A Faith Journey Continues

This was originally posted in April 2011. Enjoy!

I arrived in Ohio on February 6th and started work on the 14th but couldn't open up an insurance policy until the 28th. Between February 28th and March 25th I was on the phone constantly as I just kept hitting roadblocks that were keeping the cost of my meds up around the $3000 mark. On March 25th I was preparing to send an appeal to Blue Cross but I had an appointment with my new neurologist that morning. I explained the situation and how dire it was. (I had contacted my manager in Colorado in the event that I could not stay here). She took my information and filed the appeal for me Friday afternoon. She said it would take 48 to 72 hours for it to process so because it was Friday we most likely wouldn't hear anything until Tuesday. The weekend passed and I called them Monday morning to remind them how big this was. When the nurse called me back she said that they had responded Monday morning! Excluding the weekend, they had responded in less than 24 hours! We have an amazing God!

This whole situation has been engulfing and I've been thinking a lot about it from many different angles. I've spent $500 out-of-pocket and there were a couple of times hat God brought verses to mind to encourage me. At one point God brought 1 Corinthians 10:13 to mind. "God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape so that you will be able to endure it." The way of escape he would provide amounted to where he would have me go. Whether in Ohio or Colorado, God was in control. One morning I was really down and Satan was trying to discourage me. I knew what he was doing and was combating it with positive talk. That wasn't what was needed. As I tried to convince myself that Satan was wrong I just stopped. "Why am I even thinking about this?" "Get behind me Satan!" Then I started trying to remember verses and God brought to mind Proverbs 3:6 "In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will direct thy paths." It hit me. The insurance was my "path" and I just had to acknowledge him and let him work. Of course this realization took just a few seconds to come to and as soon as that happened then I remembered verse 5. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart." Again. I was stopped in my tracks. My acknowledging that God was in control was evidence of trust.

Abraham has been a source of inspiration to me over the last few months. When God told him to go he went. His contingency plan was that God would provide. On the mountain with Isaac it was again the same. "God will provide." But let's face it. We really don't know much about Abraham. Sure there are some stories about him in the old testament but by in large we don't know much. However, we know he lived over 100 years. A lot can happen in 100 years! I wonder how many times during that century on earth Abraham had to come up with a contingency plan. We know about a couple of his plans that involved him lying and that didn't go over very well. What about the others we don't know about? I think God was asking me to develop a contingency plan to stay here. After all, He got me here. He took care of the meds and found me a church (.6 miles away from my apartment) all in the first two months of my move.

When I was at the Doctor's appointment on Friday morning the doctor told me that one of the medications I take, Keppra, has a generic form that is no different then the brand name. I was leery about it because I've had bad experience with the generic Dilantin. But since the doctor is very good and knows her stuff I've switched to the generic Keppra. The plus is that the price to get it filled was $4. Not going to argue with that! More importantly though, I've been sticking to the "brand name only" position for a long time. God is asking me to give that to him. It's an area of my life that I really didn't ever think I'd need to give to God. Sounds weird to even say that. Not only is God bigger then insurance companies but he's bigger then generic drugs too! God can protect me with generic drugs just as he has on the brand name. Plus, it has brought my cost per month on the drugs down immensely.

This past week my computer was in the shop so I was journaling the old-fashioned way, with a pen on paper. Weird! As I was sitting on the couch writing about this whole generic thing God again brought a verse to mind. Proverbs 3:5b. "Lean not on your own understanding" . Whoa! My understanding is that generic drugs don't work with me. But what if God knows something I don't? Who am I kidding? H created the mind that created the generic drug!

In Judges 8:27 Gideon has beaten the Midianites with just 300 men. An amazing story! I heard it in Sunday School growing up but I never heard this:

"And Gideonmade an ephod of it and put it in his city,^(B) in Ophrah. And all Israel^(C) whored after it there, and it became a^(D) snare to Gideon and to his family."

I had to look up the word ephod. It was an apron that the priest would wear but it was also an object that was worshiped. An idol. I heard a pastor say once that you worship what you focus on. For Gideon and his family it was an idol. Is it which kind of drug I should take for me? Would I stoop that low? I did. The generic verses brand name was too much of a focus and would've become a real snare. Inevitably I wouldn't have been able to see God work. He is working and will continue to!

A Faith Journey

My last week in Colorado Springs was very busy. When I started looking into this move I had been watching Kaiser Permenante's web site to see what states they were in. I saw that they were in OH and since it didn't specify an area I thought it included the entire state. Some would (and did) say that I should have looked into the insurance in more depth and to a point they are right. I think God had another plan in mind though. I believe all he wanted was for me to see that Kaiser was in Ohio because from the time that I came to the realization that God was opening the door for me to leave Colorado Springs he has been working in many ways. He was actively working to get me prepared for this move. From sermons to my devotions he was continually impressing on me the desire to make this move. I've considered myself a sort of Abraham. Imagine if you will Abraham living in the land of Ur. God has told him he wants him to move but didn't reveal where. The week Abraham leaves he goes up to the gate of the city and is talking to the guys.

"Abraham! Word around town is that you're moving. Where are you going?"

"I don't know. God hasn't told me yet."

"Okay. Do you at least know what direction you're going?"

"Nope. God hasn't told me yet. I'll get up on the day I leave and God will direct me."

I can see these guys thinking that Abraham is off his rocker. God told me he wanted me to move and with all he's done I'd be crazy to say it wasn't his will.

Everything was going well until my last week. The insurance issue rose its ugly head and threatened to nix the move. My boss was even holding a spot for me just in case it fell through. I had a hard time believing that God would have brought me through all this, working in specific ways to make this move happen, and then turn around and say "Gotcha! I was just teasing." No. He would and did work it out. i won't go though all the red tape I had to go through but I will say that when it looked like the move wasn't going to happen God came through. My last Friday I went to church on Friday night and the speaker's message was this: "Wherever you go, whatever you do, carry the name of Jesus." Then Sunday in my devotions I read about Isaiah seeing God work within the pressure of his circumstances. As I was getting ready for church on Sunday morning I kept hearing songs on the radio that reinforced the peace I have about this move.

Now as has been the case around the country (and world for that matter) there has been some pretty crazy weather. In Colorado Springs on Monday it was -14 degrees with a windchill of -44. Tuesday the Midwest was getting pounded with snow and all the flights into Minneapolis were rerouted. My flight was rescheduled for the following morning at 630. We got on the place and because it was -12 the engine didn't want to start and all the water in the plane was frozen. This caused a two-hour delay as they thawed all the pipes because as the pilot said "If the pipes burst, ice will form in the bottom of the plane and things will start to fall off." I ended up getting to Dayton about two hours after I was supposed to. But I did get here and am sitting on the couch in my apartment. I start work Monday night. The adventure continues!

A Crazy Awesome Development

The story of my move to OH continues...


In April 2011 I was getting to the point in my partial refill where I needed to get the rest of it. So I called to get it refilled and found out that the prescription was wrong which meant I ran out too soon and insurance would not cover it until the 11th. Plus the price was no longer $394. It was $700. Not good. So I called Medco and told them that I had received a letter from them stating that my copay had been lowered and yet I was being asked to pay $700. So the lady went into my case file and noticed that there was a discrepancy. If I understood her correctly when the Lamictal was entered in the system they didn't know the strength or it was for the wrong strength. Whatever the case, because it wasn't the correct strength I was getting charged for the wrong strength. It's really hard to explain. The point is I was paying too much because of a mistake. Okay. SO she went in and made the necessary adjustments and told me to call the pharmacist and have him run it again and the copay should come up correctly. Now as I may have stated in my previous post the price after the appeal was $394. Unreasonable but manageable. On April 7 I called the pharmacy and had them run the script. Total price: $157.00!!!! So now, because I'm on the generic Keppra and am being slowly taken off the Dilantin my TOTAL cost for drugs will be $161.00 a month! That's a far cry from the $400 plus I would've been paying and is actually the price quoted to me before I even left Colorado! We have an amazing God and he is still working! Gotta love it!

My Favorite Walmart Memory

I was going to Finlandia University in Hancock, MI for a semester and was working at Walmart unloading trucks. We had finished unloading for the day and were working freight in the pet department. Now while working if I needed to get past a woman of any age (but especially college age students) I would say "Excuse me ladies." On this particular day a lady was standing next to the fish tanks with her daughter. When I walked by I said, "Excuse me ladies." As I walked away I heard the girl (I have no idea how old..maybe five) say, "He called me lady!" WOW!!! In the 18 years with Walmart/Sams Club THAT was the coolest thing that has ever happened to me  Okay. Enough reminiscing for one night. It's time for bed.