Prayer of Obedience

Early in 2009, I found myself seeking God and yearning for a deeper relationship with Him. As I sought Him, I committed my life to Him unlike anything I had ever done before. I answered Him like Isaiah, “Here I am Lord, send me!” I unconditionally gave myself back to God as a “living and holy sacrifice, acceptable unto Him, which is my reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1). I believed that God was going to show me a side of Him that I had never seen before.

In June that year, I was at work when an email came across my computer. It was a plea for help from a woman named Kim, in Okaloosa, Florida. Her boyfriend, Johnnie, a deputy sheriff for the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease years earlier. At the time of the email, Johnnie had less than 10 percent of his kidney function remaining. It was extremely difficult for him to carry out his duties as a deputy sheriff as well as just normal daily activities. Johnnie had served his country for seven years and the citizens of Okaloosa County for 23 years. He sacrificed his life to serve others.

Johnnie had accepted his plight, doing dialysis three times a week, four hours each time. But the dialysis was taking its toll on his body and unless God intervened his future was not good. So Kim took matters into her own hands and sent out an email to every sheriff’s office in the state of Florida pleading for someone to consider helping her boyfriend and donating a kidney.

I read the email and knew that I had been called to help Johnnie. I printed the email and called to see what I could do to help.

I contacted Johnnie’s transplant coordinator and told her that I would like to help Johnnie if I matched him. I completed a couple of telephone pre-screenings and successfully passed. I did some preliminary blood pressure checks, blood work and a urinalysis test.

I didn’t tell anyone about what I was doing as there was no need to draw attention to myself. I also didn’t want to create any anxiety in my wife unless it was necessary. So I waited for the results of the first series of tests, giving it all to God. If it was His will, then He would open the doors and allow me to get through the testing process and match Johnnie.

Finally the results came back: I was good to move on to the next phase of testing which required my wife and me to go to Tulane University in New Orleans. At this juncture, I discussed the idea of becoming a living kidney donor with my wife. She had some reservations, but supported me and knew that I had committed this to God.

After a complete battery of tests (CAT scan, stress test, more blood work to include a tissue typing and cross matching, urinalysis, and EKG), my wife and I met with the entire transplant team. They conducted a thorough interview with us to discern if our motives were pure and whether we were ready for such a decision. If my stats matched Johnnie’s, my file would be presented for approval by the transplant team and the directors of the university.

Miracle #1 – successfully passed every test and matched Johnnie
In September I was told that I was a match for Johnnie and a surgery date was set for October 27, 2009. The result was that God saved Johnnie’s life through me.

Miracle #2 – perfect match
I found out that I was not only a match, but a perfect match, which means that I matched every marker for which they tested. The odds of a complete stranger matching someone are 1 in 30,000.

Miracle #3 – Johnnie’s recovery
When Johnnie came to Tulane he was scheduled to have dialysis, but the kidney did so well that it was not necessary and he never had to do that again.

Johnnie and Kim have become best friends with my wife and me. It has been over a year and we still stay in touch.

This has been a very emotional time for me and has changed my life. I often tell Johnnie that I got more out of this than he did. My motivation was spiritual; it was about being obedient to what I had committed. God heard my prayers and saw my heart. I am humbled that He chose me to demonstrate His love and faithfulness to Johnnie.

My purpose in life is to be salt and light, to try and make a difference. Words can’t explain the gratitude I have that God allowed me to experience His unconditional (agape) love as it flowed through me to Johnnie. It has been truly amazing and life changing.

As a result of this sacrifice, Kim rededicated her life to Christ. Our story also gave hope to another family at my agency who was facing the exact same situation. They sent out their own email to every person in the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and a fellow deputy was inspired to donate her kidney too.

God took one act of obedience and saved two lives and one soul to my knowledge.

Over the months as I have processed this, I have come to learn that true agape love is unconditional; it is love in action; it goes against natural tendencies. People don’t understand why I would help a total stranger. The tragedy is that even many Christians don’t understand it.

Jesus commands us to love our neighbors, to love others like ourselves, and to imitate His example. If Christ laid down His life and demonstrated agape love to others, so should we as Christians.

The reality is that organ donation is a serious problem. Over 108,000 people in America are waiting for someone to step up and make a difference in their life. In the week and a half Johnnie and I were at Tulane, five of the people that Johnnie did dialysis with died because they did not receive their miracle.

Christ was obedient and gave me the free gift of eternal life. He demonstrated His love for me when I didn’t deserve it. The least I could do is be a “living sacrifice” and follow His example to save someone else’s life.