Perfectly Practical #135 - Give Life

I love the holiday season and by that, I mean Thanksgiving and Christmas.  This is my absolute favorite time of the year.

I love the spirit of giving and receiving.  Blessings and thankfulness.  Mercy and grace.

Ever since 2010, The Little Pink House has not only participated in, but relished every moment of the 30 Day Giving Challenge.  It has been such a beautiful time for us and we have felt so blessed to be able to meet whatever needs come available - even the difficult ones.

The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the LORD. David the king also rejoiced greatly.

- 1 Chronicles 29:9  

I've written before about our good friends the Operinos and how their son Anthony was born with a congenital heart opportunity-for-a-miracle (defect is such an ugly word.)

We have held our inhales with them when their son spiked a fever out of nowhere and shared in their exhales when the doctor said it is "only pneumonia."  Only pneumonia.

We have spilled our tears alongside theirs when Anthony and Operina have had to drop everything and get to Children's Medical Center in Dallas immediately.  We have shared in the triumph of Anthony being able to attend the Kidd's Kids trip to Disneyworld after barely being cleared from Endocarditis.

A constant path of twists, turns, never knowing what's ahead - the Operinos live on a perpetual extreme roller coaster ride.  But now, there is the opportunity that they could downgrade to a kiddie coaster thanks to an organ donation.

If you read their story before, you know that his first surgery was at 9 days old and at that time, he received a heart valve from a donor.  Organ donation saved his life in the very beginning and now, hopefully, it will do it again.

I have been an organ donor on my driver's license for as long as I can remember.  The way I see it, if I have gone to be with my Maker, I don't need those organs anymore so if they can go to someone who can benefit from them, it would be like a last(ing) gift to those left behind.

But a checked box on a driver's license form is very different then staring at the page of Donate Life Texas.  And staring is what I did for a long time.

Why was it so hard to fill out that form?  I just proclaimed that I won't need this body anymore once I'm gone.  I read all of the F.A.Q.s and myths and facts, why was it so hard to finish that form?

After seeing the statistics I was overwhelmed with the gravity of what I was doing.
My body, God's creation, was going to potentially give life to someone else.
My death meant someone else could live.
My death meant someone else like Anthony could live.
Wow.

As tears streamed down my face it was no longer just a good idea, it was personal.  Although my organs won't necessarily ever go to Anthony, it is from knowing him, that prompted me to do more.  In fact, I probably will never cross paths with the future recipients of my donation, but you might.

I explained what I was doing to Engineer and he agreed that I should go for it (he himself is an organ donor.)  Then I prayed for the donors and recipients.  From each one of those grieving families that lost a loved one, there will be many more families humbled by the selfless gift that saved theirs.

That's when I pressed the continue button to save my information.
Save.  That's exactly what I want to be able to do.

If you are considering being an organ donor, I would encourage you to check out Donate Life America and from there you will be able to find a donation page specific to your state.

*Update*  As of January 1, 2014, Anthony has been given the greatest gift imaginable through the generous and selfless act of organ donation.  We pray for the donor's family and their loss and are forever grateful to them for their precious gift - the gift of life.

This is part of the 30 Day Giving Challenge and We are That Family.