Tag: Testimony

Keep It Close

Today’s a new day! Here is another “Lost Writings From OC.” This was written back in 2021.

I want to encourage everyone, that whenever God does something amazing in your life (big or small) or a testimony takes place, to write it down because you will need it to look back on one day. When you’re drenched and soaked in a storm, it is so, so easy to forget about what God did yesterday. It is so easy to accuse God of being unloving, unjust, unfair, and everything else and forget how just a few weeks/months/years ago you were singing His praises and telling Him how wonderful He is.

All of us can look back on something that God has done in our past to encourage us in our present season. God has brought you through too many storms and tough seasons of life. So do not let the enemy fool you into thinking God has abandoned you all of the sudden. Remember, the enemy’s job is to deceive, kill and destroy. God is a fair, loving, compassionate and just God, who will never abandon or forsake us. ~OC

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My Room 378 Experience

Today’s a new day! As I sit in my comfortable recliner, in my comfortable apartment this morning, I have been praying and thanking God for guiding me through the last seven days in the hospital. There are still lots of questions, concerns and unknowns, but this early morning I am filled with peace. A peace that no person or circumstance can take away from me.

The past few months I have felt God wanting to have a deep conversation with me, but there was always some distractions that kept that conversation from happening. Then on New Year’s Eve, the last day of 2024, I was rushed to the ER with stroke like symptoms. After ruling out a stroke, the doctors decide to admit me for observation. Little did I know that this would be the time Jesus chose to speak to me. I wish I had the eloquent words to write down what I experienced on New Year’s Eve in room 378 that has filled me with peace, expectation and urgency. (If you want to know about my experience in room number 378, please contact me and I can share it with you). But just like the enemy likes to do, the next few days were filled with challenging moments. But as I sit here on January 7, 2025 at 3:14am, I am choosing to only remember the peace and awe I felt on the last night of 2024.

As I shared above, the experience on New Year’s Eve has filled me even more with a sense of expectation and urgency. Expectation that God is getting ready to do some amazing things, but also the urgency to share, pray, serve and write more. This experience has given me even more of a longing to share everything God has done and continues to do in regard to my crazy beautiful health journey. I want to experience even more of God’s freedom. I want to wake up each morning with delight for a new day.

As I have been up praying this morning, that sense of urgency has become stronger. I so desire for my life to have significance because of what Jesus has done and continues to do in my life. I feel laser focused on living out my days serving Jesus and others. This urgency has nothing to do with checking off a bucket list of some kind. Instead, I feel even more driven to create a legacy that points people to a relationship with Jesus.

During this twenty-two year health journey my priorities changed. My Room 378 Experience has changed me even more. I have never cared about spending money or time on material objects or activities that have no lasting impact on people’s lives. But that desire has grown even stronger. I want to conserve my time, energy, and resources for those activities that will leave an eternal imprint on my part of the world and on those God brings my way. I want to spend even more time in prayer for those I love and for this broken world.

I wake up every morning with a desire to encourage and love on people. I pray through my Room 378 Experience, that Jesus will show Himself through me even more in my little sphere of influence. Jesus put me with all my flaws, talents, life experiences, joys and sorrows, onto this earth for a reason – a purpose that He designed me to fulfill. I seek to savor each moment Jesus gives me to love and live for Him. That is my sense of urgency. It is my prayer every morning before my feet hit the ground that this day my life will not be spent in my own pursuits, but I will be a vessel for Him to touch those He places in my path. ~OC

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Hope

Today’s a new day! There is a four-letter word that is woven into the fabric of our souls, and that word is HOPE. Having a purpose in life encourages self-determination. It all starts with a belief, an idea that can create a powerful purpose filled life.

The seed of hope is planted deep within each of us. If we water those seeds, amazing and beautiful things will be created. Hope creates motion, motion creates action, action creates results, results create achievement, achievement creates self-confidence, and self-confidence creates the mindset that we can and will achieve everything God desires for us.

Through hope, we can conquer our fears and turn a life of trials into a life of triumph, a mess into a message, fear into faith, and a test into a testimony. There are times our hope button can get stuck. Here is how I believe we can activate our stuck hope button.

We have to decide to change our mindset from selfish to selfless, from “poor me” to helping someone else who is walking through a major trial. Our selfless time engaged in someone else’s life battle could help kick-start hope within them and start a chain of of hope dealers. Hope is contagious!

How awesome would it be if we each lived a life of Helping One Person Everyday. Helping others succeed brings so much hope and meaning into our lives. How beautiful it is when we give of ourselves. It fills us up as well and provides us with the strength to conquer life’s challenges.

We all have the ability to share hope with those around us. It could be a smile, kind word, listening, or lending a helping hand.

It is never too late to start living a life of Hope. You never know the difference you can make in a person’s life. So today be bold, compassionate and loving. Share Hope. Help one person today. ~OC

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Go!

Today’s a new day! I’ll never forget when God called me to write about and share my crazy beautiful health journey so openly. I thought what do I have to say that people want to hear? There are definitely more qualified people than me. But I truly am living proof that when God calls you to do something He equips you with what you need to carry it out. Those times I do not feel comfortable or qualified, God whispers, “Todd, I do not need you to be nailed to the cross. I’ve already taken care of that. I just need you to go and share the story of how I’ve moved in and changed your life. Can you do that?” As I continue running this crazy beautiful health journey, my current situation is considered critical, but I continue to lean into His loving arms and I trust in God when he says “Go and share my love. Go and serve. As I “Go”, God has never let me down and always shows up with His words, wisdom and strength.

Is there something in your life that God is calling you to do that you have put off because it was too scary, didn’t make sense or you felt like you weren’t qualified? I encourage you to pray and then pray again. Ask God what His purpose is for your life and be ready to accept that calling and Go when He whispers, Not your will, but Mine. Will you trust and follow Him? ~OC

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Testimonies

Today’s a new day! Our testimonies are proof of God’s amazing work in us. When we share our testimonies we’re making a declaration of what God has done and why our faith and trust is in Him. It builds up our own strength and faith by recalling the ways He has changed our lives. Speaking it cultivates a sense of belief and anticipation in us for the future. ~OC

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Healing Encounter

Please join us this Sunday night March 15th at 6pm, for a powerful evening of worship, testimony and healing power. I encourage everyone to invite your family and friends. This is a free event. ~OC

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