I have a friend and sister in Christ
whose name is Jennifer. I won’t tell you
her age but I will tell you that we are both women “of a certain age”, looking
at fewer days ahead of us than those that have already passed.
Jennifer has always impressed me as a woman
who LOVES life! She seems always to be
up, seeing the glass half full, seizing the day. I love that about her. She’s a woman with lots of life left in her
and great enthusiasm for living it – and that’s exactly the kind of woman I also
want to be in these golden years. I "get" her!
You would never know it to look at her but due to a genetic disorder, Jennifer
is in need of a kidney transplant. I’ve
known this for some time, as has everyone else in our church. She is already on the list for a potential
deceased donor, however this list is very long, and the possibility of
receiving a donor this way can take 5 or more years.
A couple of months ago, Jennifer was
told that she had only 6 more months before she would need to go on
dialysis. The best time for someone in need of a kidney to have a transplant is BEFORE they go on dialysis, so Jennifer's time was running out. At the urging of her
daughters, she posted a link on Facebook inviting readers to consider becoming live
donors. She wasn’t pressuring anyone to
do this for HER, just simply putting it out there and waiting to see.
I read her post. I’ve had several surgeries myself and, I’m
ashamed to say, because I know what’s involved, I wasn’t thinking at all of lining
up to volunteer for this one! But the Lord had other plans for me!
I've said this before when people have described me as "religious". I'm NOT religious, I
have a personal relationship with the amazingly wonderful Most High God,
Creator of the Universe, Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have found that He communicates
with His children in unexpected ways – primarily through the Bible, but sometimes
with His still small voice. This time
around, He was tugging at my heart in such a way that I knew it was His “voice”
I was hearing. He didn’t so much say, “I
want you to do this”, as He did just keep bringing it to my mind.
If you have never had the Lord speak
to you in this way, then you might find that weird. I do not.
The Lord clearly wanted me to pay more attention to this “invitation” of
His to participate in something He was doing, so He would NOT let me dismiss that Facebook message.
I found myself awake at night thinking
through whether or not I could do it. I have
had surgeries, but I’m not afraid of them.
In fact my experiences with surgery, including cancer surgery, were all
so positive from a spiritual perspective that in a way, I longed to experience
that kind of total dependence on the Lord once again. During those occasions, I KNEW the Lord was
with me. It was His peace I was experiencing in the midst of an anxiety producing situation. It was He who was with me during the recovery period, giving me strength long before I expected it. Best of all, He gave me so many opportunities to encourage others and share with them what He was doing THROUGH the
experience. I can remember after the
first surgery for the removal of a lump on my thyroid saying, “I’d gladly have surgery all over again if I could only know the presence of the Lord in that close, intimate way, once more.”
So, I followed that “still small
voice” of God, and checked out the link on living donors. What I discovered was that the very first
step to take to see if you would be a compatible donor is to have the same
blood type as the recipient. Wouldn't hurt to go that far, right? Well,
Jennifer and I “just happened” to both be 0+.
Couldn’t ignore THAT “coincidence”, right?
Next step, a cross-match. I traveled into New York City to Columbia
Presbyterian Hospital to have 12 vials of blood taken. In order for us to be a perfect match,
Jennifer and I would have to match in every single point of this blood test. Considering that Jennifer and I are not
related – except as sisters in Christ – it was a leap for joy moment to discover that we
matched, in every way!
When Jennifer
called to tell me, my response was: “Well, of course!”, because I am so
convinced that the Lord is doing the leading.
Jennifer and I were like two kids on Christmas morning when we shared that news together!
With this clear direction from the Lord, I pursued
the next step. On Monday of this past week
I went back into the city for a kidney function test, an EKG and a chest X ray
and everything came back GOOD. Another round
of celebrating with Jennifer and a plan to take yet another step – more blood
work and a consult with a nephrologist.
Jennifer tells me that she knows a
lot of people going through this kidney transplant situation and none of them
has ever heard of our kind of “found a kidney donor in a week”, sort of
situation. Another reason to believe it is the Lord moving
us along.
Before you start thinking that I'm some kind of super saint, let me set the record straight. Jennifer and I are two very ordinary
women – one in need of a kidney, one with a kidney to give. We are in NO way
super women or supernatural saints. However,
we DO belong to a super and supernatural, great God, who privileges us with opportunities just like this so that we might magnify
HIS greatness.
Our request is that those of you who are prayer
warriors hold us up in this adventure of faith. But whatever you do, please don’t elevate us
to the status of super saints!
Rejoice with us over what the Lord is
doing, what He will do, and all the ways He will glorify Himself in this. Ask us about that, because that is what we really WANT
to share with you for the glory and majesty and honor of the Lord!
Yes, the Lord still speaks
today. Jennifer and I can testify to
that!
