I was wanting to post this on the date it all started. This afternoon as I was wondering what to blog about and I decided to just blog about it today instead. I went digging knowing it happened during November of 2010 and what I found brought me to tears. God always knows better than myself. The story started two years ago this very day, I know it isn't coincidence it came to mind.
The story started with a phone call from our friend Danielle in Georgia on November 12,2010. It was 7 a.m. on a quiet Friday morning, we were in bed and I jumped when the phone rang so early. My friend Danielle was breathless, talking a mile a minute. She had been waiting hours to call us, she had this overwhelming feeling that a phone call would come in 48-72 hours and she need to call us and tell us that. I believed her, she rarely calls and she was beyond herself.
We thought "the call was coming" and waited on pins and needles for a couple of days. I wrote about it on my blog but didn't tell too many people. We just waited and prayed.
72 hours later at 7 p.m. our friend Michelle from church called me bawling. She was so teary that she could barely get the words out. She said she had been praying that night and God told her "everything is ready for Marty's transplant and it is soon" The thing is Michelle doesn't own a computer or go online, she had no clue about the phone call 72 hours earlier. When I told her, she was bawling even more. I remember standing outside in the cold on the phone with her that night. The sky was crisp and clear but the night was very dark.
Our life was very, very dark at the time and we didn't know how things were going to end. We had a hope that God would heal Marty but we didn't know how or when? I remember one day, things were so bleak that Marty, the kids and I laid in our bed and cried, we just were so weary.
On December 15th, two of my dear friends Janeen and Viviana both strongly felt a decision had been made. They didn't know what but felt like a decision had been made and that Marty was going to get the call soon, very soon.
Two days later December 17th, Marty and I were doing dialysis in our bedroom and Elizabeth came knocking on our door asking to come in. She never did this and we yelled out "come in". She came in the door, pale, shaking and visibly shaken. This was abnormal behavior for her and we were scared. She said "Momma and Daddy, I was sitting playing my Nintendo DS in the kitchen and God told me "your Dad is going to get his transplant in one month" I heard it Mommy, I really did"
We were shocked, we immediately believed her, comforted her and prayed with her. If ever someone would hear from God, that is the response you would expect. Shock and awe. We told nobody but my parents and prayed really hard.
Two days later December 20th, Stanford called to tell us Marty was the backup candidate for a transplant. He had someone ahead of him but be prepared in case. We called everyone excitedly including our planned childcare people. Nothing we had lined up was ready and our dog ran away for two hours in the pouring rain. We deep down knew it wasn't his turn and one day later that was confirmed. The did say he was next on the list. We prayed that it wouldn't be during the holidays for the donor family and for the kids.
January 11th, 2011 almost a month to the day later THE CALL came and our lives were changed. We thought the story was so amazing as it was but God wasn't done yet. Sadly, part of the story is that my dear friend Janeen's ( the one above on December 15th) husband Bucky died the next day from lung cancer. We had both been dealing with sick husband's and praying for miracles. Marty and Bucky were already connected by sharing a birthday and now our lives were even more connected by the dates.
It wouldn't be until one year later, the story became even more deep. On the day of the one year anniversary sadly our friend Viviana lost a baby while we were up at Stanford. It was deeply sad and connected the dates even more.
We had written to the donor's family on the anniversary and his mother called me out of the blue one month later. During our conversation, this story came up. What happened next still gives me the chills.
We always sensed our donor was a male. Even that night on the phone with Michelle, she was talking about a him. We always referred to our donor as a him and that night on the phone his mom confirmed it.
When I got to the part about December 15th, his mom stopped me. She told me that on December 5, 2010 her and Jerry had a conversation. He told her if anything ever happened that he wanted to donate his organs and be a organ donor. A decision had been made indeed.
When I told her about Elizabeth, she stopped me. That happened the day before Jerry's 18th birthday, he turned 18 the very next day on the 18th. She was sobbing, it was very hard for both of us to see how this drew our family together. Jerry died on the 30th anniversary of my Grandfather's death January 10, 2011. The dates just kept connecting us. She was amazed by the story and I just couldn't believe how it all came together and everything came true.
When I went to call Janeen and tell her this amazing thing about the dates, I got the news her beloved mother had passed away that morning. Once again connecting our two families indelibly. Just another thread in this amazing story.
It just makes sense it would come to mind to write it all down forever today. I just smiled and shook my head when the date popped up at the top of the post. I sat here crying typing it all out and feel privileged this happened to us.
Some of you may not believe and that is okay, I know those of us this happened to believe none of this was coincidence and that our lives all inter connected for a reason. I hope this story blesses you, brings you a smile and shows you that "all things work together for good" even though sometimes we don't
see the bigger picture. In the end, it all lined up.
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| Elizabeth's prayer was answered |
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| Celebrating with Danielle in Georgia |
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| Janeen and I seeing each other for the first time in person |
