The Lord is clearly seen from the very beginning and throughout this incredible story. Monica and Mark had no idea how the Lord’s hand was already orchestrating everything together for His purpose. They found out they were expecting a baby and were very excited for the news. However, after a series of tests, the baby was diagnosed with Potter syndrome. This is an uncommon illness described by the physical characteristics of the unborn child that develop when there is too little amniotic fluid in the uterus during the pregnancy. The prognosis was not good; in fact, the doctor expected he would be delivering a dead baby. So, if that were to happen Mark and Monica resolved they would donate the baby’s body to science. However, God had other plans. Psalm 139:15 “For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.”
Monica felt excruciating pain after her water broke. She was rushed to the hospital; a few pushes and MJ was born. MJ looked pale and fragile; he was placed under comfort care in hospice, but by the third day, they were able to bring him home. As the Lord would have it, MJ was removed from hospice. God is so faithful!
By the time, MJ was two years old he was placed on dialysis and listed for a kidney transplant. Monica and Mark were experiencing so many different emotions; one moment they were excited for MJ, but simultaneously torn that someone else had to be dying for their son to live. Finally, on May 17th, 2018 the Lord provided a perfect match and MJ was put through all the transplant lab work. MJ was admitted to the hospital late in the day. They administered a drug to make him comfortable, and as Monica left the room, she turned to look at MJ. He had the biggest smile on his face and she thought what a great way to capture his sweet innocence and God’s mercy as he goes into the operating room. The Lord was assuring her that MJ was in good hands. After all, the Great Physician and the Miracle Maker were in charge.
There was another God moment, during the surgery, , when at one point, MJ didn’t seem to be responding well to the new organ, so the physician removed the kidney, placed it back in the cooler and the team considered aborting the surgery. However, as God would have it, one of the surgeons was also a liver specialist. After deliberation, he took a vein from a liver in the freezer and wired it into the kidney to complete the transplant. Psalm 147:5 “Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.”
One of the many tests and procedures that MJ went through was an ultrasound where they found a lump in his liver. The ultrasound indicated MJ was in the very early stages of cancer. A month later MJ had surgery to remove the tumor and began chemo treatments, with the last one being administered right before Christmas 2018. Another God moment; had the doctors not been testing the kidneys the cancer would not have been found. Romans 11:33 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!”
So here we are in 2022, the Lord has blessed us with MJ for six years. He is a strong, sweet, happy, energetic boy. We continue to pray for MJ because chemo is so toxic the kidney is not doing great, but it is stable. Praising the Lord for one more miracle. God is great and He is eternally faithful
