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Blogs by Elizabeth Proske
Mixed Blessings 3/21/2013 1:35:02 PM
. I just returned from the hospital, where I sat at the bedside of a beautiful, happy 23-year-old girl who just received a long-awaited organ transplant.I’ve known “Crystal” and her family since she was 9,so she’s kind of special to me. That means I’m biased, I guess, when I say Crystal is a sweet, talented, precious young lady who deserves better than the painful, stressful, in-an-out-of-the-hospital life she’s lived for so many years.I know there are still obstacles ahead - Crystal’s body could reject the new organ, the medication leaves her susceptible to horrible infections, there are all kinds of ugly possibilities I don’t even want to consider -but now, at least, there is hope that she will one day live a more normal life.
In order for that to happen, someone had to die.
As Crystal’s name neared the top of the recipient list, her mother and I became gruesomely optimistic, even speculating as to what type of donor would provide the best transplant forCrystal. But when it finally happened, the reality hit hard that a real person had died. Even while Crystal’s family and I rejoice together at the blessing Crystal has received, our hearts break for the family whose teenage son lost his life in a motorcycle accident.
Suddenly, without warning, a young life was ended, the life of a son, a grandson, a brother, a friend. He undoubtedly had hopes and dreams for the future, just as Crystal does. But he also had chosen to be an organ donor, knowing that he could die unexpectedly one day, and he wanted to leave behind a chance for someone else to live.I never met this young man, but certainly his family felt the same way about him that we do about Crystal - he was unquestionably a beautiful, courageous, and unselfish person, and I weep for their loss.
When Crystal recovers from this operation, I know that the way she lives her life would make the young man proud that he had a part in it.For a long time to come, each morning she awakens, she will be aware that there is part of someone else inside of her, and she will be thankful to him all over again.
And I am reminded once more of Christ’s sacrifice. He, too, died so that we could live, on a much grander scale. Will my life make Christ proud that He died so that I could live?May I always be aware of the Savior Who lives inside of me, and may I never give Him cause to regret that He gave His life for me.
...so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work, increasing in the knowledge of God. Colossians 1:10
