Losing Kidneys

“I was working with a group of underprivileged children one day when one of them came up to me and asked if I would be her father.”

-Joe Bradford

Losing Kidneys

When one of my heroes, Joe Bradford, developed kidney disease, he and his wife Denise were forced to move into, “the projects,” a low-income area of Nashville.  They immediately noticed that the neighborhood was filled with children.

One day, a child came up to their door and Joe gave her a piece of candy.  “You know what happens when you give one child a piece of candy and there are lots of others in the same neighborhood?” laughed Joe.

All of this was happening because Joe had been going through a very difficult period.  He had lost both of his kidneys and was spending nine hours each day in dialysis.  “That’s a lot of time every day!”  Joe said.  “But, I knew I had talents I could use to make a difference!”

Joe excels at music, martial arts, academics, and computer programming and decided to use his talents to help the thousands of at-risk kids torn by poverty, poor education, drugs, and murder that were living around him.  One day when he was reaching out to the children, a little girl came up to speak with him one-on-one.

“I was working with a group of underprivileged children one day when one of them came up to me and asked if I would be her father.” Joe said to me.  “Then some of the other children gathered around me and also asked if I would be their Dad!” he continued.

“I went home that night. I couldn’t sleep!  I knew the importance of being and having a father.  I struggled with sleep all night long.  When I went back to the group of kids and they called me Mr. Joe, I corrected them and said call me Papa Joe!” 

From that time on, many of the fatherless children embraced Joe, and now he’s known to the whole world as "Papa Joe."

Papa Joe’s experience has an important message for all of us.  When talking with me today, he said, “I had to become humbled! When my kidneys gave out, it was the last of many trials that really made me understand how important being humble is.  It taught me that to find yourself you must become a servant.” 

“Being a father, living in a family, is the perfect training ground for learning the principle of living as a servant!  My wife, Denise, is pregnant with our eighth child right now.  She can’t easily do things she normally can; like wash the dishes.  So I do little acts of service, such as washing the dishes, to serve her and make her life more comfortable.”

“When I was a young man, I thought only women washed dishes.  My Grandmother said, ‘I hope you learn that’s not true one day!’”  He laughed.

Joe’s story is an amazing inspiration that proves how even while facing life’s most shattering circumstances, you can overcome yourself and become a servant.  “Everyone can do it!  You just need to do simple little things for those you live with and others who live around you.  It’s as easy as washing dishes!” Joe said with a twinkle in his eyes.

His story of transformation is a tool all of us can use to spread our love to others.  He’s made me think of how I can do so much more than I’m currently doing; after all, I have two perfectly functioning kidneys.  Do you?