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
Live Out Your Miracles And Victories
I encourage everyone to live out the beautiful miracles and victories in life. ~OC
My Story Of Healing
Here is my story of healing. ~OC
National Caregivers Month
November is National Caregivers Month. I truly believe caregivers should be celebrated everyday.
For the last 17.5 years, my beautiful bride has been my caregiver. She has made a lot of sacrifices during that time. Besides being my caregiver, she has been my health advocate, chauffeur and cheerleader. I definitely could add more titles to the list. Laura has taken on each of these roles without complaining. This crazy beautiful journey has been tough on her, but she has handled it like the champion she is. I never take her love, support and sacrifice for granted. I do my best to celebrate her whenever I can. I also try my best to make sure she takes care of herself.
Too many caregivers are forgotten during the health journey of a loved one. Everyone is quick to asked about the patient, but we can never forget about the caregivers. They are the real heroes. Caregivers continuously make sacrifices that nobody notices. They sometimes put their life on hold to take care of a loved one. Most do it without complaining. So many caregivers walk this journey alone. Most would never asked for help. So many caregivers get lost in the journey.
That is why I wanted my bride to share her part of the story in our book The Blessed Overcomer. I wanted caregivers to know they mattered. That they are not forgotten. Laura’s story needed to be told.
I pray if you know a caregiver, you will not forget about them. I believe their job is much harder than the patients. There is no playbook on how to be a caregiver. Here are a few things we can do to help out a caregiver:
Check on them. Reach out to a caregiver and see how they are doing. Let them know they matter.
Give them a break. Asked if you can sit with the patient. This is huge! Most caregivers will not asked for a break, but it is so important for their wellbeing to have those breaks.
Volunteer to drive the patient to appointments. Based on my health issues, I am no longer able to drive. Friends from our church have taken it upon themselves to create a ride schedule to take me to my many medical appointments. This has been a huge blessing for Laura and I.
These are just a few helpful things you can do to help out a caregiver. They may seem small, but can be life changing. So if you know a caregiver, take the time to see how you can help them navigate their crazy beautiful journey. ~OC
Healing and Miracles
Prayer Warriors are needed to pray for a dear friend to experience a miracle. A group is meeting at Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida this morning 11/7 at 9:30am. I know most people reading this cannot physically be there, but I ask that you would pray for my dear friend and her family at 9:30 this morning. Please feel free to share this with your family and friends. Thank you. ~OC
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
Living In Peace
Along this journey called life, we all deal with fear. Fear can hit us during what we thought would be a routine doctors appointment. Fear can hit us when test result comes back with more questions than answers. Fear can hit us when we watch the news or scroll through social media. We have all experienced fear in our lives.
Back in 2003, one of my doctors called me early one morning and shared he needed to see me right away. Oh, make sure you bring your wife. A little fear hit me at that moment. Later when the doctor shared I had a tumor, the fear grew a little deeper. Fear, Worry and Anxiety. My wife and I experienced all those feelings sitting in that doctors office.
A few weeks later a biopsy revealed the tumor was the size of golfball. A few weeks after that, surgery revealed the tumor was cancerous. Once again, Fear, Worry and Anxiety smacked me in the face. Things seemed overwhelming at that point.
Then something amazing happened. As I laid in ICU hooked up to several machines, God took away the fear, worry and anxiety. Those feelings were replaced by peace, calmness and even joy. Yes, joy. What changed?
God reminded me of the week long fast I had done a year earlier during a missions trip. He shared the reason I had fasted was to prepare me for this very moment. Peace flooded my room and heart at that moment. At that moment, I completely turned my heart toward Jesus and trusted Him to walk me through this journey.
Even though I had been filled with fear, anxiety and worry, Jesus was right there with me. He welcomed me into His presence, even as I was filled with fear. He never abandoned me in my time of need.
During that moment, I still had to deal with life as a cancer patient. But that unknown did not overwhelm me anymore. Jesus reminded me that He was bigger than any health issue I would ever face. I am thankful, I did not know my future would be full of more health issues, test, multiple doctors appointments and hospital stays. No, at that moment I was just filled with peace.
Here I am in 2019, still fighting multiple health issues. Still fighting for my life every day. Still living in the unknown regarding my health. But I am still experiencing that same peace and joy, I experienced in that ICU room so many years ago. Knowing that Jesus is still bigger than anything life throws at me. Still living life with a thankful heart. ~OC
Are You Truly Available?
I often hear Christians say they want to be used by God. They are ready to serve God. Then when an opportunity comes up to serve God by helping set up the church for service, to serve in children’s ministry or a clean up day rolls around, suddenly they are not so available.
This is not a knock on my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. This is just my observation. Some people love to serve when it is convenient for them. Or maybe when the opportunity to serve will put the spotlight on them. Let’s be honest, we are all guilty of take a look at me moments. Look what I am doing. It’s just human nature. But sometimes, God is looking for us to serve without any fanfare. To serve in ways we could never imagine. No spotlight.
As many of you know, my amazing wife and I went to Plains, Georgia a few weeks ago to hear former President Jimmy Carter teach Sunday School. Such a cool experience. But you know what I enjoyed most about that trip? Meeting Mr. George. Who is Mr. George you asked? Mr. George is the man who greets everyone as they drive onto the property at Maranatha Baptist Church. What’s so special about that OC? Oh, did I fail to mention that people start arriving for President Carter’s 10am Sunday morning class at 5 or 6pm Saturday night. That’s right. People start arriving the day before to hear President Carter teach. And guess who is there to welcome each and everyone of them? That’s right, Mr. George. He is there all night and into Sunday morning welcoming everyone with a smile on his face and some great stories. Oh, then Mr. George volunteers greeting inside the church, doing some filming and singing in the choir. Did I mention that Mr. George is in his 70’s. Mr. George saw a need and stepped up. I can guarantee you, that anyone who has attended President Carter’s Sunday School Class will have fond memories of Mr. George. I know I do.
When I got sick almost 18 years ago, I never imagined my medical journey would last this long. But along the way, God opened the door for me to encourage and love on people at my many medical appointments and hospital stays. Not a very glamorous way to serve God. No spotlights. No fanfare. The people I have met over the past 17.5 years have blessed me tremendously. I could write a book just on those experiences. Would I have chosen this opportunity? Probably not. But I would not trade the opportunities God has blessed me with along this journey. I am thankful, I continue to be available to serve God during this crazy beautiful health journey.
I am not sure what God is asking you to be available for. Maybe it will be to share the gospel with millions of people from a stage. Maybe it will be to lead millions of people in worship. That would be awesome. But maybe God wants you to be available to greet people as the drive into church during the middle of the night or to love on people as they receive news that will forever change their lives. Just Be Available. ~OC
One Minute
As we reach the end of another week, I would encourage each of us to take one minute and think about the people who have helped us become the person we are today. The people who invested time into helping us grow as a person. If those individuals are still alive, I would encourage you to reach out to them and say thank you. For those life investors who have passed away, I would encourage you to spend some time reflecting on the lessons they taught you. ~OC
The Blessed Overcomer 