Surgery Countdown “S” Minus 10 Days.
Monday Oct 13 – I heard Chad’s new insurance finalized the preauthorization! That’s a prayer of praise and great news! Tuesday, earlier this week I had another blood and urine test.
Love and sacrifice can be one small glimpse into the amazing love that God has for us. Are the actions enough? How would I speak about ‘the why’ behind donating the kidney in a way that magnifies God and leaves me and my ego out of it? Someone could put all the focus on me and say “he’s so altruistic to do something like this.” Yes, I’ve heard that said a few times already with just a few people that I’ve told by this point. Perhaps that is true, but think about what the Bible says about our lives. We are fleeting like the wind, bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit, everything we own and have been given is a gift from God. If even my children fall within the fact that I am merely a steward of my kids and they are God’s, but given to me as a blessing and to care for and raise. How much less is a kidney if it is also God’s given to me to use and have and steward until such a time as this- when God has so clearly put into my heart to press forward on this path for Chad and I should say also now – “my” recipient. My kidney isn’t even going to Chad. It will go to another person that God has appointed through all of the orchestration of people and events. How awesome that another human being that God loves so deeply can also hopefully witness the hand of God moving in their life. The world is broken. Sickness and pain and death are fortunately just temporary realities for those that believe the promises God has for us. Kidneys fail, cancer spreads, disease battles on. Like God showing up in a still small voice to the prophet Elisha, perhaps this transplant process is also a way that God is showing up in our midst, saying, “I’m here for you, I love you.” The lives of Chad and my Recipient can be powerful examples of a second chance in life to serve and make a difference in this world.
Our lead Minister Mark said years ago that if you want a dangerous prayer- to pray this every morning “God, please do whatever it takes in me to accomplish your will through me”.
I don’t know any of the outcomes for what is going to happen during this donation process. I can only step out in faith and be the willing volunteer to raise my hand when called on and say, “I’ll do it God, pick me.” We will never know how many lives we will truly affect or what legacy we will leave on this earth- by donating money, serving others, praying for someone- but someday when we get to heaven, we might get to see the ripple effects our lives had on others.
This older song, “Thank you for Giving to the Lord” defines this thought so well I think. This song was recommended to me several years ago by a Doctor who was part of our Men’s group table. I was talking about some hardships I was going through at the time while serving in the Trail Life USA ministry and he offered me encouragement to listen to this song. I found it on YouTube and drove to work that morning needing a wiper blade mist setting for my eyeballs. That was an example of God speaking through someone else to provide me just what I needed to hear.
“Too Good to Not Believe” is another awesome healing song I’ve never heard before, or maybe I have and the words didn’t speak to my spirit at that time. It spoke to me this time!
None of this is permanent. Just like Jesus raised his friend Lazarus from the dead, it was an amazing miracle, but its effects were still temporary in the scope of time. Why? Because Lazarus still died at some point in the future. Something still got him. But I bet he still glorified God up until his dying breath.