A Little Man to Man

They say a picture is worth 1,000 words.  I am not sure if that quip is actually true, but tonight we had the joy of testing it out.  After 15 days of fun with his cousins, aunt and uncle, and grandparents, Josh returned home.

I met my parents at a local hotel around 4PM today to pick Josh up.  I wanted to take him to get ice cream, just the two of us, to talk about what was going on with Mommy before I brought him home.  For his entire life, Josh has accompanied Kimberly to doctor’s appointments.  Over the past 8 months, especially, Josh knew that Mommy’s kidneys were getting tired, and needed some help.  Before Josh left town, we told him that God had designed our bodies in such a way that someone could give Mommy one of their kidneys to help her’s since they had gotten tired.  When we told him this, Josh’s eyes got huge.  “Not mine!,” he exclaimed.  We reassured him by letting him know that Aunt Angie would be giving Kimberly one of hers.  He cheered.

We had told him that while he was gone, the doctors were going to give Mommy one of Angie’s kidneys, but we were unsure how much of that he really grasped.  Therefore, when he got home, I wanted to take him out and have a little man to man conversation with him to update him on what had happened, and to let him know what we could do to help Mommy.  So, over a cup of Braum’s chocolate ice cream, we started talking.

Me:  “Josh, a lot happened while you were gone.”

Josh:  “Yeah?  What?”

Me:  “Mommy got one of Angie’s kidneys.”  (I figured I should just get it out there.  Seems a bit abrupt in print . . .)

Josh:  “Alright!  Now hers won’t be tired anymore.”

Me:  “That’s right Josh.  Now Mommy is resting a lot as she gets better.”

Josh:  “Yeah, she can rest on the couch or in bed while you and I play Legos.”

Me:  “You bet pal.  The main thing we need to remember is that we need to be very gentle with Mommy.  She has a sore tummy and a sore neck, so we need to be very careful and loving to her, and help her out all we can.”

Josh:  “I can do that.  I can help Mommy out while she gets well.  Maybe we can watch some TV together?  That’s what I like to do when I am resting.”

And with that, we loaded up in the car and headed home.  When Josh got home, we heard all about his two weeks in a minimum of 1,000 words.  It was pretty sweet.  The pic of mom and son is also priceless.  So, at the end of the day, I got both a picture and 1,000 words.  I am just praising God that our family is back together again.  It just feels right.

In a side note, please be in prayer for Angie and her family.  She gets to head home on Tuesday after nearly three weeks to see her family again.  Her sacrifice was not just limited to her kidney, or even to her.  Kevin, Angie and the kids all gave deeply to us this past month, and we are forever thankful.