The Long Awaited August First

It is August first today. The summer has flown and by God's grace I don't feel a sadness as I usually do. At this time of the summer I would begin my usual summer end grief. I would be going back to school and the days of my freedom would be in count down. Now each morning when I rise, my thoughts fly to the fleeting of time and then I remember. I am not going back this year. My mind mellows and I enjoy the day. It wasn't that I didn't like my job. I really did. I received as much from the job as I gave but it is time to turn my heart toward home.

There is another huge reason why I'm grateful this is August first. Six weeks ago Ken got a letter in the mail from the insurance company which carried me (he has been on Medicare since last December). It claimed that we had missed a payment and that it was cancelling my insurance. Ken had been struggling with them over some payments they hadn't made on my last claims and I think he got so involved in the daily conversations that he forgot to make a payment. He doesn't forget payments so it was a shock that was bigger than we could believe. The company didn't in any way remind him or let him know that a payment was late. Why would they, this was their opportunity to cut the strings. Now to understand the magnitude of this experience, one has to understand that my husband IS an insurance agent. He represents many good companies and he knows what he is doing. This was incredible. How could this happen? What does this mean? Ken made many phone calls to attempt to remedy the situation. They were not going to budge.

After not being able to achieve cooperation with that company, Ken tried several other options. None worked for me. So what this meant was that I was uninsured for six weeks. I thought about the fact that I was now so vulnerable. My health isn't pristine and I was now a sitting duck. Then the Spirit rose in me and I decided, God could care for me and protect me far better than any insurance company. God also impressed upon me that I wasn't to run to other people and share this trial. He said, "Instead of running to the phone, just meet at the throne". Yes, I know I stole that from Joyce Meyer. We did share the situation with a few of our children. One said, "And you plan to go on that big trip without insurance?" That put me at ease, right? I reminded my preacher son that God was bigger than this situation and I would trust the Lord for safety and continued health.

At first it was on my mind often. I didn't take some risks as I usually do because I didn't want to slip on this or fall off that. As the weeks ticked off, I became less concerned. We even went on our big trip and God was faithful in keeping me from accident or harm.

So today is the long awaited August first. Because I have my sixty fifth birthday tomorrow, I am covered by our government as of today. Medicare has me under its umbrella and a second company already has a supplement in place for me. I must confess there is comfort in that. On the other hand, I wish to publicly thank and praise my heavenly Father for caring for me in a way that no other human could. I praise Him for the peace that He gave me in trusting Him.
The one glitch in my summer has turned out to be a great faith builder for me.