I wanted to share how the Lord has shown me how faithful He is when we trust Him and are faithful. I've been blessed with much and tithing was never and issue because of that. We've never not had an income but 4 months ago Darrall got laid off. He's always chosen to work for small start-up type companies, which brings much rewards of accomplishment, but also holds more risks.
Since I'm not working either, I had to stop and think about tithing. I really don't want to tap into savings or investments to live off of, so we've been basically living off of the unemployment checks and I've been tithing 10% of that. I was thinking that its not much and what would God think? But I thought more important was the faithfulness in continuing to give even in times where we are trying to be conservative.
As I reported a couple of months ago, Erin hasn't had the best luck with her teeth. Born with soft teeth, we finally had to get major dental work done. WA month ago we opted to have her under anesthesia at the hospital outpatient services since they didn't know the extent of her problems. THREE hours later we find out she had EIGHT caps put on her back teeth. Her teeth were so soft, it wouldn't hold the fillings! Poor kiddo. A week after that I receive a bill for $10,000! And that was just the hospital bill! Oh my gosh. I didn't read the fine print on our medical insurance that specifically said it didn't cover dental procedures and anesthesia. After feeling hit in the gut, I had resigned myself to cashing out some investments to pay for this. It was my fault for not reading the fine print. We could have done the procedure in the dentists office if we wanted to.
I was staring at the hospital statement and read that they make adjustments if you don't have insurance or other reasons. I wasn't sure what to do since we could afford to pay for it, but something prompted me to call and at least inquire. When I called, I just politely asked if there was any opportunity to get a discount since our insurance notified us they wouldn't pay and that Darrall was unemployed. The guy was very nice and said all they could do was send a Financial Assistance form. I politely just thanked him but knew we didn't really qualify. So I hung up and told Darrall I would just pay for it.
Three days later, I received another statement from the hospital. I couldn't believe my eyes when it showed an "adjustment" for 90% of the bill! Then it showed the remaining balance awaiting insurance payment and "Due from You" of zero. What really caught my attention was the "Due from You". What immediately came to mind was that we were given salvation because Jesus paid our bill in full. At that point I thought, if this is a mistake and they send me a new bill, I'm okay with it. What I gained from this was priceless. It was as though God whispered..."be faithful and trust me....I will never fail you."
And its not just about the money either. I also realized that because we assumed the insurance was covering it, the decision of what to do was easy. Would we have opted for the "cheaper" route if we knew differently? I've researched it and being three years old, not knowing her biological family history, and it ending up being a three hour procedure, the hospital was the right decision. What if we didn't choose wisely and something happened? I believe God graciously took that decision away from us.
In these times when we look around and see so many families struggling or worried about our state of economy, I find comfort and peace in knowing that God is in control of everything.
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