live well. Pray often. Hold the people that matter close. Hug your family and friends. Tell your family and friends you love them. Call a friend. Get together and celebrate family and friends. Love your enemies.. ~OC

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Bring The Blessed Overcomer To Your Neighborhood

Are you or your organization looking for a speaker for your next event? Are you looking for a speaker who will encourage your audience? A speaker who will challenge your audience to look at life with a different perspective? A speaker who will make your audience laugh and maybe even shed a tear?

If you answered yes to any of the questions, I would be honored to speak with you about sharing my crazy beautiful journey at your next event. You can click on the FAQ button on this site and contact me. I promise more laughter than tears. ~OC

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Another Blessing In The Road

Over the years when I have faced another medical trial, I have stated “It’s just another bump in the road.” Yesterday, God changed my mindset. He shared with me that instead of looking at my current situation as another bump in the road, I should instead look at my health challenges as another blessing in the road. Pretty mind blowing. I also believe it could be a life changing way of looking at our circumstances. With every “Bump in the Road” has come a blessing. Let me share some examples.

*A Missionary. During my crazy beautiful health journey, God has allowed me to become a missionary at doctors appointments and hospital stays. God has blessed me with the incredible opportunity to encourage others during those visits.

*My Voice. Based on my health issues, I have lost my physical voice. I speak with a whisper these days. I use a voice amplifier to help me speak. But during this time, God has blessed me with the opportunity to speak out loudly against human trafficking, racism and other important issues.

*Listen. During this crazy beautiful journey, God has helped me become a better listener. I always thought I was a good listener until I got sick. It was then that I realized, I tended to listen so I could respond. So I could fix things. During this journey, God has blessed me with the incredible opportunity to just listen. Not to be the fixer. Not to share my opinion. Just to listen.

*Extra Weight. When I got sick again in 2009, I was prescribed the highest dose of prednisone (a steroid), that you can take. I put on a ton of weight in a short period of time. I went from my running weight of 150 to over 200 pounds in less than six months. All the weight went straight to my stomach. Based on the fact I could no longer run or exercise, it was difficult to take weight off. It was very frustrating. Then in 2014, I started losing my appetite. Then from the middle of 2016 to the first of 2017, I lost 90 pounds. Yes, you read that correctly. 90 pounds! That is when I had my feeding tube inserted. That extra weight saved my life. A bump in the road turned into a life saving blessing in the road.

*A Book. In March of this year, my memoir The Blessed Overcomer was published. If not for this “bump in the road”, I would have never written a book. You can find my book on Amazon or you can contact me about getting a signed copy. A little shameless plug.

*This Blog. Once again, if not for this crazy beautiful health journey there is no blog. I do not have a huge following and probably never will, but that was never the point. I am thankful for everyone who drops by and checks out my blog. Writing my thoughts down has been very cathartic. A wonderful blessing.

As I reflect on my crazy beautiful health journey, I have so many Blessings In The Road moments. It took God changing my mindset to realize this amazing truth. ~OC

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