Book vs. Movie: My Sister's Keeper

I had the interesting pleasure to read the book "My Sister's Keeper" while I was on dialysis and awaiting the kidney transplant from our awesome friend Dan. (If you haven't read the book, it's a tear jerker, and you can find the plot at the link above). It was definitely interesting to read a story of someone else, although fictional, going through dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant. The donor in this case is Ana, Kate the patient's sister who was created as a designer baby to essentially save and be a constant donor to Kate who is suffering from leukemia. While my kidney failure was from Lupus, it was interesting, thought provoking, and frightening to think that on a whim my donor could suddenly change his mind regarding donation.

Fast forward 6 months later to today when I watched the movie rendition of the book. Now we all know generally movies aren't nearly as good as the book was and I believe it to be the same with this movie. One of the things that really struck me as an organ transplant recipient was the incorrect information that the actresses kept repeating for the reasons to not donate a kidney:

1. You can't play sports

2. You can't have kids

3. You can't be a cheerleader

With the exception of contact sports not being recommended, these are grossly untrue.

I really struggled with this during the film. What if this movie was someone's only exposure to potentially donating a kidney? What if someone wasn't given a second chance at life because they thought this to be true? Now I know it's just a movie, but doesn't film as a media medium have some responsibility to keep things semi accurate? Especially when you are portraying so many other medical issues throughout the film, why would you drop the ball at that point.

If you've ever even considered being an organ donor, whether donating while you are alive, or after death, be sure to check out Donate Life.

Happy New Year!

2010! Hard to believe it's already four days into the new year. I'm not big on making resolutions, but there are a few things I want to accomplish this year:

Get back into shape (lose the post transplant gain)

Be more intentional about my quiet time

Spend more quality time with Andrew

Spend more quality time with Randy

This is a big year for our church, as we are launching from a service at an established church into a full fledged church of our own. Please pray for Elevation when you think of it, there are many needs to be met when it comes to planting a church and God has it under control, but your prayers are always appreciated. Please also pray for other church planters in the area, especially our friends Bobby & Rachel as they will be leaving the "safety" of his worship pastor role at CLC and starting their own church to reach the unconvinced of Santa Cruz.

We're looking forward to and praying for a hospital free year (the first in at least 3 years), planning a trip to Ireland in the summer (the first time overseas for Andrew & Randy) and praying for constant work for Randy, construction was very slow and difficult this past year.

Wishing you all the best for 2010!

Merry Christmas!

So obviously it's been a while since I updated my blog, hope everyone had a great Christmas with family & friends.

We had a fairly relaxed Christmas, none of the normal driving to a bunch of different cities to celebrate with various relatives this year. Christmas Eve we invited R's and my parents over to have dinner and share gifts with Andrew. He loved being showered with all the grand parent attention!

Christmas day we spent by ourselves as our little family unit. It was a fabulous, blessed day. Andrew opened gifts in the morning, we had a family breakfast, then went to see "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" (the boys pick...I tried for "The Princess & The Frog" ;). It was a new experience to see a movie on Christmas day, but something all 3 of us really enjoyed.

After the movie we went up to UCSC to walk around and enjoy the gorgeous December weather. God has truly blessed us with a fantastic place to live! The pic above is from our time at the Upper East Field. R and I didn't do presents this year, but gifted each other with the gift of presence. It really was nice to have a simple Christmas where we could focus on what is important: The birth of our Savior.

This Christmas was especially poignant for me, and quite honestly the first time I've really "gotten it" as far as celebrating Christ's birth and what that meant for His life. Going through the medical crisis last year just really put me in a different place for being thankful for the time we have together and for the "little things" we normally take for granted.