Tag: faith

My Prayers and Thoughts

Good morning! So as I sit in this hospital room, here are some of my prayers and thoughts.

I pray my beautiful bride is resting and wakes up feeling great.

I pray that some dear family and friends who are sick, will experience complete healing.

I pray for all the Caregivers taking care of a loved one.

I pray The Holy Spirit will take over South Florida. Revival come!

I pray I will be the best husband, friend and disciple of Jesus that I can be through Him.

I pray for everyone in the military and all First Responders. And their families.

I pray for peace.

I pray for all the leaders. I pray their hearts and minds would be changed by God.

I pray for the victims of human trafficking. I pray they will be rescued and their lives will be completely restored. I pray for all the organizations fighting this horrible crime. I pray their needs will be met. Most importantly, I pray their hearts and motives are pure.

I pray for all churches, pastors, missionaries and ministries. May they truly be the hands and feet of Jesus.

I pray God will allow me to do more for everyone I come in contact with during the day.

I pray for all the patients, nurses, doctors and staff at Good Sam. Give each the strength they need today.

I pray for our schools, students, teachers, staff and administrators. I pray God would bless and protect each.

I pray I will not get in the way of what God wants to do in my life.

Here are some of the thoughts going through my crazy beautiful mind this morning:

What races will I run in 2020, if God allows me to run again? It has been almost 11 years since I last ran.

If God blesses me with the ability to run again, that means I could return to the workforce. Where would I work? Who would hire a 50 something guy who has not worked in almost 11 years, but has an incredible crazy beautiful story? Would I go on the speaking circuit? Would I look at working at a church or ministry of some kind? Would I work at a school or university? Would I be a Greeter at Walmart?

Yes, those are some of the crazy thoughts that go through my mind a lot of morning’s. I just want to be ready for whatever God has prepared for me. Even if that means never running another race or never being able to return to work, I will be obedient and thankful.

Have a wonderful and blessed day. ~OC

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Healing Journey

Today’s a new day! I have only been on my healing journey for a few weeks now, but God has been revealing so much to me. The past few weeks, God has been giving me incredible insight into the Holy Spirit. I believe as Christians, we only use about 5% of this amazing gift called the Holy Spirit. And that’s on a good day. God has so much more for us, when it comes to the Holy Spirit. He wants the Holy Spirit flowing out of our lives. God is saying here is the other 95% of the Holy Spirit. Imagine the incredible things we could do in Jesus name, if we allowed 100% of the Holy Spirit to flow out of us? It would be amazing. I am excited to see where this amazing journey takes me. If you want to hear more about my healing journey, feel free to contact me. I pray your day is filled with amazing moments and God’s blessings. ~OC

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Thriving

I often hear people say how sorry they are for me. I know they mean well. Heck, if my crazy beautiful journey belonged to someone else I might feel sorry for them. But that is because people are looking at my journey from the outside. If you take a closer look, this journey really is beautiful. This journey has brought me great insight to what is important in life. Let me say this, I was very happy before this health journey started. But this almost 18 year health journey has been more than just living. More than just surviving. It has been about thriving. Choosing to thrive after every bad medical report. Choosing to to thrive after every setback. Choosing to embrace every breath. Choosing to embrace and overcome the pain. Choosing to embrace every lesson learned. You see,I am not just surviving this crazy beautiful journey. I am finally getting life right. I’m thriving. ~OC

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When Life Is Hard

We’ve all had some rough days. Maybe your rough days have turned into rough years.

As I have walked through my own crazy beautiful journey, I have experienced my share of rough days. Days where nothing seems to go right. Days where I just wanted to crawl back into bed (in my case, crawl up in my recliner). Those days can seem overwhelming at times. They can be stressful.

A season of health issues, relationship issues, financial issues or unemployment can seem overwhelming. During my health journey, I have learned a few lessons about dealing with the challenges of life. I pray you will find them encouraging and helpful.

Your Character. We cannot always control what happens to us in life, but we can always control how we react to the circumstances we face. During the rough moments of my journey, I have made the choice to stop complaining and instead thank God for my many blessings. Choosing to stay positive during those storms of life. Not always an easy choice, but it can be life changing. Our character should always be stronger than our circumstances.

Struggle to Strength. God can use every storm in life to make us stronger. To strengthen our faith. I know sometimes that is hard to see during the storm, but hold on. Our storms have a purpose.

God’s Plans are always perfect. God’s plans are almost always different than ours. Come on, we all think our plans are perfect in the moment. Sometimes we believe God’s plans for us are moving too slowly. Come on God, hurry up! Has anyone but me ever uttered those words? I would encourage each of us to slow down and be patient. Oh, that word Patience. Remember, God’s plan for our lives is always the perfect plan for our lives.

God is always with us. I know that is sometimes hard to believe, as we are holding on for dear life as we face another storm. But the minute you asked God into your life, he is always with you. Walking by your side as you navigate the crashing waves. If you have not asked God into your life, I pray today would be the day you make that incredible decision.

I pray these lessons help encourage you, as you walk through those tough moments in life. I also pray you will never walk your journey alone. Reach out to family or friends when facing those tough moments in life. Most importantly run to God and allow him to wrap his loving arms around you. ~OC

 

 

 

 

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A Night of Miracles

Hello everyone. Last Sunday morning, God woke me up and shared this past week would be a week of Healing and Miracles. During the week, I also felt God calling for me to asked people to pray for my throat and stomach. As many of you know, I have not had an appetite for almost 4 years and have not been able to speak without the assistance of a voice amplifier for about 3 years.

Last night my wife Laura and I attended a Prayer and Healing Service. During the healing part of the night, God blessed me with an appetite and allowed me to talk without the assistance of my amplifier. God is so good. I am overwhelmed by His incredible love for me.

Since I had an appetite, a bunch of us decided to go celebrate Jesus. So the picture below is my first meal in 3 years. I was able to eat a little chicken salad and fries. I also had a few sips of sweet ice tea. I am thrilled to share, I did not choke or throw it up. That had been a major problem in the past.

I encourage everyone to never stop praying for Jesus to move in your life. You never know when the Holy Spirit is going to show up. Keep Believing in your Miracle. ~OC

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New Opportunities

I had to retire early from my career in the juvenile justice field. I was only in my early 40’s. Thankfully, God was not finished with me. In the past ten years, God has allowed me to take on several new roles. Here are some of the opportunities God has blessed me to be part of:

Abolitionist

Missionary

Blogger

Encourager

Author

Thought Leader

Speaker

Prayer Warrior

Health Advocate

Blessed Overcomer

Ten years ago, I could have allowed my health issues to become my identity. But God had other plans for me. I had to make the choice to keep living and thriving. I pray you will make the choice to look past your current circumstances and choose to keep thriving and making a difference. ~OC

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Revival

God woke me up this morning with the word Revival on my heart. I believe we are beginning to see revival happening around us. I also believe God is going to use some unlikely places and people to bring revival. Should we be surprised by that? I do not think so. God used Jesus to change the world. If we look at Jesus resume, he was an unlikely candidate. Let us look at Jesus resume in today’s light.

Jesus Christ was born in a cave. Not really a great start according to the world.

Jesus was a carpenter.

Jesus was not a college graduate.

Jesus was a refugee.

Jesus never owned a home. No MTV Cribs Show for him.

Jesus was not not hanging out with the rich and famous. He would never have been interviewed by Robin Leach (Young folks google that one).

No 401k or pension for Jesus.

Jesus was definitely not jumping off the pages of GQ Magazine.

That is what Jesus resume looks like. By today’s standards not too impressive. But yet, this one man changed the world forever.

So has I thought about what God shared with me this morning, I thought about all the unlikely people God has used to share his word over the years. Most of the time, God has used common people who chose to be available. That is the kind of person I want to be. Available to serve God in any way he chooses.

I am excited to see how God is going to use common, but available people to help bring Revival. ~OC

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Identity

I might be dealing with some pretty serious health issues, but I refuse to allow my health issues to become my identity. ~OC

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