Miracle? Or Miracle!

My mother has been waiting for a kidney for over three years now; she is on three different lists and has been doing quite well despite her condition. In order to be on a kidney donor list one must be in prime health. This meant losing weight, watching what you eat and moderate exercise. The diet is not only geared towards keeping her weight down, but it is a specific diet geared towards people with kidney disease. Suffice it to say it is one of the most boring diets I’ve ever seen. Most of the things that the rest of us take for granted as edible, my mom can’t even touch.

In the three or so years that she has been on this list, she lost the original requested amount of weight and has kept it off. Because of the path that she is on she has consistently made good choices, allowing her to stay healthy thereby remaining a viable candidate for a kidney. As her son I feel that I can honestly speak for the entire family when I say: we’re all very proud of what she has accomplished.

Nevertheless it has been a challenging and emotionally charged wait thus far; and this is speaking as a family member simply observing the process. I cannot imagine what she has gone through and continues to go through emotionally and spiritually as she continually trudges forward through this seemingly never-ending waiting game. As far as I’m concerned, she is a testimony and a living example of what it means to have faith, fortitude, and courage in the face of the unknown and uncertain. Furthermore, she is not only living her life, she is living her life with gusto and a sense of enthusiasm and passion that I very rarely see in perfectly healthy people without the worries that she carries.

One day, a couple weeks ago, she walked into a store that she frequents from time to time. The woman behind the counter was used to seeing her come in. I believe it was one of those small community stores where you get the kind of personal one-on-one attention that you very rarely see in these modern times. Suffice it to say, since she first began going to the store, her and the woman behind the counter had developed something of a relationship. I doubt they were bosom buddies but they were certainly more than just casual acquaintances.

This specific time that my mother went into the store the conversation drifted towards how she was doing and how the waiting was going for a new kidney. As the conversation rambled forward, the woman spoke up and said something that left my mother shocked and amazed – admittedly in a very positive way.

“You’re going to think this is crazy, but I think I’m supposed to donate one of my kidneys to you.”

Understandably, this is not the kind of thing one normally hears when going into a community store, especially when that someone is specifically looking for kidney.

The conversation carried on for a while; my mother slowly got over the shock and suggested that it really wasn’t necessary as she was on many waiting lists and was positive that something would come through soon.

Nevertheless, the woman persisted.

Finally my mom made the comment that she felt would bring this “too good to be true” offer to an end.

“I appreciate the offer.” My mother said. “But in order for a donation to even be considered you and I must have the same blood type and I am A negative.”

The woman behind the counter didn’t miss a beat. Any doubts my mother had about her sincerity, or about the mysterious ways that the good Lord sometimes works were very quickly forgotten by what she said next.

“That’s perfect, because I am A negative also.”

You can choose to believe that it’s just circumstance, a coincidence, or just some lucky cosmic roll of the dice that happened to come up snake eyes between two people.

As for me and my family, and my answer to the title of this post; I believe in miracles, and events like this only go to reinforce that belief! I still get a lump in my throat just writing this down.

My understanding of the process now is that it’s still not a done deal. There has to be testing on I’m sure many different levels to make sure that there is compatibility and no health risk for either person involved. However, seemingly out of nowhere or by the grace of God, my mother is one huge step closer to having a kidney than she was before.

I spoke to my mother before I published this article. As we spoke of this, I asked what the likelihood that it would really happen was. Her answer, I felt, was worth mentioning:

”…there are other patterns that she will have to pass. Whether it happens or not, I still feel very

“Blessed at where her heart and faith were to make this offer. If she doesn’t match I still feel blessed to have met her and found a good friend.”

…Attitude is everything and a positive one works best!