Friends old and new, family, community, and strangers new to our story, thank you so so very much for journeying with us. I can not even believe all that has transpired over the last two weeks.
Two weeks ago today we were woken up by a phone call at 4 am. They first called my number and my phone was on vibrate. When they couldn’t reach me they called Jasons phone. When we saw the area code our hearts dropped. Jason answered the phone and in a shaky voice he just kept saying ok. He motioned to me to come over to the phone and I motioned back to him to get me up. We both knew I couldn’t get up on my own but when your in a adrenaline situation all logic goes out the window for a second. He put the phone on speaker and got me out of bed and into my chair. We sat there hearts pounding trying to take in all that the transplant coordinator was telling us. We have the perfect heart for Noah, you need to check in by seven am, have him eat something before he comes, he doesn’t need to take his meds. We tried to listen but so much was going through our brains. The biggest thing was Is this really happening? Is our son really going to get a new heart? We have been talking about this for ten years and we knew we could get a call at any time but nothing really prepares you for the moment you get the call. We hung up and held each other for a minute taking in all we just heard. We took a deep breathe and went and woke Noah up. We brought him into the living room sat on the couch and delivered the news. He sat there stunned and said ok. I couldn’t fight back the tears and told him it would be ok that we have been anticipating this for a long time. We prayed together and asked him what he needed. We began to pack, make phone calls, and deliver the news to the rest of the family.
The ride to UCLA was quiet and seemed strange to me that life was still going on all around me. I knew that this was big and that our lives were about to change significantly. I knew this was all God’s plan from the beginning and to quote C.S Lewis “ I have no doubt that the Lord will be good to us I just don’t know how painful that good will be.” I lacked the physical and emotional energy needed to get through this. It would take the Lord’s hand and all of you to help carry us through and that’s exactly what happened. You all took care of every need before we could even think of what was needed. Your prayers and scripture held me together. It took almost twenty four hours before they wheeled Noah to the operating room. It was the hardest thing to watch them wheel him away knowing he would no longer have the original heart God designed for him. My body was so painfully exhausted. Dear friends of ours got us a nearby hotel room within walking distance to the hospital. I took some Benadryl to help me sleep and my sweet friend stayed to take care of me so Jason could wait for updates. I didn’t move for four hours and woke up in time to hear that the transplant was a success and he was in recovery. Praise Jesus! (Part two of this story to come soon)
I saw the Lord’s hand in preparing our hearts for this very moment in some big ways. Exactly a week before the call Noah and I had a conversation about transplant and we were talking about what we thought would be the ideal time. Essentially we came to the conclusion that there wasn’t an ideal time in our minds and that we needed to trust that God knows best. It was good to have this moment and I believe God was preparing our hearts. Also the week before we got the call our good friend Jason Oakes was preparing to speak on Luke 12:22-34 at our church. If your unfamiliar this section of Luke was on Anxiety. Jason Oakes emailed Jason and I to ask us our thoughts on how we deal with anxiety while walking through suffering. This caused me to study the passage and read back through previous blogposts. We invited Jason over to talk through some of our thoughts. He came over on Thursday. It was a great evening talking through the ways in which worry equals God forgetting and trust equals God remembering and how important it is to be seeking first the kingdom of God. This would be helpful to me in the coming weeks. Not only myself but Jonah poured into this passage and it was most encouraging to him the week of Noahs surgery. Saturday Jason and I spent the day on our patio talking through a message I was preparing for an upcoming woman’s bible study. We talked through Joy and pain in suffering and how they coexist. We talked through our story and the crazy year we have had so far not knowing what would come the following week. On Sunday Jason Oakes preached the Luke 12:22 passage and our hearts were encouraged to Seek First the kingdom of God instead of seeking our own kingdom. Tuesday afternoon Hannah was editing her testimony for her upcoming baptism and she broke down in tears. She was overwhelmed thinking about how sick her brother was and the fact that he was going to need a new heart. This led to a beautiful conversation about transplant and all that God had done over the last ten years for Noah and our family. These moments were not coincidental. God in his goodness had been preparing our hearts right up until the very moment we received that phone call. He didn’t stop there. He continued and continues to provide exactly what we need.
Stay tuned for part 2
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