Where do I begin, so much has happened in this past week!
We had an unexpected delivery just before Christmas from LA’s finest, the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Valley Division. We were given a huge box full of gifts for each of us! When PR (Pastor Ron, my pastor) told me, all I could do was burst into tears. What an honor and privilege to be chosen by them, what a humbling experience. I told Jennie and Ricky that this was just like being chosen for ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover Edition.
As it grew closer to Christmas we continued to be flooded with gifts of all kinds, some from those we know and some from those we don’t know. These things meant so much to us, so many gifts under the tree, everything from lip balm to gift certificates, Christmas dinner, homemade goodies, a bill being paid, and financial gifts. To say thank you to all who have blessed us this Christmas just isn’t enough.
There was no shortage of gifts under the tree on Christmas morning. We have food in the house and I am ever so grateful to my Lord that I can honestly tell you that all the December bills have been paid. I am really looking forward to next Christmas when (prayerfully) we will be in a place that we can pour financial blessings upon families who are hurting as we are.
I remember watching a show recently in which a family who was probably of medium income was preparing a box to give to a family who were less fortunate. As they were packing this box one of the daughters spoke up saying, “I wish we were poor so that everyone would give us free stuff too”.
It is true that we have been blessed over the last couple weeks with an abundance of “free stuff”. I thank God each and every time someone else knocks on the door with another blessing for us. He has continues to stay by my side and provides for my every need.
(Psalm 37:25 I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread.)
This journey of my life has been and continues to be such a humbling experience. God has certainly blessed me with a wonderful life!
Sunday night I received a knock at the door and before I could answer it I he
ard a beautiful Choir of Christmas Carolers. The fact that I had Carolers at my door was quite wonderful within itself, but then to see the size of this group was overwhelming. My guess was that there were probably over 30 adults and young people from my church. Honestly, this was truly one of the highlights of Christmas for me, it is a memory that I will always remember and cherish. So many of you took time out of your very busy lives to show up at my door… thank you!The God I serve is such an awesome God! I am choosing to believe what I am about to share with you is nothing short of a miracle. I couldn’t have made this up even if I tried.
With my mind being as bad as it is now, I will sometimes take the mail without looking thru it and just put it down somewhere to never be looked at again. We had received a pink notice from DWP (Department of Water & Power) at the beginning of December. With that, I knew that I would soon be receiving the final white notice that would give us a shut off date. I was hoping that by the time it arrived I would have enough money pulled together that we could pay the bill. Well, Thursday, December 20th, I found several piles of unopened mail that I had apparently put away (don’t ask me why). As I was sorting thru this unopened mail I came across the ‘final notice’ from the DWP that I had been waiting for. It read that if the bill was not paid in full by 5:00pm on Wednesday, December 12th that the electricity and water would be shut off. December 12th, wasn’t that over a week ago? I went to the calendar and sure enough it was. I panicked knowing that we had to pay this bill that day, I couldn’t put it off. However, I knew that by myself I didn’t have enough to cover it. I went to Ricky and with what he had we were able to pay the bill with about $2.00 left over.
I truly believe that God blinded eyes or at least allowed for this paperwork to be buried so that our water and power wasn’t shut off.
Continuing on, it was mid afternoon when I found the bill, Ricky had to be at work by 5:00pm and because it was raining he needed to allow for a little extra travel time. With Jennie being at work he was the only one who could take me to pay the bill. We pulled up in front of the DWP and there must have been 10 people in line. There was no way he was going to make it to work on time. I proceeded to get out of the car with my walker and headed toward the door. The security guard (yes, here in CA we have security guards everywhere) motioned me over to the exit door. Okay, I thought, he is closer to that door and is going to be polite and open the door for me. He said “Come with me, you are next in line”, (huh), “What do you mean I am next in line? I don’t want to cut in front of all these people that will incite a riot.” “No ma’am, I must insist that you are next inline. It’s a L.A. City Ordinance that whenever someone handicapped enters a City Municipal Building they must be moved to the front of the line.” “Wow”, I said, “this is just like Disneyland”, he just smiled politely and nodded. (I’m sure he was thinking I must be one of those old crazy ladies who doesn’t get out much – if he only knew.) By the way, no one in line made a peep!
Okay, if any of you are aware of this ordinance, then please share, to this day I am dumbfounded.
I had been waiting all day Thursday for my neurosurgeon to call me. By the end of the day I figured that he had probably been in surgery and hadn’t had a chance to speak with his assistant. Friday morning I received a call from his office, all I was expecting was a quick 5 minute conversation with him over the phone giving me his opinion. Instead I was told that he would like me to come to his office on December 26th at 4:30pm and to bring the brain, head, and neck films with me.
Our visit was very quick; I will be undergoing an angiogram just as soon as the insurance provides authorization (I expect that tomorrow, Dec 27th). This will probably be done one day next week unless they can get me in on Friday. This angiogram will be to look at the arteries in my head, brain, and neck.
I am anxious to get this done as it will provide very important information as in which direction to go.
On another note, I received a letter from my insurance company on December 20th. Before you read on, know that I am neither angry nor mad, I am just curious as to how God is going to take care of this. I know that this is something that I don’t have the energy to spend much time worrying about. All I can do is to put my complete trust in my Lord and watch for the outcome.
The letter stated that continuation coverage, as provided under the California Continuation Benefits Replacement Act (Cal-Cobra) will end on April 1st, 2008. In other words, no more insurance, they reassured me that they will give me a certificate of credible coverage, which will allow me to purchase new insurance. But come now, no insurance company is going to provide me with insurance!
So many thoughts running thru my mind, if the SSDI court case goes to trial before then and I win, then I will be eligible for Medicare. This would be true because I have been already disabled for 3 years.
However, going to court does not guarantee that I will win. I will eventually be deemed disabled, this much I know, it’s when that will be determined that I am unsure of. Additionally, I will not find out immediately what the courts decision is. I believe there is a waiting time of anywhere between 2 months and several months before receiving a decision.
Meanwhile, the last time I applied for Medical I was denied. I was told that if I told a couple of ‘little, white’ lies on my application that I would receive Medical, no questions asked. However, I will not lie on this application no matter how little or how white these lies would need to be. I do believe that the God I serve is a much bigger God than that.
(Psalm 139:28-31
28 “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
29 What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.
30 And the very hairs on your head are all numbered.
31 So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.)
I will be looking into applying for Medical immediately after the first of the year rolls around. I’m not thrilled that I would have all new doctors, but I will still be happy as long as I am able to receive benefits.
As I see it the third option is no insurance of any kind. This would mean no more meds and certainly no more doctor appointments. Without insurance my prescriptions average out to approximately $200 each. You do the math, 25 prescriptions x $200.00 each = $5,000.00 a month just for meds.
On the upside, option number three would probably guarantee that I would get to heaven before any of you do (hehehe). To those of you who are much too serious, lighten and laugh about this with me!
Still no court date!
I must share with you a story that a friend (Sharon) sent me after last weeks update. She had found this in a copy of Reader’s Digest… A family took the elevator to the bottom of Hoover Dam. The wife asked what would happen if the cables broke. The park ranger replied, "These cars don't run on cables. They run on government red tape, and that stuff never breaks!”
Prayer requests:
That the angiogram approval will go thru tomorrow. That God’s hand will be on my surgeon during this procedure and that all will go well during the angiogram. For the results to show whatever information is needed to in order to provide proper medical treatment.
That God will provide guidance and direction with locating medical insurance, whatever it may be.
Lastly, that calendars will clear and I will be given a court date to hear my SSDI case.
Anyway, this has been a very long update. Thank you all so much for your continued prayers.
I pray that you will have a blessed New Year and please be safe on New Year’s Eve!
Much love and many hugs,
Diana
No comments:
Post a Comment