Good morning…
If all goes as planned, James LeBow will experience a successful heart transplant today at Vanderbilt Heart Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
For many years, his wife Brooke has been a beloved member of our women’s studies at Northside Church. Mission Circle gatherings and Sunday afternoon study each month. Wednesday morning and Friday morning studies each week. Five years ago, I wrote about a basket of love assembled by our Friday class, a basket I took to Brooke in the hospital waiting room as we anxiously waited for James to pull through his first open heart surgery to install a life-saving mechanical device. Our blog post Why Are We Afraid? was written on November 8th, 2018, revealing God’s deep truth: the very light that sustains life lies within us.
Fast forward nearly five years, until yesterday. We met beneath our back porch at 10:30 am with the same Friday class to listen to the recording of the poem I Am There and to discuss the first chapter of Learning to Walk in the Dark by Barbara Brown Taylor. Brooke let us know that just this week James had been placed on the transplant list at Vanderbilt, awaiting a viable heart, and that they had to be ready to leave for Nashville at any moment. Our class ended a little after noon. At 2:23 pm, Brooke called in shock. Having just received the call from Vanderbilt, they needed to be admitted to the heart center in Nashville by 9:00 pm. By her request, I reached out to the pastoral care department at our church, our Mission Circle leaders and all of the women in our shared study groups. We asked everyone for fervent prayers, prayers for safe travel, prayers for the grieving family forced to say goodbye to the heart donor, and prayers for a successful transplant surgery this very morning.
At 11:09 pm last night Brooke emailed me, “James and I just listened to the I Am There poem together. Just what we needed. Thanks for helping to spread the word – we so appreciate each prayer and feel all the love and support.”
Please join us in this powerful web of loving support as we pray for James and Brooke on this life-giving day as he receives a healthy new heart. Together might we lean into God’s promise spoken through Isaiah 45:3 (NLT)? And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness — secret riches. I will do this so you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name.
No doubt, the great I Am is there!
…Sue…
