You know how rapidly life can change? Just when it seems I have a handle on all of my responsiblilities, something comes along to mess up my well-laid plans. As a teacher, I'm accustomed to having to be flexible. The principal has the option to call an assembly on any given day, and I have to adjust my lesson plans to suit. Or I get behind in my teaching, having spent much longer on a subject than I expected, and now I have to play "catch up" in order to stay on track. This I can handle fairly well.
Life's challenges, on the other hand, require more flexibility and much more patience from me than I am usually ready to give. I am the type of person who loves order and schedule. I do not thrive on change; I do not eagerly accept monkey wrenches thrown into my routines. I prefer to plan out my days months in advance! This applies to Christmas gift shopping (I like to think ahead and find the perfect gift, and Chad prefers to walk into the store and get what speaks to him), family events (I want to know each detail so that I can be prepared for anything, while Chad is able to handle any situation thrown at him with ease and confidence), and---in recent days---health insurance.
Chad found it necessary to look for another job, as it has become obvious that his current job is not paying enough to meet our needs. Randle's has been very good to us, letting Chad take time off when Dale had his accident last summer and giving him overtime as much as possible; but Chad looked at his options (no more overtime, possible layoff in the winter, rising prices) and decided to seek another job. He applied to and was accepted at MBM, a trucking company who delivers products to Jack in the Box restaurants, among others. This is exactly the same job Chad had before he switched to Randle's, except that the trucking company before was J. B. Hunt. Now, MBM has the contract, and Chad looked into all the details before applying. A lot of former coworkers now work for MBM, so Chad feels right at home. He spent a couple of weeks in limbo, driving for Randle's (very gracious of them to let him keep working as long as possible) while filling out all the paperwork MBM needed. Finally, after two days of no work, Chad got called in to work at MBM and has been working steadily since Wednesday, November 21.
The only downside to all this is.........we will not be covered under MBM's insurance until nearly the end of February! We went through this no-insurance phase last summer when Chad began working for Randle's in June---and then Dale's accident occurred in August. Chad threatened to keep all the kids at home for three months in the hopes that no incidents would occur! I began to panic as I realized all the services we would be without, especially now that Dale has daily medical needs. Since Chad was still working for Randle's through November 16th, I was able to get the kids their flu shots, the girls their updated immunizations, and Dale his first of three needed shots. I thought our insurance coverage ran out on the 16th and that we would be unable to purchase more medicine for Dale. I only had about a week's worth of pills left for him! Plus, Dale needed the second shot in the series within the next few weeks, and he was scheduled for an EEG the end of December. I called Marilyn, our Group Health case manager who always is a fountain of help, and asked for her advice. She gave me some suggestions to try and then proceeded to connect me via a three-way call to the Customer Service department to find out the exact date of termination of our coverage through Randle's. Turns out, we are still covered until mid-December. So, I got busy on the phone! I called the doctor's office/injection room and scheduled Dale's second shot; I called the pharmacy and was happy to realize I could order a three-month supply of Dale's medication, which I picked up the next day when Dale got his shot. We then drove to downtown Tacoma to the Specialty Center to get Dale's blood drawn for the trough draw ordered by his neurologist; this being drawn roughly one hour before his next scheduled dose (bedtime!) enables the doctor to see if there is the right amount of medicine in Dale's bloodstream at all times. Whew!
Today I was able to reschedule Dale's EEG for December 10th instead of the 31st. Now it will be done while we are still under Group Health insurance---praise the Lord! And, it's close enough to the date of Dale's last EEG (end of December 2011) that the doctor will be able to get a good idea of how Dale's brain is working........or not working, as the case may be! :-) So, I think we are all set for the gap in insurance policies. Of course, the best-laid plans of mice and men...........well, you know. I'll plan as much as possible and prepare as much as I am able, but I'll do a lot of praying that nothing major happens to our family in the mean time!!!
Trusting God takes work, you know? I confess: I go through times where I feel I need to pray nearly constantly, asking God for help and guidance and praying He will work things out for His glory regardless of my personal wishes. Then I go through times when life settles down somewhat and I feel I don't need to pray constantly, so I don't. And then, when life throws me a curveball and things don't go according to plan---my plan---I don't have the close relationship with my Father that I need in order to be calm through life's storms. You see? Staying close to God through prayer and reading His Word benefits me tremendously; it allows me to trust God with every part of my being, while passing on His peace to those around me---unlike recent days where I've been short-tempered and anxious about things over which I had no control. Trusting God enough to stay close by His side at all times good and bad enables Him to prove His wondrous ability to make all things work together for good. And, when I let Him work all things, I can sit back stress-free and appreciate God's hand in my life. It's a win/win situation!
I Peter 5: 7 "Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you."
Kirsten, this is incredible. I was about to read one of my daily bible studies and felt a need to read your blog first. You just gave me a lesson that was better than the one I was going to read. Thank you so much, today's post was just what I needed. Another irony, I spent 18 years in Gp health insurance in their policyholder service dept lol. Your situation came up a lot, and it was a joy when I could help people wade through all of the rules and regs. Looks like you should be fine based on what you said, but isn't it nice to have our spiritual insurance as well? God truly is great! As always, you and your family are in my prayers, thank you so much for the lift that this blog gives me every day. All my best, Eric
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