Lucky

How to describe luck? Are we lucky? Or, do we have moments where we see God’s hand of protection, or see His providence more clearly? For us, we’ve had an ‘eye-opening’ week, and are feeling very lucky, very protected, and very cared for.

So, what’s up? A couple of things: we’ve had some major medical bills looming from what we now dub as our ‘Key West experience.’ To say that the insurance company has been confused would have been a massive understatement. In case you didn’t know, the company that Dan works for is based in California; we live in Illinois; and I received medical treatment in Florida. Yep, we formed our own little Bermuda triangle, and that’s where the big-dog medical bills have been hanging out. Throw a big clerical error in there---a clerk putting that my service dates were 1/28/06 through 1/28/07---catch the error there? Yep, A WHOLE YEAR! Hey, we’re graceful people though. I mean it is hard to get into the mode of writing the new calendar year, right?

The long and the short of it: I’ve been on the phone with the insurance company for months attempting to do my due diligence (as the hospital has been calling, and wondering about the insurance company’s determination, which was stuck in pending mode). The insurance company made their declaration, and of course, the bill was covered; that is, except for our 20% portion, up to our maximum out-of-pocket calendar year allotment, subject to our deductible, not including, but does include, if in-network, but only if…….if……if….Got it? You’ve got to be grateful for insurance but ever feel like you’re playing that one game show…..”no whammies, no whammies, big money?”

Here’s the good news. We have insurance, and by no means are we dogging out on that fact. But, perspective can be a little challenging when you’ve been under better insurance plans, and you’re residing in single-income land. Even better news: my medical expenditures, coming down the pike in late November, early December, are covered at 100%. Naturally, we’re still expecting that a few will slide in there. You know, the “the only covered if,” “excluding tests,” etcetera, etcetera. You know the drill. But the crux of it: because we’ve ‘book-ended’ this year with all our baby glory, we’ve bi-passed a major financial ding. We’ve got to stand back and see God’s hand in this—there’s just no better way to describe it.

This little experience aside, we’re trudging through this week, and notice that the house smells as if it is burning on Wednesday morning. We’ve gone about our normal weekday routine, and Avery and I we’re getting ready to leave the house. As we come down the stairs the putrid, hot, burning smell just knocks me out. I come to realize that the smell is coming from the dryer (which has been running). I turn the dryer off, and unplug it (the plug is very, very hot). My thoughts are, “Great. It’s a busy week, and now the dryer needs to be repaired. Super. Call an appliance guy, he’ll collect at least $200, and then off we go.”

So, the appliance guy comes Thursday, and declares that the dryer is running perfectly. He looks at me cross-eyed, and asks if I was sure I smelled something. Yep, sure did!! So, I press him, and he grudgingly pulls the outlet cover off the outlet where the dryer had been plugged in (sort of with the attitude of like he was doing me a big favor). What did he find? A melted outlet, melted wires, an outlet that was seriously hot, and seriously dangerous, and in his words “at one time, sparking.” And, to make matters worse, the outlet wasn’t grounded, therefore, if the worst had happened, there weren’t any safety mechanisms in place to prevent the whole thing from sparking up, and burning unabated. The repair guy kept saying, “You guys are very, very lucky. This could of gone terribly wrong.”

I’ve wondered a bit about this. This could of played out so differently. Just simply not being here to catch the smell, could have brought about such a different outcome. Again, we’re feeling very, very protected. Is God watching out for us? I’ve got to believe it is so.

Amongst all this, it has been a full and crazy week. I’ve had my first pregnancy-related migraine (and who wouldn’t!); we’ve determined that Avery’s not a structured-activity kind of kid—not saying she couldn’t stand to grow in this area; Avery had her first haircut; the Entrusted study kicked off at GEBC this week, and I’m really enthused about the curriculum; and my Dad turned 50 this week, and we’ll be celebrating this weekend, which will include a Cub outing for Dan, my Dad, and my brother.

Enjoy your day, and here’s to feeling “lucky” --- a word that I’m not sure I place much stock in.