Odd For God: Rock Bottom?

God always has his hand in things. It seems as though our “rock bottom” is really just a clean pallet for Him to load; it leaves him a blank canvas to paint His own perfect masterpiece.

In early March of this year, I had reached what seemed like a valley of darkness. Within a two week period, I went from “having it all together” to feeling hopeless and distraught. Until the end of February, I had a high paying job, a new home I’d just moved into, and my health. On top of that, I had a wonderful boyfriend, family, and awesome God that loved me for me. Turns out, all that I really needed was the support of my loved ones and God, during this huge, well-planned change He was making in my life.

After having some serious health issues resulting in an emergency room visit on February 28th, I decided it was time to get health insurance. My employer had offered it to me many times, but the thought of having my hard earned money taken out of my check to “pay for something I’ll never use” seemed ridiculous. The kidney problems I was now experiencing left me unable to stand for prolonged periods of time, which meant I could no longer perform the duties of my job as a dice dealer at Binions. After 11 days of bed rest, on March 11^th, my employer and I separated. They called it a “termination”, I call it a blessing. Of course, at the time, I had no other income, no savings, no health insurance, and a 1 year commitment to pay rent with 3 other people.

While the drama o f losing my job was in full force, the severe kidney pain had continued, so I began a frantic search for health insurance. I’ll admit it was a little late. I had already accumulated about $5,000 in medical bills from the ER trip, and now was one of those “flagged” applicants at Blue Cross Blue Shield, who had a pre-existing condition. Only by Gods grace and the help of my boyfriend was I able to get coverage. It was a pretty expensive monthly premium though, especially for the not-so-great-coverage I was going to have. None of my doctor visits, labs, or trips to the Emergency Room were going to be covered, until I hit an out of pocket cost of $3,500 from March 22^n,through the next 365 days.

After putting my health on the back burner for so many years, I found a primary care Doctor, and saw him the day after my insurance kicked in. Very carefully, I planned this visit. As I knew my insurance wasn't going to cover anything, I wanted to make sure I was aware of exactly how much it was going to cost me. Wanting several tests run, I got exact quotes on the cost for the tests and labs beforehand, and was sure to tell the doctor of all my issues I’d been having.

Two weeks later, the tests all came back normal. No one was able to explain exactly what was going on with my kidneys. I’d been unemployed now for 4 weeks, but my loved ones were all able to help out with my cost of living. Every bank, school, and private loan I applied for was denied. I was calling Cox Cable, Nevada Energy, T-Mobile, Southwest Gas, and Capital One on a daily basis, pleading for longer extensions on my already WELL overdue payments. Again, my loved ones offered support.

Around week 6 of being unemployed, I started to notice a change in my health. My kidney pain was minimal, my attitude toward life was becoming much more positive, and I found a part time job as a babysitter. Although it was hard to make ends meet, I felt it was for the greater good that I no longer worked in the casino. I’d spent many years of my life in addiction and my job as a “party pit” dealer had been taking me back to those thoughts and tendencies. With my health and income increasing, and my sobriety and mentality becoming more wholesome, I felt as though things were on an upward turn.

Then, almost 2 months later, IT came in the mail. IT was a bill from my primary care Doctor regarding my visit on March 23^rd. My carefully planned visit was originally quoted to me at $195 for all the tests they were going to run. I opened the envelope to see a grand total of $1200….MORE THAN 10 TIMES THE PRICE I WAS QUOTED BY THE STAFF. I knew my insurance didn’t cover these labs that were run, THATS WHY I WAS SO INQUISITIVE OF THE COST IN THE FIRST PLACE!!

I HAD A MELT DOWN. I tried everything. I called the doctor’s office in tears, the lab company, and even scheduled an appointment with the doctor himself! His explanation to me was simple, “I saw you had insurance, so I ran additional tests.” Nothing was ever done to correct this mistake.

After a couple of weeks, a lot of prayer, and the support of my loved ones, I had given it to God for HIM to deal with. I allowed the stress of it all to melt away, as I knew my heavenly father was in control. I figured there was no dollar price that could be attributed to the new changes in my life, as a result of leaving my toxic work environment. If $1200 was what I needed to pay to leave such sin, count me in!

I decided once again that God always had his hand in things. It seemed as though my “rock bottom” was really just a clean pallet for Him to load; it left him a blank canvas to paint His own perfect masterpiece.

Then, on July 15^th, IT came in the mail. IT was a revised bill from my primary care Doctor regarding my visit on March 23^rd. Somehow, the bill was now only $84.. My eyes welled with tears. By the grace of only God himself, my insurance decided to cover what it wasn’t even supposed to cover! My $1200 bill was reduced to $84.

Praise GOD!

Forethought: Although there are other circumstances going on in my life RIGHT NOW that make this medical bill issue seem like a grain of sand on an endless beach, I’ve come to this realization…. Someday, whatever issues I’m going through RIGHT NOW will, too, seem like a pebble on a vast mountain created by the Lord. I cannot wait to see what is on the other side of this mountain!!