Open Doors...

It's been a month now since I updated you all on the whole kidney donation process, so here goes.  As you remember, back in September, I had the supposedly last meeting with the renal doctor and he outlined the 3 options that were available - yes, no, later.  And he said that he would talk t the surgical team and get back to me as to what they are willing to do.  If they say no to the kidney donation surgery (because of the risk of potential future heart surgery for me) then everything stops immediately.  But if they are willing to go ahead with the donation, then we can pick up the process where we left off back in July.  In any case, during this time, Becks and I prayed and talked and came to the conclusion that we are willing to go ahead with the donation.

Basically we had made the decision a long time ago, at the beginning of the whole donation process.  And the way we see it is that this decision hasn't changed - the heart defect only adds another dimension to the picture.  We had agreed to go forward as long as God keeps the doors open. We understand the potential risk of future heart surgery for me, but we also see that it is an uncertainty - it could be that I never need heart surgery.  And even if I did, it is very likely that I can make it through heart surgery with one kidney.  In any case, we don't want to live our lives so focused on the future that we are missing out on opportunities that God has for us today.  We want to live God-honoring lives today, trusting that He has our futures in His sovereign and caring hands. So I wrote an email to the surgical team, explaining this and basically sharing the Gospel with them (can't help it!).  I shared from Rom 8.28 and told them that we believe God does use ALL THINGS for good for those who are the called according to His purpose and who love Him.  That it applies now in the current situation and also in any future situations / complications.  Ultimately we trust God.

Well, this past Friday, I got an email from the renal doctor and he said that his team is willing to go ahead with the donation surgery!  That came as a total surprise to me, basically to us all!  We didn't think they would say yes.  But they said that my email showed them a few things, especially that we had prayed and understood all the options and made an informed decision.  So as long as God keeps this door open, we will continue to trust Him and walk through it!

That means we now pick up where we left off, assuming there are no other complications - for me or the recipient. ;-)  Next up is finding a surgery date - most likely some time in the new year - the end of January or beginning of February 2012.  And of course, I go through one last check-up and cross-match.  It was during that last check-up last time that they found the heart defect - so hopefully this time around I will get a clean bill of health!  So please continue to pray for us all!

Growing Up...

Our oldest son, Jesaiah is really growing up and maturing in his strengths!  What a blessing to be able to watch him doing the things he loves!  This past term, he was picked as part of a team to enter the regional Tournament of Minds competition.  The tournament has many divisions - Jesaiah's team entered the performing arts division.  For the last couple of months, they got together weekly to develop their own scripts, props, costumes - in fact, no adult was allowed to help them!  They even gave up some of their lunchtime at school and a couple Saturdays to work on the project.  But all that hard work paid off - they came in first place for their division!  Yeah!  They were so excited!

Also, this past term, Jesaiah's artwork was chosen to be displayed at the Wellington Town Hall as part of the ArtSplash competition - this is one of New Zealand's biggest youth arts festival and is divided into performing arts, visual arts, wearable arts, dance and music.  Over 100 primary and intermediate schools take part in this 2-week-long competition.  Again, well done!

(Note: the foto of Jesaiah's team is purposely blurred to protect the identity of minors.  Just in case you were wondering :-) )