How many body parts can you donate?
joeacast
Do you know how many body parts you can donate to others? You can donate your eyes, parts of your skin, your heart, your kidneys, your liver, your lungs, your blood, your hair and even your bone marrow. It’s kind of amazing. However, while you’re alive, you can only donate a few of those -- so don't overdo it!
My wife has always been an inspiration to me and her actions this week tell you why. She has just recently finished an extensive surgery to donate one of her kidneys to a dear friend. As I have watched her walk through this process the past eight months, my love and admiration for her has only grown.
A lot of people have asked why Traci was willing to do this for Rhonda. Rhonda is an amazing woman and of course, her own double-kidney failure is a serious issue. Without Traci’s kidney (and please pray that Rhonda’s body will accept the new body part!), Rhonda is destined for dialysis, 2-3 times a week for the rest of her life. And while dialysis is an amazing breakthrough in science and technology, it is a procedure that often diminishes ones quality of life substantially. But Rhonda wasn’t the reason my wife donated her kidney yesterday.
Hearing of Rhonda’s condition, my wife felt moved by God to do something. She walked through the doors of pre-screening, and when she passed each stage of the process, she continued to follow God’s leading. Throughout the whole process we both knew that God could shut down the opportunity at any time, but He seemed to do just the opposite. Instead of turning away my wife’s desire to help, He made it more and more a reality. A deeply personal and passionate relationship with God is why my wife has endured a kidney donation for a dear friend.
You see, my wife is a living, breathing example of what it means to live the Overboard life. Unlike many of us, Traci is ready to jump out of the comfort of the boat in a moment’s notice, when Jesus calls her, just like Peter in Matthew 14. In that story, when the storm was raging and everyone around was terrified, Peter obeyed Jesus’ call and he jumped out of the boat to walk toward Jesus. There are a million reasons to keep both of your kidneys, but when Jesus asks for one of them -- that’s all the reason my wife needed to part with it.
Following Christ is serious business. It is not for the faint of heart. More than once, Jesus saw his “followers” turn away when they realized the high cost of being called one of His disciples. It’s not that everyone will have to cough up a kidney -- but each of us must be willing, when Jesus calls, to jump out of the boat and follow Him anywhere He chooses.
Today is the 50th Overboard blog. And while we’re right in the middle of a 5-part series on remarkable living, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity this milestone (50 is a big blog number) gave me to brag on my wife. More importantly, I hope the story of my wife gives you a visible illustration of what Overboard living looks like.
If all goes well, our 100th blog will occur around April 18th. What are you doing right now, to live the Overboard life? Will we be able to tell your story of remarkable living when that day rolls around?
Go ahead and take the plunge, life is better on the water!