“Grateful is our mindset.”
To say I am grateful as I sit to write this today is an understatement. God has shown me many coincidences this week that don’t seem like coincidences anymore. When I realized this week that it was time to write about this core value, I said to myself, “there He is again.”
This past weekend we had our biggest TLC event of the year in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was amazing for many reasons, but I first want to give all the glory to God because I know he was there every single minute with us without a doubt. I also must give a big thank you to Tricia Crawford, who was able to coordinate and make this event the best we have ever had despite facing much adversity, Tricia, you are an inspiration to us.
As many of you now know, I shared some very personal news at the event, and I have discovered that it has impacted many. Here is a summary of how it all happened. About a month ago, I noticed I was having trouble seeing out of my left eye clearly. A few days later, I saw an Ophthalmologist that delivered some disturbing news to me. He spent much time analyzing my eye and, after 2 hours, delivered the news that hit me like a ton of bricks. He said you can’t see because you have cancer in your eye.
I sat there in disbelief and wondered what my prognosis would be. Was this it for me, I thought to myself? Could this be the end for me? After the news, I sat in my car for 30 minutes and cried; I went home for the rest of the day to try and process it all. Why me? I kept asking God as I cried and prayed, and he would show me why in the coming weeks.
A few days later, I received a second opinion, and the news was the same: Cancer. It needed to be operated on as soon as possible, but they told me July 11 was the soonest it could be done. This was coincidence #1 because it allowed me to attend the Gravity event still as scheduled and did not put me in a position where I had to choose.
I was scheduled to do a “mastermind” training at the event. It was going to be my first official training where I would not be discussing sales systems or explaining sales mindset. I was being asked to deliver a message and training that could help people improve their lives and accomplish more. I was kind of nervous.
For the next two weeks, I sat down every couple of days to try and come up with a topic or two that I would speak about. For once, my mind was frozen, I couldn’t think of anything (coincidence #2), and I was getting frustrated because I wanted to do a good job. Then about a week ago, after much thought, I decided just to tell my story and some lessons I learned along the way.
I was so at ease with this decision. It felt right, and I knew I could do a good job telling my own story, but I thought to myself, should I tell them everything? Should I also share my diagnosis? I didn’t want to scare people or make it look like I was looking for sympathy, so I prayed. I prayed and prayed and prayed, and I felt God telling me that I needed to be transparent and just tell everyone everything. I decided that night just to trust God and the rest is history. I also decided the training would be called: Transparency is freedom.
I shared my story, starting with the day I was born until that very day of July 8, 2022. I shared everything that I had been through. My childhood, my ten years of bedwetting, and how it affected me as an adult, and I talked about the angels that came into my life that helped restore me to the person I was supposed to be. Then ultimately, I also shared my diagnosis. Coincidence #3, I wanted to cry the whole time but was able to hold out till the end somehow; thank you, God.
What happened next was only possible through God. For the first time in three years, I saw a room full of people holding hands and praying. I go to church every week; we have not held hands in three years. The lord made everyone forget about their fears and unified us all for one common cause, and that cause was me. It was so overwhelming. I just leaned forward and sobbed while people held and prayed for me.
It is a moment I will never forget, and it was beautiful. Not just because it was for me but because it proved that people are good, that people believe in God, and that God wants a relationship with us. For the next four days, I learned of tens of thousands of people that had assembled together to pray. Some on zoom, some in churches across the world, and some on social media.
This is when I started to realize why I needed to tell my story and why God chose me to have this adversity in my life. I realize very clearly now that God wants us to have a relationship with him. He is aware that many of us don’t go to church or even pray to him often, but somehow, this broken little boy named John Licari grew up and kept praying and fixed himself enough with the help of others to get thousands and thousands of people on their knees talking to God.
I have been praying for a miracle for a month, and God already showed me one, so I know he has a few more to do for me and for us, so I remain Faithful. As I am writing this tonight, I am 2 days out of my first of 3 surgeries that will be needed to cure me, and I am in good spirits. I am in pain and sore, but I have chosen to focus on why I am fighting instead of the pain, and I feel strong!
I know now that God has chosen me to help bring people closer to him through TLC, and I admit to you and to God that I am ready and grateful for this assignment. TLC is the vehicle that will bring people closer to God, and we must all work together to make this happen. I am grateful for your prayers and for your help.
I have thought a lot the last few days about why me and why us? What does God see in us? Then I realized why not us? We are Total Life Changes, or TLC as many call us, but many times in the past many have said TLC stands for The Lord’s Company, and I believe that.
Thank you for reading, thank you for all your prayers for my family and for me, and God bless you all. I am grateful. Many have been asking me what they can do, and I have been telling everyone that what they can do for me is go to startmy15.com and do the 15-day challenge. If you can do that on my behalf, I would be eternally grateful, but I also want you to do it with intention!
God bless you; I love you all.
