Tag: Beautiful Interruptions

A Day In The Life

Today’s a new day! Ever wondered what a day living with chronic illness and health challenges looks like? Today I will take you on a journey into the twist and turns of a day living with long-term health issues.

From the moment I wake up, I’m already facing barriers. My chronic illnesses make it difficult to get going. For those not aware, based on my health issues, I have slept in a recliner for about the past twenty years. It’s just too hard to get in and out of a bed. Every day is a balancing act where I have to be mindful of my energy levels and make sure that I’m taking time to rest. 

An Introduction To My Health Journey:

In 2002, I was diagnosed with multiple forms of arthritis. That year was filled with a lot of experimental treatments. Then in 2003, I was diagnosed with cancer. Thankfully I was able to have surgery to remove the tumor and never had to walk through the struggle of chemo and radiation. Let’s speed things up. From 2007-2024, I have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s, Myasthenia Gravis, Gastroparesis, Type 2 Diabetes based on all the steroids, had a stroke, diagnosed with cluster headaches and just a few months ago was diagnosed with early onset dementia. That’s my rap sheet!

What My Night and Morning Looks Like :

Based on my neurological issues, I am up and down most of the night. So I never wake up feeling rested. I wake up stiff, so I need to move around and take a host of medications in the morning. Of course meds have side effects, so that can be difficult.

Since I deal with gastroparesis, eating has been a major issue for many years. That makes taking in fluids and food a huge and painful task. So every meal, every day is an adventure.

My mornings are dedicated to spending time with God, journaling and trying to exercise. For me, walking is the best type of exercise for me. I never know how many laps I will be able to get in. I have to be careful not to overdo it. If I do overdo it, my body will pay for it the rest of the day. I spend some time each day for reflecting on life and looking at how I can hopefully encourage others as I continue running this journey. These days, I tend to take a lot of short cat naps. Over the last year, the pain has increased, so that’s a daily struggle. Unfortunately, pain meds and gastroparesis do not really care for each other. So most days, I just live with the pain.

One thing I choose to do everyday is get dressed. I never lay around in my sleeping clothes. It makes me feel good to get cleaned up and get dressed.

My favorite part of any day is spending time with my bride and friends that choose to reach out. Spending time with loved ones is very important to me. I love sitting around and enjoying great conversations. Also, I try to read every day. My love for reading has been challenging the last few years, since it’s hard to stay concentrated. I also spend time listening to music each day. Music can make everything a little bit better.

In the evening, Laura and I like to talk about our day and possibly watch a little television. Based on my day, my bedtime varies. But since I sleep in my recliner, I can fall asleep anytime my body and brain allows me to. Every night is an adventure.

What I consider a daily self-care must do:

Writing about what I’m grateful for in my journal helps me remember the positives, even on those really hard days. Living with long-term health conditions can be exhausting and can be very negative if you allow it to get on top of you. 

Several people have asked if I had one day without pain and could step away from my health journey what would I do?

I would lace up my running shoes and go for a very long run. For those new to my journey, in my healthier days I was blessed to complete 350 marathons.

Another question people asked me a lot: Is there anything I would like to share about daily living with chronic illness and life challenges?

There’s a lot, but I do not want to make this post any longer than it already is. One of my hopes is, people will realise that we never know what someone else is really going through. So be kind and respectful. It doesn’t help when people tell me how I should be living out my health journey. Just be supportive and walk through this journey with me.

By sharing what my day to day life is like, I hope I can raise awareness of the bigger picture as people only see snippets of my journey online or see me on my best days in person. I am not sharing this for pity or sympathy and I am not complaining. I just want to give you some insight into this crazy beautiful health journey.

The Takeaway:

Writing about my day living with chronic health issues has been quite eye opening to me to see how much life has changed over the years. I have a strong need to celebrate the love and support I have received over the years from family and friends. Writing this post has let me see how faithful God has been to me, as I continue to run this beautiful journey.

I hope that you have found this post to be a helpful insight into life with with long-term health issues. There are so many people walking through a tougher battle than me. So if you know someone dealing with chronic illness, take the time to reach out to them and support them on their journey. ~OC

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Our Health and Living

Today’s a new day! Long-term and terminal illnesses can be a scary road to navigate. It’s hard on one’s body, mind and soul. And everyone that cares for them. How will my body and mind handle today? That’s a question I ask myself on a daily basis. Chronic and terminal illnesses also raises many questions that many people shy away from unless they are faced with it directly. But if we’re listening, many lessons can be learned.

Health issues have a way of reminding people that time is a valuable, non-negotiable, and a non-renewable resource. With that said, how do we look at the bigger picture of life and find out what is truly important? 

Spend Time Focusing on Relationships:

We were not meant to do this life alone. God did not create us to be Lone Rangers. I know of no one who regrets time spent building meaningful relationships regardless of life’s struggles.

Take time to ask yourself the following question: Are you truly making time for your family and friends?

Trim That Fat:

I am not talking about dieting and exercise, but those are important parts of our lives.

No, I am referring to something that a lot of times we do not even notice. I am referring to our home and our lives. We all have a tendency to fill both with clutter and hang on to things we do not need. A life-changing diagnosis can become the catalyst for the housekeeping of our home and heart as we realize what is truly important in our lives. It is also a good time to reflect on our faith.

 “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” ~Hebrews 12:1-2

Speak your Heart Now:

It is good for all of us to review and consider our relationships. Because we all know relationships can be messy at times. If we love people, why not let them know how much they mean to us. Now! Why wait until it’s too late? If we have hurt someone or offended them in some way, why not seek their forgiveness and do what we can to make it right.

Who are the most important people in your life? Take a moment to think about that. Maybe even say their names out loud or write them down. Then ask yourself this question: Have I honestly shared what each of those individuals truly mean to me?

“A heart at peace gives rest to the body.”   Proverbs 14:30

Set New Goals (Dream!):

It can be easy to wait for a challenging season to be over. “When I get better, then I will take that trip.” “When I get better, then I will _____.” Why not take that trip now? As I have walked through this long journey of health issues, Laura and I have learned to take those trips now. Even though those trips can be tough on my body, the memories are priceless. So go live out that adventure. Experience love, joy and happiness during even the toughest of times. I encourage you to find what brings you happiness and go experience it. Keep dreaming some big dreams, set some goals, and do what you possibly can to make them happen.

Many facing long term health challenges find that those trials have helped them clarify and simplify their lives.

During my own health journey, I have discovered what’s truly important in life. For me, it’s my faith, my relationship with my bride, relationships with loved ones, encouraging others and truly living out my God-given purpose in life.

What can we learn from this?

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
who comforts us in all our troubles,
so that we can comfort those in any trouble
with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. ~2 Corinthians 1:3-4

I hope and pray the words above have brought some comfort and encouragement. Go live your life! ~OC

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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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