It is like lightning.

by Joe

So, we are sitting in a small little room, with this lady, dear sweet lady who reminds me of a school librarian who is wicked smart.  I know she is so smart because she makes it all so simple.  She got up to leave the room, and I turned to Sarah, not to discuss the past 45 minutes of genetic counseling, but to ask 1 question that has been distracting me just a little bit for about the past half hour. 

With the lady out of the room, now was time for my question.  But first, Sarah wanted to know what I thought of the lady.  Yes, I really liked our lady too, I thought she was great.  Now is it a good time for my question?  I asked, "Is that Michelle?"  Sarah replies, "Who?  What are you talking about?"  I ask more specifically, "Is that Michelle, on the brochure?"  She looks, "Oh, yes! It is her. Wild!"  Michelle is a friend of ours whose calming smile on the random brochure in the room where we were was just another sign that eventually, we'll be ok.  God has many friends watching out for us.  In many unique ways, very unique.

The sweet genetic counselor lady was surprised and couldn't believe that we knew her since the company that sends us those brochures is in Arizona.  She simply said as we walked out, "They always pick such beautiful ladies for those pictures, never homely ladies."  I just thought, you are right about that one.  But then again, you are going to be hard pressed to find a soon-to-be-mom without that glow and natural beauty.  Michelle has got that look in this picture.  So, does Sarah, she catches me in awe.  From moment to moment these past weeks Sarah is just glowing as she smiles; as she turns and gets caught in rays of sunlight.

Later, I listened and discussed with Sarah about everything we had heard.  I was glad to know what Luke has is a lot like lightning.  The odds of being hit with it are the same for everyone.  Our wicked smart dear lady let us know that just because Luke has bilateral renal agenesis that doesn't mean our next child will have an increased risk.  The odds are still 1 in 4,000 kids.  It doesn't matter who your parents are, or what continent you live on, or what century you were born in.  The odds are the same even if your brother had it.  The NOAA's National Weather Service says the odds are higher to be struck by lightning.  They say over 80 years of life your odds are 1 in 3,000 see source. (scroll to the bottom of the page)  So what we learned is that even though we’ve been hit by lightning with Luke, it does not mean we will necessarily be struck again in the future.

To our friend Michelle, thank you for giving us a warm smile in a room full of questions and uncertainty.