Long before I knew God to be a healer personally, I knew Him to be a provider. It will never cease to amaze me the amount of times I didn’t know how a bill was going to get paid or how something was going to be handled and, without fail, He showed up. I was so leery at first to write this post because finances are not something you discuss among friends and certainly not strangers, but I believe that this is important to share.

If you’ve followed my blog so far, you’re aware that prior to my leukemia diagnosis, I never had any serious illness. So, besides my normal check-ups, exams, shots and eye glasses, my health expenses were fairly low. However, that ALL changed when I got leukemia. I remember my hospital bill from the very first visit (31 days) was more than $500,000 (yes, that many zeros). I was absolutely floored and thought hmm, I wonder who is going to pay for that. That’s more than my house is worth. My employee insurance plan I had elected happened to be a high deductible plan with a health savings account attached to it. Essentially, you pay lower monthly premiums and when things like cancer happen to you, you pay a high out-of-pocket expense before the insurance will kick in and you have tax-free money that can be added to a savings account to help with the high deductible. Well this made perfect sense for me since I never get sick, but you can see the problems it now posed. I remember looking at the billing lady and telling her, “I have no clue how I’m going to pay for this” and she kindly told me, “Child, your insurance is going to cover this. You only owe $150.” Won’t He do it?!

But it’s been like this throughout my whole life and has continued through this entire process. There are people who have gone bankrupt because of cancer, but God has allowed me to have enough money to pay my medical bills, prescriptions, and my regular bills all on time. My home didn’t go into foreclosure and I didn’t have to short-sale it. I haven’t had to borrow money or take out a loan. God just worked everything out. When I found out that I would need a Bone Marrow Transplant, my insurance company called and said that I was covered under an entirely different provision for the transplant. I told her I didn’t understand what that meant. She informed me that my company had elected a special insurance to be added to my plan that strictly covered the entire cost of transplants. I didn’t come out of pocket one dime. Just like I am a living testament that God is a healer, I am a true witness that He is a provider. If you stand in need of anything, please know that if He did it for me, He can certainly do it for you.

MEL-STRONG

p.s. The Mel-Strong Team will be at BSU on March 20, 2014, helping to raise funds for families impacted by blood related cancers. Check out my calendar for more info.