Christmas tree time!!! Of course we ended up getting the “symmetrical” one that Caya felt drawn to😜. The #highlightreel: a lovely family steeped in tradition picking out their Christmas Tree...isn’t that lovely? The #realreel: I got off from work, tired and ready to watch This Is Us. Caya starts begging us to go get a tree. Matt is in boxers and t-shirt sitting on the couch. It’s not looking promising. Caya continues with her courtroom argument that if we don’t get it tonight, we won’t be able to get it till Thursday or Friday. Shriek. There’s something else said that makes us feel a bit like failing parents. I say something about budget. We quickly do the math...payday, gas, phone bill etc. Matt & I look at each other...let’s go we say. Caya is shocked and thrilled. She’s putting her shoes on at my budgetary constraints comment. She’s ready. Matt throws on clothes. I have time to do absolutely nothing except turn around and head to the car. We drive to the #ymca. We come here every year. They deliver the tree to your home and...set it up! Right??!!! All the way, every time. I always worry about providing. It’s what I do. But cost benefit analysis says the benefit of said Christmas Tree and family time, beats the costs of not getting it and saving the money. We head off to create a memory. Remember, we never know which ones stick and which ones fall away: solution, treat them all like they may stick around. We pick out our Christmas Tree in 10 minutes and head home. I can’t wait to get home and sit in the couch in my boxers too😉 #therealreel #christmas #christmastree #itsthemostwonderfultimeoftheyear #memories #familytime #tistheseason #grateful #life #childhood #childhoodmemories #ilovethem (at Harris YMCA) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqmya4_hGrI/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1byyfuh3zr8ai

Tomorrow...the transplant surgery will not longer take place. It’s been cancelled. There is no re-scheduled date. There was an issue with a blood sample. There are details I don’t understand. I am numb. We are reeling. We are looking forward to hope showing up again. But, right now, hope feels light years away. Please keep praying. Please keep sending the best energy you got. We need it. Once I am able to reconcile this blow with hope and redemption, I will. But for now, ya girl is laid flat. #therealreel #kidneytransplant #redemption #grateful #confused #trying #clt #buzzcity #hopedeferred (at MillBridge - Waxhaw, NC) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrRJwpEBzFh/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1f8t01a5q23x2

2 days away!!! That’s day after tomorrow!! The later sounds sooner. So imma role with, day after tomorrow😉. You know the feeling you have when you’ve been waiting for something for a really long time? And, now that time is almost upon you? It feels a bit surreal. I think, because, you’ve been living in the space of hope of the thing for so long. You’ve grown comfortable living in the “hope” space. It’s a different thing entirely when you no longer need to hope in the thing. It’s here. Now. Ready for you to take it. So you sit a bit bleary eyed with shock and awe as your guide. That’s where I am: shock and awe. We’re here. We’ve never passed this way before. We’re trying to take in every part of the view and journey. The car is about to stop and we’re about to get out. It’s the Grand Canyon. We know the view is going to be unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. We can’t wait to see it and experience every bit of it. It’s been a long drive across the country. We’ve passed through 7 or 8 states. Our legs need stretching. We’ve eaten a buffet of fast food and gas station snacks. We’ve slept sitting up so much we feel like we are shaped permanently like a chair. We’ve heard of all the amazing Grand Canyon stories. We want our own. The sign says 5 more miles. Our stomachs feels like they have feet...they’re running and flipping all over the place. We can hardly sit still. We are almost there. We will behold our own view of the promised land...in just a few more minutes. And, that my friends is where we are. We can’t imagine the joy on the other side. @bteague1173 we love you. #redemption #kidneytransplant #grateful #therealreel #friendship #friends #charlotte #queencity #clt #gma #todayshow #huffingtonpost #kellyandryan #wbtv (at Lansdowne, Charlotte) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrNhGYkByv-/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=sawhozdgb1f3

3 days till this guy @bteague1173 gives Matt the gift of life!! Many of you may not know this, so I’m gonna take a minute to break this down for you: dialysis doesn’t fix your kidneys, it merely tries to do the work of your kidneys for a few hours each week. You sit in a chair for a little over 4 plus hours, 3 days a week. They put two ginormous needles in your fistula (the entry port on your arm). You watch all of your blood go out of body, to be filtered through this extremely large apparatus that looks like something Matthew Broderick used in War Games. You get cold. Sometimes your blood pressure and blood sugar plummets. You can get sweaty. Shaky. Cramps can seize your legs and muscles. Worst case scenario, you pass out. It’s not fun. Once you lose kidney function, you never gain it back. I say this because I had a person ask me when we’re Matt’s kidneys going to get better? How long did he have to stay on dialysis before his kidneys got better. Let me be clear: they don’t get better. One would have to stay on dialysis for the rest of their life if they don’t have a...Barry. Barry is a mortgage loan originator. He is a diligent provider for his family. So much so, he’s brought his office here with him. He’s working this morning so that he doesn’t have to take PTO (time off from work) during this surgery week. He’s going to work right up to the big day. Wow! Isn’t this remarkable? It’s Grace personified. We don’t deserve it. But, it shows up anyway. Where ever we are in our lives, we got there because good people loved us and helped us. Barry is one of our good people. #friends #redemption #kidneytransplant #grateful #therealreel #clt #queencity #charlottenc #gma #todayshow #kellyandryan #wbtv #huffingtonpost (at Lansdowne, Charlotte) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrLJ--RhuGR/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=95ek2ilos566

Now for the chemistry lesson folks😜...I have absolutely perfected the look that says, “I understand everything you are saying and am completely present.” Head nods. Eye contact. And scene 🎥. #kidneytransplant #friends #life #therealreel #hope #grateful @bteague1173 (at CMC Main Hospital) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrD3cq5hrHn/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=190iotwwyj1xt

You know how you feel after a 90 minute class in college? Like, please Jesus end this now🙏🏽. Well that’s how today kinda feels. Only it’s not 90 minutes but all day. And, no matter how many stank eyes you give the doctors/nurses, you’re not leaving😜. These details...are making a sister want some day time wine🍷. Don’t judge. I just need some flavonoids😉. @bteague1173 we love you and can’t thank you enough. #therealreel #grateful #friends #atrium #life #kidneytransplant #details #charlotte #thequeencity #hospitallife #recovery #surgery (at CMC Main Hospital) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrDqRudhsRB/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=2s7yg0cyy8mv

You know how you feel after a 90 minute class in college? Like, please Jesus end this now🙏🏽. Well that’s how today kinda feels. Only it’s not 90 minutes but all day. And, no matter how many stank eyes you give the doctors/nurses, you’re not leaving😜. These details...are making a sister want some day time wine🍷. Don’t judge. I just need some flavonoids😉. @bteague1173 we love you and can’t thank you enough. #therealreel #grateful #friends #atrium #life #kidneytransplant #details #charlotte #thequeencity #hospitallife #recovery #surgery (at CMC Main Hospital) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrDqFUABkQM/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=mfb4uhxi961c

We are 8 days & 3 dialysis treatments away from a shiny new kidney!!! Which has me thinking about a book I read... Viktor Frankl wrote a book called, “Man’s Search For Meaning”. I read it some years back. It has stayed with me so gently and persistently throughout the years. He posits that man needs 3 things to derive meaning from life: 1) man needs a reason to get up in the morning...something to do, to make, to build, to add to, 2) man needs community (man needs to love unconditionally and be loved unconditionally), & 3) man needs to be able to look at his/her pain, difficulties and hardships through a redemptive lens. My challenge to you today: what lesson can you derive from past or current hurts and difficulties when you employ your redemptive lens? The gold is there people...it always is. Right under the top soil. I’ve learned about my great strength and capacity. And, I only learned about it through difficult and pressed moments. #kidneytransplant Barry Teague #friends #grateful #therealreel #strength #hope #viktorfrankl #manssearchformeaning #redemption (at MillBridge - Waxhaw, NC) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq-TTAFhYje/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=6fxsvc94hcpu