On May 17th, I received some devastating news from Piedmont Transplant Center in Atlanta where I had been four years on the transplant list for a kidney. They abruptly placed me on the inactive list, which meant they would no longer be working to match a kidney for me. I was devastated. My friend told me recently that she feared I would give up on the process, but instead she watched me gather up my courage and move forward.
There’s a reason for that, something that empowered me to find another route on the journey that would eventually lead to a transplant. The reason? I call it surrounded by love and all that goes with that kind of love. I found it, I think, at a meeting of Baptist women ministers held at my house on May 17th. After the news from Piedmont, the last thing I felt like doing was hosting a gathering. But they came, a group of women I didn’t really know so well. One of them was a close and trusted friend. The others were friends I needed to know better.
As we enjoyed one another’s company, I avoided talking about my disheartening news, but eventually someone asked about my progress toward a transplant. I could have responded by sobbing uncontrollably. I could have simply said that the process toward a transplant is ongoing. Instead I took a deep breath and gave them the details.
Now you must know that each one of them is a trained and gifted minister, so they knew what to say and how to say it. But the end of the conversation caught me completely off guard. Everyone stood and they created a huddle with me in the middle. It was a hugging huddle — one big, comforting hug. Those moments were comforting, empowering, encouraging, full of grace. My friends mothered me and then they prayed for me, each one.
In those moments I was surrounded by love that has grown deeper with the passing days. From that huddle I was graced with the will to go on, and I did. On November 15, if all goes well, I am scheduled for a transplant at Jacksonville’s Mayo Clinic.
All because I was surrounded by love, a love that I know will not let me go.
God of the Sparrow 🌱 By Kathy Manis Findley 
You are indeed surrounded with love that will not let you go! Thanking God for the women in that hugging huddle and for all who continue to hold you up in prayer and love day by day. May all go well as you approach the transplant day, in the transplant itself and every day that follows.
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Thank you for your lovely, encouraging words. I am always amazed when I realize how far the circle of love reaches.
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And the huddle grows larger and larger. In a little less than 6 months despair has turned to hope … but of course you understand that it came from you in the center — the perimeter sustained and kept your hope from dispersing. (Some geometry teacher will fault me for that but you know what I mean!)
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Yes, the huddle does grow. What grace!
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Beautiful painting and blogđź’™
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Thank you, cousin.
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