Over the past 40 days or so, we at LifeGate Church have been tirelessly learning about LOVE and everything it means to live a life full of it.
Today my heart is heavy and my nerves are screaming because someone that I love very much is everything that 4 letter word stands for. My mom, Victoria VanDyke will head to surgery around 7:30am on Tuesday of this week. After the surgery she will be in bed and unable to work for 3 weeks. She isn't sick. In fact, she is quite healthy and full of life. SHE doesn't "need" this surgery, someone else needs this surgery.
About 5 months ago or so, my mom was at church and a man named Mark was on the prayer request list. Mark just turned 40 and he spends 3 days a week in dialysis. He has a rare genetic kidney disease that has affected earlier generations in his family. Mark has an amazing wife and 2 beautiful children that are going through this as well. Mark has been living with this disease for the past year. That is roughly around 160 trips to the doctor. That morning at church, my mom felt like she should do something for Mark. They barely knew each other but the Lord had laid something on my mom's heart that she couldn't deny. She approached Mark and told him that she wanted to know what it would take to donate him one of her kidneys. Now this wasn't the first time someone had offered to donate Mark a kidney, but all the other times it was close friends and family, and most of them were just saying "Man, what do I need to do to give you one of my kidneys!!" They had good intentions but never went through with it. So when this virtual stranger came up and ask what she needed to do to get tested, you can understand his scepticism.
That was 5 months ago. Tomorrow my mom will give a body part to someone else. I like to think that I am a pretty loving, giving person. I really try to show love in everything I do, but I have to be totally honest and say that I don't know if I could do what she is doing. I am so proud to call her my mother. I am glad that my daughters will one day have the opportunity to realize what an amazing Mimi they have and what an example she is.
Tomorrow at 7:30am I will ask you to pray for my mom and Mark. For the rest of your life I will ask you to try to follow her example. I'm not saying that you should donate an organ to someone you hardly know, but we could all learn from this SELFLESS act of love and kindness and try to live it out in our own lives. Thank you very much for your prayers and thank you Mom..........for being you.
