7 Life Lessons Learned One Year Post-Cardiac Arrest

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Welcome to One Day Out, a weekly newsletter to help deepen your faith, enhance your health, and guide you in pursuing a purpose-filled life.

Opening Prayer - Psalm 90:14-17

Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
 that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
 and for as many years as we have seen evil.
 Let your work be shown to your servants,
 and your glorious power to their children.
 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
 and establish the work of our hands upon us;
 yes, establish the work of our hands!

It can be so easy to wake up and let the things we “have to” do cause us stress and anxiety. For a while I felt like the work that I did had no purpose and that everything I was doing was a waste of time.

This Psalm is a beautiful reminder to ask the Lord to establish the work of our hands so that no matter what we do, we do for the His glory and can proclaim His name not just by the words we speak, but also in our actions.

1. Gratitude is not just a feeling, but an action that must be taken

The word ‘gratitude’ gets thrown around a lot in our culture, but what does it truly mean to be grateful? There have been lots of mental, physical, and spiritual highs and lows over the past year, and some days I would wake up feeling extremely grateful, and on others, I wanted to stay in bed all day and not talk to anyone.

On days when I felt good, I was more likely to express gratitude to God, and the people in my life. On days I didn’t feel juiced up, I didn’t express gratitude and let the negative feelings, thoughts, and emotions build up.

Habits that have helped me express gratitude:

• Read the Bible and pray first thing in the morning

• Text 1-3 people per day saying I am grateful for them

• Giving thanks to God before I exercise, eat, or work

These small and subtle practices have deepened my relationship with the Lord, built stronger connections with people in my life, and helped me navigate through negative feelings and emotions.

It’s one thing to say you’re grateful, it’s another to actively practice it.

2. Rejoice in times of suffering

One of my favorite Bible verses is James 1:2-4:

 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

I often catch myself only rejoicing in good times, rather than remembering to rejoice in the hard times because that is where our faith is truly tested and strengthened.

Rather than seeing things as if they’re happening to you, see them as happening for you.

To suffer is a blessing and a privilege. Rejoice in that suffering, as difficult as it may be.

3. Progress is a byproduct of intentionality

There is no such thing as luck. You don’t progress at something without extreme levels of intentionality.

I used to question why I didn’t feel like I was growing in my faith. I had to take a hard look at my spiritual disciplines to see that passively listening to the Bible while on a walk and only praying when it was convenient to me would keep me at a lukewarm level of faith.

How do you progress in the gym? You get more intentional about your training program, how you prepare and recover, the food that you eat, the sleep you get, etc.

It’s the same thing for faith- if you want to REALLY experience God’s love and power in your life, you MUST get more intentional about your time reading the Word and in prayer.

4. Money you will always make back, time you never will

Time is our most valuable resource, and we can never renew it.

Making money is NOT a bad thing, but how much do you need and what are you sacrificing to get more of it?

There have been times in my life when I have skipped out on quality time with my family and friends for the sake of making money.

Being a provider is extremely important, and I work hard to prepare for my future family and to advance God’s kingdom, but I have also realized that I will not take any of it with me, and I value quality time with those around me more than I value a number in my bank account.

There’s no right answer on how to navigate this, just remember that time is a more scarce resource than money. How do you want to spend it?

5. Travel more

This past year I had the opportunity to travel more than I had in my entire life.

When I was in the hospital 3 days after suffering a cardiac arrest, I felt the Lord put it on my heart to go to Tanzania. My friend Pat lives there, and I had considered going but hadn’t pulled the trigger.

He texted me back about an idea to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise money to send underprivileged kids to school

I said yes, and by the grace of God, I was healthy enough to go and climb and spend a few weeks living in Arusha and volunteering with his non-profit.

Living in a culture so different from ours for a month showed me how much unnecessary stress and anxiety we bring into our lives, and how little we need to truly be happy.

Getting out of our typical environment to experience more of God’s beautiful creation and meeting incredible humans is one of the best investments we can make.

6. Learn to say NO

As a people pleaser, saying no is extremely difficult for me.

When you say yes to one thing, you’re saying no to something else. Living in a city like Austin, there is always an abundance of events, workouts, run clubs, meet-ups, etc. going on it can be hard to choose what to go to and what to turn down.

I’ve been guilty of putting too much on my plate and then other things start to spiral downward.

I have implemented a system where I don’t do coffee meet-ups or morning phone calls during the week so that I can get my most important work done, and I only do 2 (maybe 3) meet-ups per week so that I don’t overfill my calendar and let my relationship with God, my sleep, my health, my relationships, or my work fall backward.

7. We shouldn’t fear death

The only thing that is guaranteed after we are born is death, so it’s funny to me that it rarely gets talked about.

Before I nearly lost my life, the thought of death and eternity scared the crap out of me.

Now, I have peace knowing that I have repented of my sins, declared Jesus as Lord, and have received the gift of salvation by His grace. My sole mission is to advance His kingdom and share the gospel with others.

Everything in this life is temporary. We take none of it with us. We are in the world, but this is not our home or our final destination.

Accepting Jesus Christ into my life has been the greatest gift I could have ever received. Everything I do is for Him and Him alone.

Death is inevitable, and it’s all the more reason to surrender your life to God and let Him guide you in all that you do.

I am so grateful for the experiences and opportunities God has blessed me with over the past year and the amazing people He has brought into my life. He has tested my faith in so many ways and while I fall short, He still loves me. And He loves you too.

Make the most of today and every day. You never know when your last one might be.

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Closing Prayer

Lord, I thank you for the life you have given me. For breath in my lungs, for good times and the times of trial, for sending your Son Jesus to save us from our sins, and for the gift of salvation. I pray that you ordain my steps and allow me to trust and surrender to your plan today and all of my days. Help me to know, love, and serve you better.

Amen.

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