As I write this blog posting I am sitting in the waiting room at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan. As a die-hard Ohio State Buckeye fan it is hard to be down here with all these large "M's" all over the place. I even had to come face to face with a statue of a legendary football coach named "Bo." I still haven't found the statue to the legendary football coach named "Woody" but I will keep looking until I do. I know it has to be here some place.
But aside from that minor irritation, I would not want to be anywhere else right now. I made the drive down to have prayer with a very special lady who right now is having a double lung transplant. It is an honor to be here and to sit with her family and friends. Our church has prayed for a long time for this day to come. The process is truly amazing. It is somewhat ironic that the "good news" call that came at 1:25 Friday morning to Sandy telling her that they had lungs for her would have also been the "bad news" call to another family whose loss was providing the organs.
My understanding is that the donor of the lungs donated all of their organs. Try to fathom that. Right now many different organs from this recently deceased life is being implanted into many other people who are receiving a most special gift. My prayer is that knowing this will bring some added peace to this family who tonight is mourning their recent loss. My greatest prayer is that if the family of this donor does not know Jesus that through this experience they will come to the realization of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
As we sit in the waiting room there is another family waiting for a transplant surgery. The patient in this case is a 30 year old mother whose heart was damaged giving birth to triplets. As we compare stories of the timing of the call from the hospital it seems quite likely that she is receiving the heart from the same donor whose lungs are being put into Sandy. How amazing. I imagine that if the walls of this waiting room could talk we would hear some truly amazing stories. Modern medicine is incredible - but in the end it is God who deserves all the glory. He is the giver of life.
As I sit here I am glad that I am an organ donor. It just makes sense. After all, once I breathe my last breath on this earth I won't need them any more. My soul will immediately go to be in the presence of the Lord. My body will simply return to dust until the resurrection (I wonder how that works when part of me might be in someone else?). To think that the day of my entrance into heaven could provide joy and even life to someone else is quite the thought. In fact, I hope my heart gets transplanted into a Michigan fan.
Are you an organ donor?
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