Exodus

In nine days Daddy will receive a kidney transplant, and my world will change drastically. Although I should be leaping for joy, I am terrified. God wants to lead us out of Egypt, but I, foolishly, like Israel, prefer slavery to the unknown.

A similar drastic and terrifying change happened three years ago, though I didn't know it was coming then. Daddy's kidneys failed, and our carefree (as much as you can call life with a six-week-old carefree) existence failed as well. Now I had a newborn to care for and a very sick husband whom I could no longer serve the tasty, healthy meals I had just become good at preparing, but only white bread/rice, bland meat, lettuce, candy, and mayonnaise. Then there were his 5 or 6 twice-daily prescription medications. How were we going to pay for this?

We figured out the diet well enough, and the vast majority of the meds were covered by insurance. After a year, we started daily home dialysis, and he felt much healthier. He was even able to eat a normal diet again. I have been content with our new "normal." True, three hours are eaten by dialysis every evening. And no, Daddy can't live a long or full life without a working kidney. Slavery is a bummer, but I know what to expect. We're surviving.

Now along comes a man who will donate one of his kidneys and set him free from dialysis, from kidney failure. A man sent from God to deliver my husband, our family, from bondage. Our Moses, if you will. But we know we will have to wander in the desert a while before crossing over to the promised land. Daddy's immune system will be suppressed so that his body won't reject the foreign kidney. He will have to be unbelievably careful about germs and the sun. How will I feed him without making him sick? (Israel: What will we eat?) How will I remind him daily to smother himself in clothing and sunblock without becoming an unbearable nag? (Israel: what will we drink?)

The connection to Israel is uncanny. May God forgive me if I do not learn from his Word and anticipate this deliverance not with fear, but with faith and joy.