Tag: Journey

Three Simple Words

Good morning! Another week has come to an end. It was a busy week in my neck of the woods. We faced the uncertainty of being hit by a hurricane. I also faced the challenges life brings on a daily basis. I am sure you can relate to that one. This week, I saw the good and the bad in people. I bet you can also relate to that one.

As I went through my week, God kept sharing three words with me. Three words that seem so simple, but are so difficult to live out at times. Hard to live out because we are so consumed with the busyness of living. Hard to live out because some people have never experienced these three words truly being lived out. Hard to live out because we have bought into what the world says about these three words. But if we could truly live out these three simple words, our lives and this world would be so different. Are you ready for this mind blowing revelation? Here we go. The three words God laid on my heart this week were, Simply Love Others. I know, your mind is blown. I will let you recover before I go on. Are you okay? Can I finish up?

Simply Love Others. Three simple words, that could radically change the world if we truly lived them out. Are you ready to truly live out these three simple words? I know I am. I also know I will continue to fail miserably at times. I will apologize when I fail to live out these three simple words. I will ask for forgiveness when my words and actions fail to live out these three simple words. Even when I fail, I will keep trying. I will never stop trying to live out these life changing words. Will you join me in Simply Loving Others? ~OC

0

Twenty Years Ago Today

I made one of the best decisions of my life twenty years ago. I had the honor of marrying my best friend Laura West Shoemaker. Oh, what a journey it has been. So many amazing moments and memories.

Laura and I met in January of 1999 and were married by September 1999. Crazy I know! I am sure a lot of people thought we were crazy when we exchanged our vows. Remember, we had only known each other for nine months. But we knew God had brought us together, to walk this journey called life as husband and wife. Of course, we had no idea what a crazy beautiful journey it would be.

Imagine being just a few years into your marriage and your life changing forever. That was what Laura and I experienced in 2002. Finding out that my body was beginning to betray me was life changing, but not in the way you might think. My health journey has been a struggle for both of us. At the same time, the journey has been an amazing gift. A gift Laura and I have decided to embrace with enthusiasm. Most days.

From the very beginning, Laura and I decided that my health struggles would not define us. Our story would not be a sad one. No, we made the choice to keep living. Not just living, but to truly Thrive in life.

Our faith has been a major part of our marriage. From the very beginning, God has been the center of our relationship. We did meet at church after all. God has walked with us every step of our crazy journey. Through the good times and the challenging times

From the highs of exchanging wedding vows twenty years ago to the continuing challenges of dealing with life threatening health issues in 2019, the journey has been one amazing ride. I would not change a thing. The good days and the challenging days have brought us closer together. This journey has been filled with so many amazing memories. No day or moment taken for granted. Each day celebrated. Each moment cherished. I am grateful God has allowed us to walk this crazy beautiful journey together. Let’s keep living this adventure and making amazing memories together. Love you girl! ~OC

0

Reach Out

As we travel this crazy beautiful journey called life, how many people do we meet that feel left out? The unseen. How many times do we walk by them on our way to the next big thing?

The unseen are all around us. The single mom trying to make it on her own. The student who just doesn’t seem to fit in at school or anywhere else. That person fighting for their life who feels all alone. Has someone come to mind as you read this blog post? Who in your life could use a friend? Someone to walk with during this marathon called life.

All of us have felt invisible at times. During those times, how amazing was it when someone reached out to us? Taking the time to stop and notice the unseen around us could be life changing. There are so many people who need just one person to reach out and acknowledge them. Will you be that one person? ~OC

0

Perspective

Life is tough. I am not telling you anything new. We all have faced challenging times during this journey called life. Sometimes we feel stuck. Maybe a little lost. Our heads get full of so many different thoughts. Anybody been there?

During those times, it is easy to become frustrated and forget God’s faithfulness in all seasons. Guess what? We do not have to live in frustration. We all have choices as we walk through these frustrating moments in life. We get to choose our perspective. Did you hear that? We get to choose frustration or choose to be thankful for what God has done and is doing in our lives. We have the choice to stay stuck in our current situation or look at the lessons God is teaching us during those difficult times. Not always an easy choice, but I encourage everyone to turn your difficult road into life changing training ground.

During my health journey, God has brought me into a greater place of worship, praise and devotion. To pray to God, that he would bring me through this journey in the way only He can. My attitude and the way I look at my current health situation is my choice. I have chosen to look at life with a different perspective. With a perspective of hope.

Will you make the choice to live with a different perspective today? The choice is yours. ~OC

1

Some Lessons Learned On The Journey

During my crazy beautiful health journey, God has shared many lessons with me. I have shared some of these lessons in earlier blog post. Today, I would like to share some more lessons learned during my journey. Some of these lessons have been difficult to walk through, but they have brought me closer to God. They have made me a better person. They are lessons I never want to forget.

Don’t Live In Fear. Surrender everything to God. Including your fear. My life is filled with a lot of unknowns. It would be easy live in fear. For moments I have. Thank goodness, I chose not to live in that fear. No, instead I continue to choose to live in Hope. Not always easy, but making the choice to not live in fear has been life changing.

Let God’s Word Empower You. Spend time in God’s word. Speak it. Pray it. Sing it. Live it out. During my good days and bad days I choose to let God’s Word pour over me.

Embrace Every Moments. Make every moment count. Tell your love ones you love them. Share some hugs. Take that trip. Give freely. So some grace. Love without prejudice.

Be Grateful. Take time to be thankful for your many blessings. My journey has been filled with some rough moments, but I have so much to be grateful for. My wife. My family and friends. My medical team. Great insurance. Beautiful moments.

Never Give Up. The temptation is always there. The journey is too hard. The pain is too great. There are plenty of reasons to give up, but I encourage you to keep fighting. Reach out to trusted family and friends to walk with you during those moments of wanting to give up.

I hope these lessons will encourage you. They are not easy to walk through. Believe me I know. I have been trying to live them out for the past 17 years. ~OC

0

The Gift of Brokenness

Sometimes I feel broken.

There are times I look at my life and see all the ways I fall short. Maybe it was my negative attitude or words that negatively affected someone else.

There are so many ways to feel broken- physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually. In the middle of our brokenness, it’s easy to agonize over whether or not we can ever be acceptable to God or be used by Him during our brokenness. I know I struggle with this sometimes.

During this crazy beautiful health journey, God has taught me a valuable lesson about being broken.

Our brokenness is a gift. A gift? Yes, a gift because our brokenness connects us to other people walking through their own brokenness. A gift because our brokenness brings us closer to God. It is during our brokenness that God makes us whole.

Sharing our brokenness brings meaning and healing to our crazy beautiful journey.

Blessings happen during the brokenness. As I have shared my health journey with others, people have reached out to me and shared how my journey has helped them walk through their own crazy beautiful journey. It has been a blessing to see God move through my brokenness.

Being broken is a gift, because through our brokenness we recognize our need for God. Because only through God can our broken life be made whole.

I am so grateful for the gift of being broken. During my brokenness God has continued to love me and use me in spite of my brokenness. What a gift.

My prayer for you is that during your brokenness, you will look to God and allow Him to use you during this time. I pray you will find the gift of brokenness as God puts your broken pieces back together. ~OC

0

Thankful And Grateful

Thank God throughout this crazy beautiful journey called Life. A thankful attitude opens the windows of heaven. A thankful heart opens our hearts to God’s Presence. I am thankful and grateful for the many blessings and lessons learned during my own journey. ~OC

I will give thanks to God with everything I’ve got. God’s works are so great, worth a lifetime of study- endless enjoyment! Splendor and beauty mark his craft. His generosity never gives out. His mercies are His memorial. This God of Grace. This God of Love ~Psalm 111:1-5

0

Let Go of Fear

Has fear controlled your life? At some point in our lives, everyone has dealt with fear. For some, fear has paralyzed them. Kept them from truly living life.

During my 17-year and counting crazy beautiful health journey, fear has reared its ugly head several times in my life. I remember the first diagnosis so many years ago. Cancer. How could I possibly have cancer? Fear gripped my wife and I after that diagnosis. We had only been married a few years at that point. We had so many plans. Would we even have another year together? This scene has played out in our marriage many times over the years, as I have been diagnosed with one life threatening health issues after another. How have we dealt with the different fears that have tried to steal our happiness?

Prayer. I know this sounds simple, but a lot of times we reach for everything but prayer. Prayer becomes a second or tenth option. I would encourage everyone to make prayer your first option. I can personally testify to the power of prayer and faith in my own journey. I know I would not be alive today, writing this post if not for prayer. Not just my prayers, but the prayers of many. Whatever you may be going through today, I encourage you to pray and don’t be afraid to ask for prayer. People genuinely want to pray for you. Let them.

Team. Do not try to walk through your fears, or life for that matter, by yourself. We were not created to do life alone. The Lone Ranger may have been a good tv show/movie, but is a terrible lifestyle choice. During my health journey, my wife and I have surrounded ourselves with an amazing team of people. Team Todd has helped us walk through some of the most difficult days of our lives. People want to help, so let them.

Keep Living. This is much easier said than done. The fears and all the junk life throws at us can become overwhelming. We have all been there. Laura and I made the choice early on in this crazy beautiful journey to keep living. We decided not to just live, but to Thrive. Todd, what does that even mean? Thriving means not letting your current circumstances define you. Thriving means taking a last-minute cruise. Thriving means spending quality time with family and friends. Thriving means stepping outside of your comfort zone. I could go on, but I think you get the idea. Don’t allow your fears or your current circumstances to keep you from living a beautiful and blessed life.

Find Purpose. During my crazy beautiful journey, I knew there had to be more than doctors appointments, hospital stays and multiple medications. There just had to be. Finding purpose in this journey allowed me to overcome my fears. During the past 17 years, God has allowed me to use my story to encourage others. To pray for someone going through their own journey. To hold their hand and guide them through the toughest moments of their lives. To walk them through their fears. So what is your purpose?

Does doing these four things guarantee you will no longer deal with fear? Unfortunately no. After all these years, I still deal with fear at times. But I do not live in fear. Fear does not control me. The power of Prayer/Faith, Team, Thriving and Purpose help me let go of any fears that come my way. Faith>Fear. ~OC

0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑