Action speaks louder than words

I got the article from my google news. Thank you Jodi who is a true believer, who action speaks louder than words. This story makes me so touch!! A gift which can't tag with any price but so value.

Thank you and thank you Jodi. May God bless you many many on earth and in heaven. Thank you!!

By: John P. Kelly - BISD Superintendent


"In 1994, on Christmas Eve, Jodi gathered with her parents, husband, siblings, and other relatives to sit down and eat their Christmas meal here in Boerne. But as her Dad was about to say grace, his pager went off and he excused himself. The pager was issued by the transplant unit and notified him that the doctors had a liver donor for him. As Jodi's dad returned to the table, there was much celebration and even greater occasion to give thanks – both for the gift and the giver. Immediately thereafter, they drove Jodi's dad to University Hospital and on Christmas morning he received that gift of life.

Her dad had eight more wonderful years because of the liver transplant – and was able to witness the marriage of his youngest child and the births of three more grandchildren. But as with many transplants, there is a mountain of medicine that accompanies the surgery and its aftermath. His kidneys were damaged and he began dialysis in 2002. It was clear that a kidney transplant would be necessary. As the family and doctors looked for a living donor, Jodi volunteered. Later, her Dad found a print of one of the scientists instrumental in transplantation advances. He inscribed it to Jodi at the bottom: “This man helped make transplants possible and I know that one day you will too.”

Unfortunately, cancer re-emerged in Jodi's dad and the kidney transplant became impossible. Even so, Jodi kept that treasured inscription in her closet. She told me her father's greatest wish was that all of his family would have “a closer walk with our Father. He used every day of those eight new years to help make that happen.” Jodi's dad died later in 2002 on the morning after his 37th wedding anniversary. But this story and his legacy does not end there.

In May of this year, a woman in Jodi's church stood up in Sunday school and asked for prayers for her husband who badly needed a kidney transplant but was not eligible for the list. He needed a living donor. Jodi turned to her mother and her husband and said “This is it!” She felt that this was the fulfillment of the inscription left by her Dad. Jodi said, “I knew without a doubt that God had been preparing me for just a time as this! I told him I was his donor. Some things in life you're just sure of, and this was one of them for me.”

The transplant technicians started tests this summer but concluded that Jodi's kidney was not a match. However, because of the Donor Exchange Program, she will donate a kidney to that program and in turn the man from her church will receive another. Both the man and Jodi will enter the hospital at the same time as another mismatched pair. Between the four of them, two kidneys will be donated to two people who need them. It's likely all of this will happen sometime around Thanksgiving. While she prepares, Jodi simply says that she “can feel the prayers lifting me up at this time. Glory to God!”

Developing the character of students who live here is most powerfully done through personal example. Jodi's willingness to sacrifice for another speaks louder than any words."