Doctors, Health Insurance & the Unexpected

If you're like me, doctors appointments are necessary and bearable, and health insurance is necessary and fine . . . when everything goes as it should . . . you go to the doctor, they submit the claim, the health insurance pays their portion. And, if you're like me, you know that little feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when there's a hiccup in that process - you get the bill again that was supposed to have already been paid. Well, I was having one of those moments this week when I received a medical bill for a doctor's appointment that Isaiah had back in March. Now, I wasn't too concerned because I had been going back and forth with our insurance and the billing department for a few months now trying to get everything worked out. I had been talking to one lady in the billing department every time I called, and she always seemed understanding and helpful. But I was wondering why we were receiving this bill again!

So, after some phone tag, and some voicemail messages explaining again in detail what I felt like I have explained to them at least 10 times before, I finally got to talk to someone. Like I said, I had always dealt with one lady, and even on the bill, the number listed to call goes directly to this girl's line. But this was a different lady. So, she let me know that finally they had gotten everything cleared up and they were able to submit the claim to insurance. Whew, done!

Then she began apologizing for the mix-up, and I so I explained to her (for the first time) that I understood why, and tried to explain to her the reasons we don't know Isaiah's actual birth date. She was very inquisitive, and after more conversation I had mentioned my other children to which she commented "How many children have you adopted?" When I told her I had four biological and only one adopted, she seemed a little puzzled.

And then, the UNEXPECTED . . . she said to me "so then why did you decide to adopt?" Really??? Ya wanna know??? I'll admit, I was completely taken by surprise - an opportunity to share Christ with a total stranger was hitting me in the face! And so, I told her why! I told her of Christ's love for the fatherless and of my adoption in Christ. I'm sure not very eloquently as I fumbled over my words and my thoughts all trying to put themselves in order! But I got to share Christ, and prayerfully the seed was planted!!

Now, if you are a blog reader of mine, I pray that you know exactly what I'm talking about. I pray you have been adopted into God's family. But if you haven't, it's the most important adoption there is. It's why I live. It's why I do what I do. It's the driving force behind my life.

You see, I was a sinner, separated from God because of my sin. Because He is completely Holy, He can have nothing near Him that isn't . . . and I was not. God could've left it at that. But He didn't. He sent His Son, Jesus, to pay the price that I could never pay. To be the pure, sinless sacrifice to pay the penalty for my sin. He watched His Son go through unspeakable torture and separation from Him, because on the cross, God looked at His Son and saw my sin. And then He gave His Son victory over death. So now, I can come before a Holy God, not because I am any better, but because now when He looks at me, He sees Christ's pure sinlessness . . . and He sees me as His child! He wants to do the same for you!

And so tonight, I am praising God for the unexpected, the extraordinary. He put my sin on His Son, and clothed me with His righteousness. And this week, He gave me an opportunity to share that with someone unexpected!

"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."
II Corinthians 5:20-21