SuperWoman: Robin Carter

Hero: a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.

Well, in this case it’s a woman. Robin Carter is a wife, Sunday School teacher, Church leader, and teacher for Palmetto State E-cademy. She is seemingly average, but things are not always as they seem. If you saw Robin on the street she would look like any other girl, but just like Clark Kent, she is something far more heroic.

It all began when Robin and her Sunday School class at Simpsonville First Baptist Church became involved with a boys home. During this time they met and fostered relationships with many boys. One boy Trey* was full of life and energy when they first made contact with him. A normal, spunky, thirteen year old boy. In a few weeks time at their next meeting, she noticed that his color was bad, he looked sick, and that was further evidenced by tubes coming out of his neck. He went from healthy and normal, to deathly ill and on dialysis 3 times a week.

Trey needed a kidney or he would die.

That is when Robin felt a call in her heart and mind to get tested. She says she “knew it was the Holy Spirit” When I asked her why she donated she told me that she was “tired of ignoring the prompting of the Holy Spirit.”

So Robin responded to this prompting, and got a simple blood test to see if she was a match. As it would turn out she is type O positive which means she is a match for anyone’s blood type. She was off to a good start.

Then intense testing began including a trip to MUSC which included a test where they injected radioactive material into her bloodstream, then put her in a machine to study how her kidneys handled the material. Throughout this process Robin was praying for God’s will in her life.

After all this testing she was deemed a perfect match for Trey, and the date was set for her to donate her kidney to him.

Right before the surgery they ran a couple more tests and a donor advocate came into Robin’s room and told her that she didn’t have to do this. They could tell Trey that a test went wrong and that she was no longer a donor. In essence they give the living donor an out. Robin did not want an out. She wanted to help Trey. She had a peace that this was what she was to do.

The kidney donation was a success. Trey was almost instantly better. Robin uses the word “restoration” in describing the experience and that God is in the “restoration business.” Trey was physically restored to good health.

Just as important as Trey’s physical health is his spiritual health. He has not been merely told that God loves him, he has experienced it first-hand through Robin’s selfless act.

As Robin and I spoke more we came back to her motivation. I had the same question most people have that is “why?”

She told me that her “driving motivation was, in a weird way, when you do something radical it will earn you the right tell someone why.” The Gospel is the reason. She went on to say that too often “Christians want to demand our place at the table. When you do something unexpected then you have the invitation not the demand”.

It reminds of the verse that tells us to be light in the world. Too often we blend in too well with everyone else when we have the Light of the World in our life.

Robin knows the truth. What’s more is that she lives the truth. She told me how God gave us more than we need with two kidneys. She gave life to someone else with the abundance God gave her. The impact of her actions for one will have an effect on many.

Robin’s example is a challenge to the rest of us to watch and listen for God’s call on our life and to do what He prompts in our hearts. Many times we ignore this prompting, but we shouldn’t let logic override God’s call on our life. His plan is always best.