Tag: Beautiful Interruptions

Time

Today’s a new day! As I continue running this crazy beautiful health journey, the days are getting tougher. But as my body continues to decline, I push forward to continue living a life of significance. I want every moment to count. I wrote this a few weeks ago. Hopefully you will take some time to reflect on it.

As I reflect on this crazy beautiful journey, I must start with the beginning. I came into this world in December 1965. That was the year God put breath in my lungs.

Even though that day in ‘65 was a major moment in my life, what has happened since that day is what really matters. What have I done with the time that has been entrusted to me?

For that time represents all the opportunities that have come and gone since the winter of ‘65. Have I used this gift of time wisely?

What really hasn’t mattered is the material things I have collected over the years. Sometimes I cringe at the things bought on Amazon. But hey it sounded like a good deal at the time. The careers, money, houses may have been nice, but at the end of the day they were but fleeting.

As I move into the 4th quarter of this health journey, I want to make sure I am investing in things that truly matter. Most importantly, I want to invest in people that matter. Who are the people who matter? Everyone I encounter on this journey matters. Whether it’s a friend I have known since childhood or a new friend I just met on the elevator. Because at the end of the day, it’s our relationships that matter.

As I reflect back on the journey, are there things I would like to change? Yes there are. But I will never regret the time spent with family and friends. I will never regret the moments spent with loved ones laughing and crying. I will never regret the beautiful interruptions God has brought my way.

As I continue running this health journey, I want to slow down and experience what is real. What truly matters. I want to be slower to speak and quicker to listen. I want to be slower to anger and quicker to love. I want to be more willing to show forgiveness than to hold a grudge. I want to be known more for what I love and less known for what I dislike.

As I have run this crazy beautiful health journey, I have been known by my multiple nicknames. I have been known for beating the odds in my health battle. Those are all nice, but the three things that matter to me the most is being known as a person who knows and loves God, a man who loves his amazing bride and a person who cares about his amazing friends and desires to be a great friend.

At some point this crazy beautiful health journey will come to an end. All of our journeys will eventually come to an end. My question to you and myself is this, “At the end of your journey, will you be happy with the way you lived out the precious time you were given?” ~OC

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Here For You

Today’s a new day!

When the nights are long and sleep is a distant memory and your days are full of dark cloudy memories, I will be here for you

When the world feels like it’s moving a million miles an hour and you want to jump off, I will be here for you

When the world seems to have forgotten you and moved on, I will be here for you

When the doctors give you little hope your friends can’t be found, I will be here for you

When you feel alone in this broken and dark world, I will be here for you

When the rest of the world calls you crazy because you go against the grain, I will be here for you

When you decide to question everything you been taught and your friends and church question your faith, I will be here for you

When your lifestyle doesn’t align with those of your family and friends, I will be here for you

When you decide to speak up and be bold, I will be here for you

When the rest of the world misses out on your beauty and promise, I will be here for you

When you need to laugh or cry, I will be here for you

When the world thinks your ideals are but a pipe dream, I will be here for you

When your journey takes you down a winding and uncertain road, I will be here for you

When you need a second or hundredth chance, I will be here for you

You never have to walk this journey alone, I will walk with you anyway you need me to

I never want to miss a chance to show you, I will always be here for you

It’s gonna be okay, I will be here for you

I’ll be here, I’ll be here

Anyway you need

I’ll be here for you

~OC

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Are You a 3am Friend?

Good evening! It’s 10:15pm here in South Florida, as I sit in my recliner and write this post. I have a question to ask? Do you have a 3am friend?

OC, what in the world is a 3am friend? I’m glad you asked. A 3am friend is a friend you can call at 3am when the storms of life hit. Where most people would probably not even answer the phone, a 3am friend welcomes your call.

The 3am friend is one of the most important people in our lives. It doesn’t matter if these are work friends, faith friends, or family relations.

You can call that 3am friend because you’re confident that they care about you even when they are distracted by their own challenges or recovering from a hard day. You can also trust them to respect and support you even when they see you at your worst.

Do you have 3 a.m. friends? More importantly, are you a 3 a.m. friend for others?

I hope your answer to both questions is, “Yes, of course.” But that isn’t true for all of us, nor is it true all the time. There are all kinds of fancy ideas and theories about “community.” I don’t pretend to have a mastery of what all possible communities could or should look like. But at the end of the day, communities do one critically important thing: they create relationships. Supportive and loving relationships.

The simplest way to build community is by letting others know that we want to be their 3 a.m. friend. Maybe you are ready to be that 3 a.m. friend, and they don’t know it.

On a number of occasions, friends have surprised me by calling me in the middle of night with a crisis. Perhaps they needed someone to support family members waiting tensely in an emergency room. Perhaps they were overwhelmed by the pressures of life. Maybe they needed someone to just listen to them. Maybe they needed prayer.

Over the years, I have come to realize that it is an honor to be trusted in moments like that. When someone shares their vulnerability, they are inviting us to know them in a deeper way.

If you’ve never done it, I suggest that, right now, you call or text the people that you know are your 3 a.m. friends. Thank them for filling this role in your life even if you’ve never needed to make that call. If there are people that you know whose middle-of-the-night calls you would welcome, consider letting them know how you feel.

While we can talk about “building community” in fancy ways elsewhere, this may be the most important community you will ever have. God knows you need them and they need you.

So, if you ever need a 3am friend, please reach out to me. I would be honored to do life with you. Even at 3am. Blessings. ~OC

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Sharing My Journey

Today’s a new day! I did not choose this journey. I didn’t choose to become an Overcomer or The Man Who Refuses to Die. But God, in His wisdom, has allowed me to live much longer than my medical team’s predictions. My blog is a peek into how I run this crazy beautiful health journey.

I am a journal keeping and scripture reading man. In the twenty-two years of running this crazy journey, I have learned to let God’s words flow through every area of my life. God has allowed me to become a traveling prayer warrior, a storyteller and missionary.

As I have run this race, God has taught me to not rush through the stories of life. He has shown me how to slow down and really listen to peoples stories and embrace the beautiful interruptions of life.

I am thankful God did not give me the whole story of this crazy health journey at once. No, in His wisdom God has only given me what he knows I can handle at that moment. Of course, without God I could never handle any of this. That’s why I choose to put everything in His hands.

As I share my journey, I try to be as honest as my heart allows. I want people to see both the pain of this journey and the faithfulness of God in the midst of the storms.

I will never minimize the darkness. Because light shines brightest in the darkness. ~OC

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Joyful Warriors

Today’s a new day! Are you a joyful warrior? Would you like to be? I hope so. That’s who we are called to be as we run this crazy beautiful journey. We are called to love God above all else and others like ourselves. It’s not as easy as it sounds, but the benefits are truly out of this world.

Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you (2 Corinthians 13:11).

A joyful warrior is someone who’s fighting the storms of life with joy, not only in their own battles, but helping fight the battles that their family and friends are walking through. Because when we walk through a storm with someone else, we cannot help but experience the presence of hope and joy.

And isn’t that our purpose in life? To love others with God’s love. Most of the time these acts of love are very small and we might not even notice them ourselves. But the impact can be tremendous. As we walk through difficult moments with friends and loved ones, we can be conduits of great joy and deep refreshment.

Yes, ultimately our lives are in God’s hands, but we also need other people to walk with us on this journey called life. We are called to live in peace, unity and love. It does matter how we treat each other. We can be joyful warriors by helping those in need. Because it truly takes a village to spread hope and live with joy. But it can be done. Because God is always with us. His supply of joy is unlimited. Besides loving to pour out that sweet joy, God also loves sharing his hope, love and grace.

God is the ultimate joyful giver. But we are also called to be joyful givers. God has more joy than we can ever use in a lifetime. Our joy cup will never run drive. The more joy we pour out, the more joy we have. This is one of the beautiful mysteries of God. But it works. And it makes us victorious joyful warriors. And for that I am grateful.
 
Dear God, Thank you for the gift of joy
and the gift of joyful warriors in our lives. Today, allow us to be beautiful joyful warriors. Help us to bring hope and joy in the midst of the storms. Let us fight division with the amazing gift of peace, grace and joy. In the craziness of this world, help us to be joyful warriors. ~OC

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A Different View

Today’s a new day! I have several friends who do not like going to church, but they think Jesus is really cool. When Jesus was walking on earth, thousands of people flocked to hear him teach. He had something worth saying and his message was life changing. If you are a Christian how do you live? If a non-Christian spent the day with you, would they change the way they viewed Christians?

Some people believe that the Church is a place that is only for people who are good enough. Nothing could be further from the truth. The faith lived out by Jesus was one that was taken up by people who were the wrong sort according to the religious people of the day. They did not have it all together. People came to Jesus with their imperfections and some turned to him and called on him for forgiveness and he forgave them and he led them in a new life. Jesus never sent anyone away who was imperfect and he never sent people away who didn’t agree with him or who didn’t want to follow his teaching. One of his disciples Peter, cut off the ear of one of the people who had come to arrest Jesus (John 18:10), Peter also denied knowing Jesus three times (Mark 14:66-72). In Matthew 16:18, Jesus shares these powerful words, “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” In Peter we see the worst and best of the Christian faith, but Jesus loved him and still chose to work with and through him.

Where some Christians go wrong is that they try to portray themselves as perfect rather than the truth which is that we are all broken and thankfully have been forgiven. That as Christians, we are all on a journey of change. I’ve heard it said that: God loves us as we are, but he also loves us too much to leave us that way.

When we make the choice to follow Jesus we are born again, spiritually beginning a new life. The Bible also talks about us reflecting the glory of God as he changes us (2 Corinthians 3:18). The apostle Paul who wrote most of the New Testament talks about a battle going on in every Christian between the Spirit (God in us) and our sinful nature (Romans 7:9). Who will we listen to? Will we live for ourselves only or do we want to live for God?

I pray every Christian will walk securely in God’s love, acceptance, forgiveness, grace and all of His beautiful gifts. I pray as God’s children, we will be guided by the Holy Spirit living in us to keep on striving to become more like Jesus. ~OC

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Keep Living!

Good Morning! As I have walked through this crazy beautiful health journey, I have always tried to be honest and transparent about my health issues. So I wanted to share the latest update with you. I do not share this update for pity, but to hopefully encourage anyone walking through their own journey.

I met with my medical team this past week. The doctor shared my Parkinson’s has moved to Stage 3 out of 5. He upped my medication and started me on some new medication. The doctor wants me to start using a cane and a voice amplifier. My Myasthenia Gravis and Gastroparesis has gotten worse. Eating has become more of an issue. The doctor shared I could be in the beginning of a major decline. Not sure about that, because I have a lot of fight left in me. Laura and I continue to stay encouraged and believe God has some amazing plans for our future. We look at this as a little bump in the road. I am truly looking forward to all God has for me in this next chapter of the journey. ~OC

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Growing In God

Today’s a new day! As I continue to walk through this crazy beautiful health journey, God continues to share amazing lessons with me. I wanted to share some of those lessons with you.

During times of pain, aches, fear and the brokenness, God has been and continues to stay near (Psalm 34:18).

God continues to teach me the value of slowing down. The importance of saying no. The importance of patience. The importance of truly being present.
The importance of doing one thing at a time. (Because I used to pride myself in multi-tasking, something I am not great at these days).
The importance of being okay with not being okay.

God continues to teach me the importance of being silent.
The importance of excepting help from others. The importance of caring and unselfish family and friends. The importance of genuine friendships. The importance of embracing the miracles of daily courage.

God continues to teach me the importance of pausing long enough to have meaningful and life-giving conversations. The beauty of observing life at a slower pace. The importance of just laughing with loved ones and sometimes shedding some tears.The blessing of having a bride who shows kindness and demonstrates what in sickness and in health really looks like.

God continues to teach me how to be kind and compassionate to others and myself.

Do I want to continue struggling with the effects of my health issues? Absolutely not! Do I want to continue experiencing the goodness of God as I take refuge in Him? Absolutely! (Psalm 34:8)

As we prepare to say goodbye to 2023 and say hello to a New Year, I have no idea what 2024 will bring. None of us do. I want to continue encouraging and serving others. I want to be a better husband and friend. I want to continue to grow. What I do know is that my heart desires to continue praising God at all times; His praise will continually be on my lips this new year. (Psalm 34:1). ~OC

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Hallelujah

Today’s a new day! As I have walked this crazy beautiful health journey for over 20 years, I’ve had a lot of time to think about the journey. These thoughts have been like a blueprint for my journey. A journey that is radically different to the one I envisioned 21 years ago.

When I received my first diagnosis back in 2002, I was told after the shock of the diagnosis I would deal with anger and depression. Those well meaning health professionals were wrong. As crazy as it may sound, I feel like this health journey is quite possibly one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Yes, the journey has not been easy. All the surgeries, treatments and hospital stays have not always been pleasant. It’s not the blueprint I would have written for my life. But it has made me really re-evaluate a lot of the things I once held close. It’s made me appreciate my family and friends so much more and realize that possessions mean nothing when you’re faced with the real possibility of dying. Most importantly, it has made me so very aware that the God I believe in and serve is so much bigger and so much closer to me than I ever could have imagined.

Throughout history God has had many names, one of them being Immanuel, meaning ‘God with us’. I have never known that to be more true than I have the last 21 years and counting. Sometimes I wonder why I was chosen to walk this journey. But then God blesses me with a beautiful interruption and I am reminded that God has a purpose for my journey.
I know that God’s ways are higher than my own and there has been immense good that has come from this crazy beautiful health journey. God has used my health journey to bring me and others closer to Him. To bring encouragement. As I walk through this journey, woven into the fabric of my life has been an understanding of what it means to suffer, and from that understanding has flown love, compassion and mercy.

During this journey, I have continuously leaned on Psalm 139:15-16, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 and Hebrews 13:5. I will let you research those scriptures on your own. While this health journey and everything that has come with it may seem chaotic, I know there is purpose in this crazy journey. Not my purpose, but the purpose of a God who holds the universe in His hands… who knew me from the moment I was conceived in the womb…. who has walked beside me every day of my life. I may not understand everything that has happened along this journey and maybe on this side of Heaven I never will, but I know that whatever happens, God is in control and he has promised he will never leave me or forsake me.
I don’t know about you, but that gives me a tremendous amount of confidence that everything is going to be alright.

Because of God’s goodness I will sing Hallelujah, Hallelujah. Singing Hallelujah because I am living a blessed life. Singing Hallelujah because my bride who loves me and is standing strong with me in this journey. Singing Hallelujah because I have amazing family and friends who continue to stand with Laura and I during this unending journey. Singing Hallelujah because God walks beside me and fights the battle for me. He commands his angels concerning me and they guard me. God is my fortress, my hiding place while the battle rages around me. He stands between me and my health issues that would seek to take my life and says to the sickness “no further… you will not harm him”.
Singing Hallelujah because I am still alive…. and hopefully will be for many years to come.

There are so many reasons to sing Hallelujah…. so many…. and as long as I have a heartbeat you will hear my Hallelujah.

Whatever you see in me that you think is good comes from Heaven.
It’s not my doing…. it’s His. ~OC

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A Choice

Two photos. Two choices. The picture of me with the oxygen mask is from this past Friday. After dealing with a debilitating headache for a week, I had to spend the day in the ER. After many test, I was diagnosed with Cluster Headaches. Not fun. The photo of the 🌞 is from this morning. If you have been in South Florida the past few days, you know the sun even if only for a moment is a beautiful sight

Both photos represent an opportunity to look at the bright side of any circumstance. Spending the day in the ER was not fun, but it allowed me to share the love of God with several staff. It allowed me to thank some healthcare workers for all that they do. My attitude on Friday could have been like the weather we have been dealing with lately. Gloomy, nasty and not very inviting. But I chose to share a little sunshine with everyone I came in contact with on Friday.

When we are dealing with the storms of life, we have two choices. To look at the negatives or try and find some sunshine in the midst of the storm. Our choice. ~OC
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