Today’s a new day! God has promised to look after me…. to bring help. God, who defends me, who is far greater in strength than my health issues or anything life throws at me. God, who spoke and whose words caused the universe to be. His word are true and unfailing. If He promises something, He will deliver. ~OC
Life Around The Table
I love sitting around a table and engaging in great conversation. As a child, I remember listening to my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles sitting around the table discussing life. They laughed and sometimes cried. There is just something about sitting around a table and talking.
Think about all the events that happen around a table. From birthday parties, holiday dinners and wedding toast to name just a few. Some of the biggest events and life decisions happen around a table.
As I travel on this crazy beautiful health journey, I can no longer eat anything by mouth. Since I have been on my feeding tube, some people have a hard time eating around me. They feel bad about enjoying a meal around me. Even though I constantly reassure them that it does not bother me, I have noticed less invitations to the table. I miss those moments because sitting around the table has nothing to do with eating for me. It never has. Engaging in great conversations and sharing life has always been more important than the food. I am thankful for those friends who still invite me to the table.
I do not share that experience to make anyone feel bad, I share that experience to show that more than a good meal happens at the table. Life happens around the table.
As I think back on those conversations my family had around the table, food played little into that memory. Most of the time, coffee was the only thing around the table. That and a lot of amazing conversations.
So as we start a new week, who will we invite to the table this week? Maybe it will be a friend, neighbor, coworker or maybe a complete stranger that God wanted us to meet. Remember, life happens around the table and sometimes food is involved. ~OC
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
Life Is Short
Life is short. Time isn’t promised. Love hard. Live well. Pray often. Hold the people that matter close. Hug your family and friends. Tell your family and friends you love them. Call a friend. Get together and celebrate family and friends. Love your enemies.. ~OC
Big Money! Don’t Apologize.
Free agency started in the NBA yesterday. Some huge contracts were signed and more to come. I have already seen some negative post about athletes making so much money. I am sure there will be more negative post and articles. Would I love for our teachers, nurses, first responders and those in the military sign those huge contacts instead of athletes? I would love that. Sadly, that will not happen anytime soon. In America we love our sports. I am definitely guilty of being a huge fan. That is why I will never criticize an athlete for making millions of dollars. We the fans created the market. So we have to live with seeing athletes continuing to sign big money deals. I always find it interesting that we celebrate the business owner who does well financially and call it free enterprise. The American Dream! But when it comes to athletes, we complain they are overpaid. Which I believe most of them are, but once again we the fans created the market. If we truly wanted to see our teachers, nurses, first responders and military personnel given million dollar contracts we would demand it. But we don’t. Instead of complaining about the huge contracts athletes are signing, start demanding that we pay our teachers, nurses, first responders and military personnel what they truly deserve. As voters, we have the power to effect change. For me, I will continue to support an athletes right to sign those huge contracts. One day, I hope to celebrate our teachers, nurses, first responders and military personnel signing those huge contracts. ~OC
Encourage Others
I love encouraging everyone around me. Each morning I pray God will bring people my way that need some encouragement. Here are a few easy ways we can encourage others.
Pray for other.
Call a loved one.
Share words of encouragement.
Pay for someone’s meal.
Send someone a card or letter.
Leave your spouse or roommate a post-it note with some encouraging words.
Be patient with the clerk at the grocery store. Share a kind encouraging word with them.
Share a smile.
Encourage your coworkers.
Share a hug (Be appropriate).
Spend some quality time with family and friends.
Take your neighbors garbage can to the curb or return the empty garbage can.
Send a positive text to a loved one or friend.
Tell your boss, coworkers, employees, pastors and friends that you appreciate them.
Always say Thank You.
Be quick to listen and slow to speak.
Recognize others and their accomplishments. Celebrate them.
Turn your cell phone off when visiting with family and friends.
Be a positive and encouraging person.
Don’t always talk about yourself.
These are just a few ways to encourage others. Find ways to encourage those around you. ~OC
Grateful For True Friendships
Today’s a new day! True friendship is not about being there when it’s convenient; it’s about being there when it’s not. I am grateful for the true friends who continue stick by me during this crazy beautiful health journey. ~OC
The Road
Today’s a new day! My health journey has taken me down many winding roads. At times the road has been muddy and tough to travel. There have been many hazard signs to navigate. This journey has not been easy and continues to take me down roads I would not have chosen to travel. But this journey is really not about me. This is a journey God has placed me on. A journey I embrace daily, because of the lessons learned. The memories made. I did not choose this crazy beautiful journey, but I am excited to see where it takes me. I encourage you to embrace the journey God has you on. I hope to see you along the way. God Bless. ~OC
Some of My Favorites
Some of my favorites:
Team:
Cincinnati Reds
Boston Celtics
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Florida Gators
Players:
Baseball: Johnny Bench
Basketball: Larry Bird
Football: Lee Roy Selmon & Derrick Brooks
Florida Gators: Al Horford, Danny Wuerffel & Tim Tebow
Coach: Tony Dungy
Movies:
Hoosiers
Selma
Brian’s Song (The Original)
12 Years a Slave
Woodlawn
Remember the Titans
Doc Hollywood
Facing the Giants
13th
America History
Any Jimmy Stewart Film
Music:
Kirk Franklin
U2
Michael Jackson
Prince
TobyMac
DC Talk
Bruce Springsteen
George Michael
Bee Gees
4Him
Queen
Elton John
Alisa Turner
Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Anthony Evans
Run-DMC
Lecrae
FC Worship
Lionel Richie
The Commodores
Stevie Wonder
Rod Stewart
Kenny Chesney
Truth
Michael English
Proverb
Kim Walker-Smith
Harry Connick Jr.
Michael Neale
Tenth Avenue North
Jeremy Camp
Journey
Earth, Wind & Fire
Hall & Oates
Def Leppard
Hillsong United
Jackson 5
Luther Vandross
Whitney Houston
Adele
Books:
Bible
America Story by Bob Dotson
The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace by Jeff Hobbs
Moment Make by Carlos Whittaker
Under Our Skin by Benjamin Watson
Just Mercy Bryan Stevenson
Unscripted by Ernie Johnson, Jr.
Living Out Loud by Craig Sager
I’ll Push You by Justin Skeesuck and Patrick Gray
Breaking Cover by Michele Rigby Assad
Love Does by Bob Goff
Crazy Love by Francis Chan
Radical by David Platt
Transformed by Remi Adeleke
Council of Dads by Bruce Feiler
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
Drop the Stones by Carlos A. Rodríguez
Brave Surrender by Kim Walker-Smith
Comeback by Dave Dravecky
When You Can’t Comeback by Dave & Jan Dravecky
Quite Strength by Tony Dungy
Separate Peace by John Knowles
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
Believe by Eric LeGrand
Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox
Always Looking Up by Michael J. Fox
God & Football by Chad Gibbs
The Pact:Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream by Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, Rameck Hunt
Vulnerable by Raleigh Sadler
This Life I Live by Rory Feek
42 Faith by Ed Henry
The Slave Across the Street by Theresa Flores
Ultramarathon Man by Dean Karnazes
Long Run by Matt Long
Forty Thousand To One by Ben Petrick
The Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose
When The Game Was Ours by Jackie MacMullan
Catch You Later by Johnny Bench
Love Thy Rival by Chad Gibbs
This is just a short list of my favorites. I could go on for days. ~OC
Thriving with Chronic Illnesses
During my 17-year plus crazy beautiful health journey, I have learned many lessons. Here are just a few:
1). Embracing Relationships That Matter.
Want to find out who your true friends are? Let life throw you for a loop and you will quickly find out.
During this journey, many friends who I thought would stand with me walked away. I must admit that hurt. But, instead of dwelling on those friends that walked out, I decided to celebrate those that have stuck around through the best and worst of times. I am forever grateful for each and everyone of them.
2). Laugh And Then Laugh Some More.
My wife and I have learned the power of laughter during the darkest times. Our dark humor has helped us deal with some of the toughest moments in this crazy beautiful journey.
Even during the worst days, when my medical team has stated they have no idea what is going on with my body. Or when they wonder out loud, how are you still alive? We still laugh.
Sometimes it comes down to, if we don’t laugh about the situation we might go hide in a dark place. Who wants to deal with that scenario?
3). Be Your Own Advocate.
During the early days of my health journey, Laura and I depended on my medical team. Hey, their the experts. They know best. Wrong!
After some of my doctors refused to listen to us, Laura and I learned we needed to take charge of my healthcare. If not, some of our former doctors would have ended up killing me. That’s not a joke.
It is vital to stand up for yourself and take charge of your healthcare needs. If you are not able to do it yourself, please have a team of advocates around you. They could save your life.
Never be afraid to ask questions. Listen to your gut. Never be afraid to fire your medical team.
4). Keep Living Life.
Do not allow a bad diagnosis to keep you from living your life. I mean truly living life.
Stop putting things off until you get better. Guess what? You may never get better. So take that trip. Take that class you always wanted to. Call that friend who’s been on your mind.
Do not get so caught up in your health journey, that you forget to embrace the beautiful moments of life. The truth is, we only get one shot at life. Don’t waste a minute. ~OC
The Blessed Overcomer 