Today’s a new day! Love those around you. Stay true to them. Take time with family and friends. Laugh together. Cry together. Celebrate together. Mourn together. Grow together. Cherish what you have right in front of you. Embrace it all. ~OC
Judgement Free Life
Today’s a new day! Take time to listen to other people. People that do not look like, worship like, speak like or vote like you. Ask questions that help you know more about them. Listen with compassion. Hold back from judgement and seek understanding. When you are done listening, listen some more. Wait on God for guidance on how to respond to challenging situations and people. Dare to live a judgement free life. ~OC
Let It Go!
Today’s a new day! The greatest threat to your future, is allowing the past to think it still has a place at the table. Let it go! ~OC
Beautiful Journey
Today’s a new day! As many of you know, I was diagnosed with young-onset dementia last September (2024). Life has changed in many ways since that diagnosis. Writing down my thoughts is much tougher these days. This post literally took me several weeks to write. Finding my words to write or speak can be a daunting challenge at times. As I navigate this new reality of living with dementia, I want to share the journey with you. To answer your questions and to share my thoughts for as long as I can. The following is a question I get a lot as I continue to run this crazy beautiful health journey.
What gives you the strength to remain positive?
My Christian faith gives me deep meaning in life, giving me hope for the future and a perspective of my life being eternal, not simply limited to what I see and experience on this side of Heaven. This life and my health journey are temporary.
“So we do not lose heart. Though our self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” ~2 Corinthians 4:16-18
I have met so many people with different health challenges during my journey, all at various stages of ability due to their declining health. But each person still remains an individual, with their true inner being shining through. The eyes remain a window into someone’s soul, and reflect our humanity.
As my thoughts and overall health becomes a bigger challenge, I see more clearly the importance of relationships. I also see and feel myself traveling through a wide range of emotions, even if they become a little more scrambled with the dementia. Our emotions connect us to each other, allowing us to form relationships, which is a mark of truly being human. As this journey takes me deeper within myself, I find myself reflecting more on God and how to truly live life more for Him. This is what gives me an abiding sense of meaning as I travel on this health journey wherever it takes me. Because I know the final destination is filled with peace and ultimate healing. As a Christian, the ending is really the beginning.
So as I continue to run this health race, I remain positive, feeling that I am gaining along this journey a far better sense of what it means to be truly alive and that much can be achieved to help others as I continue travel this crazy beautiful journey. ~OC
Take His Hand
Today’s a new day! When you feel overwhelmed by the storms of life and cannot see a way out, God sees through the darkest moments and will pull you out of the raging waters. Just let Him reach down and take your hand. God will never fail you. ~OC
Gratitude
Today’s a new day! Here is another “Lost Writings From OC.” This was written in 2022.~OC
When life is easy, gratitude is easy. But not in the storms. Not in the worried nights when anxiety is overwhelming us. Not in the hospital when pacing the floors hoping for good news. Gratitude hinges on our willingness to accept God’s will over our own. Accepting that He is in control, and we can trust Him.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, we see God’s instruction to always be thankful: “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
In the storms of life, God is our only hope. His faithfulness and His goodness are present even during the darkest moments. It might not happen immediately, but thankfulness grows as we cling to Him. We are grateful not only for the joys of restored health, restored relationships and overcoming grief, but for the sorrows that brought us to a place of utter dependence on Jesus.
Today, before your day gets too busy with meetings and a to do list to get through, take some time to reflect on what God has done in your life. Offer gratitude not only for the “easy-sailing” blessings, but also for the lessons learned during the storms.
Dear God, thank You not only for Your countless blessings, but for the challenges that draw us near to You. For the lessons learned during the storm. Thank You for the hard moments when You gave us the strength to wait out the storm. You are so good. Whatever storms come into our lives, You are our Rock and our Shelter. Thank You for Your light that surrounds us, and Your love that never fails. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
A Prayer for America
Today’s a new day! Dear God, my heart grieves for America. Your word tells us that any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall (Luke 11:17). Our nation is so divided, and it pains me to think of our country falling. But I know we cannot stand without you at the center.
We know we must honor you, recognize you as Lord and Savior. We must acknowledge our shortcomings and failures. We must be willing to surrender to you, to follow the plans you have for us. As a whole, our country has fallen away, turned our backs on you.
But, for the sake of the faithful remnant, we call on you to be merciful to us. You know there are those who continue to choose you, who continue to truly seek your face. You know there are faithful ones who truly desire to honor you, to point the world back to you. For the sake of the faithful ones, hear our prayers and save our nation.
This world continues to grow darker. We know the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing (1 Corinthians 1:18), but we continue to cling to the old rugged cross. We know it is only because of the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ, that we have forgiveness and can enter into your presence.
As the world grows darker, we have an opportunity to let our lights shine brighter, to let your light shine through us to illuminate the darkness. May we reflect your goodness and grace for all the world to see. May we be purified as silver so the world sees an accurate reflection of you.
America has become such a hotbed of dissension. I pray that we, as Christians, would lead the way in putting aside our differences and learning to listen to those with whom we disagree. My dearest brothers and sisters take this to heart: Be quick to listen, slow to speak. And be slow to become angry, for human anger is never a legitimate tool to promote God’s righteous purpose. So this why we abandon everything morally impure and all forms of wicked conduct. Instead, with sensitive spirit we absorb God’s Word, which has been implanted within our nature, for the Word of Life has power to continually deliver us. (James 1:19-21)
Help us to be wise in the way we conduct ourselves, in the way we live our lives. May we remember, it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense. (Proverbs 19:11)
May we set our hearts and minds on things above, not on earthly temporal matters. Because we are your chosen people, holy and dearly loved, help us clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. May we bear with each other and forgive one another… as the Lord forgave us. And over all these virtues may we put on love, which binds us all together in perfect unity. (Colossians 3:12-14)
I pray we would focus completely on you so your perfect peace will rule in our hearts, since as members of one body we were called to peace. And help us to be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among us richly, as we sing to God with gratitude in our hearts. And whatever we do, whether in word or deed, may we do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:15-17)
In this day and age where people freely say whatever they think, whatever they feel, I pray we as Christ-followers would remember the importance of speaking words of life and hope. Help us remember that if we consider ourselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on our tongues, we deceive ourselves, and our religion is worthless. May we show the world true religion that you accept as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep ourselves from being polluted by the world. (James 1:19-20)
Don’t let our faith be dead. Instead, help us show our faith by our actions. May we reach out to those who are hurting, those who are in need. May we be the hands and feet of Christ, meeting the physical needs of those around us. May we share your love by giving to those around us, by proving our faith through our actions. Never let us be all talk with no action.
Father, we long to see your face, to see your hand of grace and mercy over us. See our hearts as we bow before you. See our longing to know you better.
May your remnant, your people, who are called by your name, humble ourselves and pray and seek your face and turn from our wicked ways, so you will hear from heaven, and forgive our sin and heal our land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)
Help us all to put away politics, and join together and pray your blessings over America. Pour out your spirit of wisdom and reconciliation to our political leaders. Give them a heart that longs to seek you, to follow you. Give our political leaders a desire to sit with those who think differently, who have different agendas, and to listen, to find common ground, to find ways to bridge the gap and move forward together.
Dear God, we pray for unity within America. We don’t always understand why things happen as they do, but we do know you are still in control. May we commit to praying for each of our leaders, for our country, each and every day. May we commit to doing our part to bring unity wherever our journey takes us.
Dear God, we are yours. Hear our prayers, our pleas, for healing in our nation. We know it can only come through you, through your mercies which are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness! ~OC
Leaning and Learning
Today’s a new day! As I continue to run this crazy beautiful health journey, I want to continue sharing some wisdom and life lessons with you. I pray they will challenge and encourage at least one person.
Today’s Lesson: Leaning and Learning
There’s nothing wrong with looking to others for advice when it comes to our spiritual growth, but just as in life, there comes a time in our road to maturity where we need to assume responsibility for our own relationship with Christ.
The truth is, we will never outgrow the wisdom of seeking advice from others, but there is a difference between leaning on and learning from others and not being mature enough to take responsibility for oneself.
If we are going to truly thrive and not just barely survive, I believe there are at least three lessons that can help us to take responsibility for our Christian life:
1). Constantly renewing our love relationship with Jesus.
2). Being in community with others.
3). Growing in our understanding of who Jesus is, primarily through growing in our understanding of Scripture so that we are not mislead by false teaching, the enemy, or our own preconceived ideas.
I will not take the time to break each of these lessons down, but we must constantly be renewing our love relationship with Jesus. And I believe these three lessons can help us do that.
As I was writing this post, I was reminded of the story of the foolish husband who mentioned to his wife, “Why do you always ask if I love you? I told you during our wedding vows that I did, and I will let know if that ever changes.” Just like any relationship, our relationship with Jesus needs continual expression of our love for him and reminders of his love for us. Jesus probably doesn’t need the constant reminders, but we certainly do. ~OC
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”~Romans 12:1-2
Someone Is Always Watching
Today’s a new day! As I continue to run this crazy beautiful health journey, I want to continue sharing some wisdom and life lessons with you. I pray they will challenge and encourage at least one person. ~OC
Today’s Lesson: Someone is Always Watching
It doesn’t matter who you are or what your background, there are people that only you will reach in life. . Your life story may be the very things that God uses to help someone else draw near to Him. As you respond with grace and integrity, you will show others that God can change lives. People need to see examples of lives that are being transformed by the power of the Gospel. Lives like yours.
Do Not Minimize Your Own Influence
Your example is just as needed as the person in the public spotlight. The different talent shows on tv are just one example of our celebrity-worshipping culture. Everyone wants their fifteen minutes of fame. Some seek after it by their talent. Others do outrageous stunts just to gain national attention. You’ve seen the headlines. Especially in Florida. People seem to think that their value is based on how many people know their name. Just spend some time scrolling through social media.
Sadly, the Church is not immune to celebrity-worship. People who just want to know Jesus better are overwhelmed with the myriad of YouTube teachings, TV programs, internet articles and blog posts. The underlying belief of many media consumers is that if someone is on TV or the Internet, then they must be special, they must have a direct pipeline to God and so what they have to say must be true. They must know. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case. Not only that, church members are often admired simply because they are in a prominent position. Someone who sings on the platform is implicitly considered more important than the person who serves in children‘s ministry because more people see what they do. We evaluate people by their gifts rather than their character. None of this is healthy or appropriate. That isn’t the way God evaluates any of us. Thank goodness!
The people who live close to you, your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, the people who see the real you, need to see just that, the real you. They need to see how Jesus makes a difference in your life, just as the people close to me need to see the difference He makes in mine. A public person, no matter how genuine, can only share small portions of their real life with the larger audience. People will most likely see them at their best and not have the balance of everyday living to give them an accurate idea of that person’s character.
When it comes to the people in your life, you have the advantage over the TV personality and your own pastor. You have the ability to let people see how Jesus affects every area of your life. How you respond differently than you used to in any number of situations, how you react to the little annoyances that used to set you off or how you respond to the fears that used to send you into a tailspin. These things will have an influence on the people who live closest to you. As they see you daily conforming to the image of Christ Himself, you give them an example that is accessible. They will see you mess up and make corrections, asking forgiveness when you hurt someone or make a poor choice in life.
That is something they will never get from a YouTube channel or TV preacher. They are more likely to feel like they might be able to follow your example than that of the public Christian who is put on a pedestal because they can only show their best self and seem to have it all together.
Someone is always watching the way you live.
Live in a manner worthy of the Gospel.
It never occurred to me that anyone was watching me and how I lived until I started sharing my life journey dealing with multiple life threatening health issues. As I live out this journey, I have had multiple people share how my story has helped them walk out their own journey of crisis. That shocked me. My journey can be so intense that sometimes I am unable to realize how my journey affects those around Laura and I. But because we have tried to listen to God’s direction for us, even though it can be hard and not what we wanted, it affects others in a positive way. They chose to walk through their pain instead of run from it, just as we have. That was the example we have unknowingly set for them. I could have never Imagined that this would be the case.
Your godly example is exactly what someone else needs.
As you walkout the Gospel in your everyday choices you help others to draw closer to God. People notice a lot more than you think. The thing to keep in mind is that the people in your inner circle will notice the small changes in your life. They will notice when you remain calm instead of stressing out. They will notice that you respond with gentleness at the time when many would react with harsh words. They will notice that you are able to give love when it would be easier to be a little selfish. People will see the difference Jesus is making in your life. And your example of a transforming life may be just what they need in order to begin wondering if Jesus could transform them as well.
Dear Friends, you may feel small and insignificant, but you’re not. You may not be on a platform, but God has given you a sphere of influence that is unique. It’s a place the public preachers and Christian performers cannot fill. The people in your life need you. They need you to show them what it means to truly follow Jesus. As you follow Him whole-heartedly you are lighting the path for them. Do not worry about your fifteen minutes of fame. Live a life of faithfulness and you will have a more meaningful impact than you could ever realize.
Key takeaway: Your example is exactly what someone else needs to lead them closer to God.
A Scripture: “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” ~1 Timothy 4:12
A Challenge: Think of some people in your life that don’t know God or maybe they’re just walking through a tough time. Has your example helped them to see God a little more clearly? How could your example make a difference in their lives? Make a commitment to pray for those people and be intentional about living a godly example for them.
Prayer: Dear God, it is often hard for us to believe that our small and large decisions really impact someone else. Help us to stay connected to You. Help us to keep You and Your will our main focus. Help us to make choices that please You, from the smallest judgement to the largest commitment. Help us to live for Your glory and let our transforming lives lead others closer to You. Amen
The Blessed Overcomer 