Graduation Gifts

This one is graduating today. Mommas everywhere know the unique twinge that comes with this milestone. So much pride and joy, but also reflecting back and thinking of how quickly it went by. You hear it from the day they are born… that you’ll blink, and they will be grown.  And now you try to remember the last time you held their hand, they sat on your lap, you tucked them in… and you can’t.  You know your job… to guide them to stand on their own. And while you are amazed and proud, you miss that little person.  I thought it might feel different with my second one, but it is exactly the same.

But my #2 came by an unusual route; a little backstory…

In June 1989, when Sarah was 3 months old, Dr. Allee met with Kelly and me to share my prognosis. He had hoped my heart would improve after her birth, but it was still enlarged and weak. He talked statistics, meds, and even that a transplant may be needed at some point (we had no idea how soon), but all that was drowned out when he said, “no more pregnancies… ever”.

Fast forward 6 months to January 1, 1990, two months post-transplant, and the Tallahassee Democrat runs an article about a local woman who has recently received the gift of life…me!  A beautiful new heart is beating inside of my chest; yet the outcome of my surgery is still uncertain.  That evening a stranger calls our home.  He shares how the article blessed him and how God is being glorified through my story. And then he says, “who knows why He has spared you… maybe you will have a child one day”. Well, like Abraham’s Sarah, I laughed in my heart, thanked him for his encouragement, hung up the phone, and pretty much dismissed his words.

But I never forgot them. God continued to bless me and the transplant was successful in every way. “You must have gotten your long-lost sister’s heart”, Dr. Allee would say. I was able to see many milestones come and go, overjoyed to be here to share them with my Kelly and precious Sarah Jane. And I even met my donor’s family in 1994, just after the 5^th anniversary of my transplant. Dave and Vicki Brubaker gave me their daughter Tammi's heart, but also gave us their love and friendship. And three years after we met, this precious girl’s heart would give us even more… another new life, Ryan Kelly Burke.

God’s grace is amazing. He can do far beyond what we ever dream. 

Ryan Burke, I hope you know how much joy your life has brought to our family. You are intelligent, handsome, generous, and focused.  And you love like Jesus, without condition.  What a gift you are to us and no doubt you will be to many others as you begin this new leg of your journey. I am so thankful for you and proud to call you my son. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus...He has great plans for you.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. –James 1:17