A YEAR AGO TODAY It was a pleasant fall day, Tuesday, November 27, 2012 when we received a call from the Transplant Center of University of Mississippi Medical Center asking us to get to Jackson as soon as possible. They wanted me to come in and wait as a ‘standby’ for a kidney transplant. My first response was one of reluctance as I thought within myself that ‘I don’t really want to go to Jackson as a standby.’ This would be the third time being summoned to come down and the first two were met with disappointment. I didn’t know that there could be numerous attempts to qualify for a kidney. There are so many tests to determine if ‘this kidney’ is suitable for ‘my body.’ But the Lord quickly reminded me that I’d gone down before with uncertainty, and you can do it now. So, I promised we would be there by 10 AM. Now imagine that I’m in a rush to get there as promised but I can’t get myself together, nor can my wife. It was as though we were in some kind of slow motion! And I promised a 10 AM arrival! Why’d I do that? Normally it takes two hours to get there from home. Time is passing fast but we are moving slow. Finally, around 8:30 AM we’re driving away from the house. Finally!! But with the knowledge that the promised time of arrival is in jeopardy! I prayed and told the Lord my situation and what I was trying to do. Now don’t judge me, but I said to Him, ‘I’m putting the flashers on and setting the cruise at 85 MPH!’ Now Lord, (in my show-‘nough Pastor Ware voice), will you protect us with your grace by going before us and coming behind us, and make the way plain, amen.’ And with that we headed south and watched God cause people to pull over for us, giving us access to open highway and police letting us pass without stopping us, so that at 10 AM, we pulled in to the Emergency Room entrance, I got out while Suzette parked the car. I headed straight in. And yes, you can drive to Jackson in one hour and a half from Coffeeville!! Again, it was another five to six hour wait. Waiting is a part of the process. But while we waited, we met another family facing the same possibility. And we shared with them our previous trips to no avail. But we encouraged each other. The surgeon and other doctors would stop by the room to encourage us without any certain answers until around 5 PM, while Suzette was away from the room, the surgeon walked in and said, “The kidney is yours.” My head fell back onto the pillow as I had mixed emotions about this news. Someone else has to go home disappointed; this is my time; my prayers are being answered; the surgery is going to be tough and recovery will be a challenge; “Can I do this? Yes I can, He’s brought me thus far . . .” Where is Suzette? We share everything together?” From that point, it was full speed ahead; call the girls, call Jonathan, call family, call friends, and above all, call on the Lord. Full speed ahead with all of the prep for surgery! At around 6 PM I was rolled to the operating room and was completely asleep when I arrived there. This kidney was so ready for my body and worked immediately. No waking it up to a new body or anything. It worked fine . . . and I was awake and back in my room around midnight. The kidney worked . . . and it still works fine. It has given me a new lease on life and a new quality of life . . . energy level, time given back to me now that I don’t have to go to dialysis, and I just feel so much better about my life. I’m doing better and I am living better, serving better, and giving back. And it’s all because a year ago, the Lord blessed me by answering my prayers and the prayers of the righteous all across the land. It’s cold today with the wind’s chill making it seem colder, but I walked this morning and I saw the bright beams of sunshine come over the hill to the east of my house. And it was and is so real for me what my parents and fore-parents sang in years gone by, “It’s another day that the Lord has kept me.” I see the sun and I feel the Son . . . ‘it’s another day,’ and a year later! Bless the Lord, O my soul!!!!
Posted on: Wed, 27 Nov 2013 15:45:54 +0000
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