The hand and ‘tick-tock’ on life’s clock either moves fast or extremely slow. Being on kidney dialysis for a year and a half slowed ‘my ticks’. There are also moments in life when the clock doesn’t just tick; it reveals miracles in motion.
Now, looking back on my kidney transplant journey, I’m often in awe of how precise and how perfectly everything aligned, even if the entire process took over my life for over two years. Not just… the big milestones: the diagnosis, the interim dialysis that helped prolong my kidney function, the friend that stepped up to trigger a cross-match, the angel donor, the transplant surgery itself, but the behind-the-scenes choreography that made it possible.
The timing you can’t plan. It’s only the kind you can openly receive.
- The right conversations happened at the right time – it started with family and extended family, to friends, and new people I’d met along the way. Doctors informed and prayers were lifted.
- Many stepped forward, people advocated and helped spread the word of my need, a friend stepped up to see if he was a match and went through the living donation process, and a stranger I have yet to meet gave me their kidney so that their friend could receive a kidney from my friend – who was a better match. (How would one even attempt to plan all that?)
- The right doors opened, even with my workplace, I had just started a new job and was on new insurance, but we were in a slower season.
- Being able to work from home while on kidney dialysis was a blessing too. I never knew for sure when the dialysis would end due to various issues overnight, so working from home made balancing work and dialysis easier.
- I was accepted as a transplant recipient at UNMC.
I didn’t orchestrate all this. I couldn’t have. All I did was tell God my plan, my best-case scenario, and I also happened to mention my worst-case scenario fears. As an overthinker, my brain had been too focused on everything that could go south.
But none of those fears became my reality.
God heard me, chuckled a bit at “Chad’s so-called master plan,” and replied, “I see your silly little plan there, Chad, and I’ll raise you My plan. Hold my water-turned-into-wine and watch this.”
Indeed, God had a better plan in place. Will I learn my lesson and trust in the future?
I sure hope so.
Sure, the delays felt like detours. I asked: Will this dialysis and the constant beeping at night ever end? Will I ever regain energy and be able to sleep through the night? It seemed like I was hearing, “Serving customer #5”, while I had pulled the ticket for customer #1,027. Yes, there were many prayers that seemed to go unanswered. But now I see: the waiting wasn’t a punishment; it was the preparation.
A lifelong lesson.
And when the knock on the door came on Sept 21, when the prayers of many were finally answered, when the cross-match was confirmed, when the surgery was quickly scheduled a month later, when the recovery with my care team stepped up.
It was as if heaven whispered: Now. This is the moment I’ve been preparing you for.
“This was My plan.”
~ God
I don’t believe in all these timing coincidences. I believe in divine choreography. I believe in a God who sees the whole timeline and loves us enough to hold us steady when we can’t see what’s coming next. When our brain isn’t capable of understanding. Yet.
If you’re in the middle of your own waiting room for healing, for answers, for hope. The slow ‘tick-tock’ of your clock is not an enemy. It might just be your miracle in disguise.
Sometimes, the greatest blessing isn’t just what happens. It’s when it happens.
It’s God’s timing. It isn’t yours.
The timing was nothing short of a sacred miracle, and it continues to amaze me.