conversations, missions and splints
It has been a few days and I have so many thoughts whirling around in my head and in my heart. I am unsure of where to start with them all, this may be sporadic and scattered but I want to write some down.
We spent Friday evening and Saturday with Corbin and Susan and enjoyed their company very much so. I always hate having guests on Fridays (not because of them but totally because of me) because I feel like I am completely sluggish in my thought and with my words – my brain is somewhat “toast” by Fridays, after a long week of work. I enjoyed the probing questions and thoughts from them and their earnest want to listen and glean from what we had to say. I felt more attuned on Saturday and refreshed, ready to dialogue some more but found myself wanting to listen more than speak. They both encouraged me, with their never ending quest and journey to find truth – in whatever package or revelation that may look like. I am callused and frustrated with people who think things or believe things just because that’s what they were taught or that’s the way their family has always done it. It is genuinely refreshing to meet people who want to experience life on their own terms, to find their own footing and to make their own decisions based on their own findings. My earnest hope is that I didn’t upset any balance and that they both left feeling like it was a mutually stimulating and beneficial discussion…I really love nothing more than to sit around the table, with a cup of coffee, and just listen and learn from other people.
In addition, the two of them have challenged me. When I think about my faith I sometimes don’t have very good answers, but when something is very experiential and un-rational, I am not sure that there are always good answers. I feel like I need to be able to better define why I believe in God, why I know that He is the center to my life, moving my spirit and my heart, driving me to grow more in love with Him every day. I feel as though I don’t have very thought out reasons as to why I know this. The husband agreed with that and, his notion, is that perhaps that is part of the mystery, that we can not have concrete reasons and that followers should not feel sorry or bad if they don’t have them. I know that I love Jesus and that He loves me, I know that God has His hand in our lives, too many wonderful, mysterious and awesome things have happened for me to ever doubt it…that’s all the answer I have today.
Moving to Sunday, we had missions Sunday and the husband preached on being missional people…I am pretty sure that went over most folks heads. At the end of the service we gave everyone cans of pop to take and drink (or pour out, what have you) and then to rinse out the can and use it to collect spare change for missions. The original idea was to collect money for the Pokot tribe we support and the idea was going to be “Pop for Pokot” but, the money is now going to be put a missions trip to Doug and Molly’s and alas, we have no catchy phrase for that. But, people actually declined the cans of pop, saying that they wouldn’t drink it and it would go to waste. What!!! They totally missed the point that the cans were to be used to collect money for missions. My heart was very troubled for those people, that it was so easy to dismiss giving money for missions since they could decline a can of pop. Frustrated. There’s nothing more to say than that. Frustrated.
Yesterday I think I got to see capitalism at its best. I have been diagnosed with TMJ and need a mouth splint to wear at night. I had to go see an orthodontist about one. First off, just to say, about 90% of the services an orthodontist provides are not covered by insurances. The majority of dental insurances will never cover the cost of braces. So, here is this shiny, high-tech, snazzy office all built on money straight from people’s pockets. So, they talk to me, look at my mouth, confirm that my mouth is not balanced and my right jaw overcompensates for the left side, and confirm that I need a splint. To get a splint I have to come back and have another appointment where they will take impressions, they will create the splint, I will have another consultation to talk about the splint and then every 6 weeks I have to come back for another consultation. All told, including the $220 bill for yesterday’s office visit, this whole thing would cost $3,000 and that’s before the additional visits every 6 weeks. Oh yes, $3,000. Dental insurance won’t cover it and health insurance took three months to get the ok for this initial visit, the chances of them paying for the whole thing are virtually nil. So, I am off to find other alternatives. No thanks to the orthodontists who want to charge $3,000 for a piece of plastic only big enough to fit over my bottom teeth. It was unreal. I am unsure of how people manage without health/dental insurance.
So, those are the thoughts of the morning. I have caught a small cold which puts a damper on the day, but the sun is shining and the sky is blue and there isn’t anything more that I could ask for…
We spent Friday evening and Saturday with Corbin and Susan and enjoyed their company very much so. I always hate having guests on Fridays (not because of them but totally because of me) because I feel like I am completely sluggish in my thought and with my words – my brain is somewhat “toast” by Fridays, after a long week of work. I enjoyed the probing questions and thoughts from them and their earnest want to listen and glean from what we had to say. I felt more attuned on Saturday and refreshed, ready to dialogue some more but found myself wanting to listen more than speak. They both encouraged me, with their never ending quest and journey to find truth – in whatever package or revelation that may look like. I am callused and frustrated with people who think things or believe things just because that’s what they were taught or that’s the way their family has always done it. It is genuinely refreshing to meet people who want to experience life on their own terms, to find their own footing and to make their own decisions based on their own findings. My earnest hope is that I didn’t upset any balance and that they both left feeling like it was a mutually stimulating and beneficial discussion…I really love nothing more than to sit around the table, with a cup of coffee, and just listen and learn from other people.
In addition, the two of them have challenged me. When I think about my faith I sometimes don’t have very good answers, but when something is very experiential and un-rational, I am not sure that there are always good answers. I feel like I need to be able to better define why I believe in God, why I know that He is the center to my life, moving my spirit and my heart, driving me to grow more in love with Him every day. I feel as though I don’t have very thought out reasons as to why I know this. The husband agreed with that and, his notion, is that perhaps that is part of the mystery, that we can not have concrete reasons and that followers should not feel sorry or bad if they don’t have them. I know that I love Jesus and that He loves me, I know that God has His hand in our lives, too many wonderful, mysterious and awesome things have happened for me to ever doubt it…that’s all the answer I have today.
Moving to Sunday, we had missions Sunday and the husband preached on being missional people…I am pretty sure that went over most folks heads. At the end of the service we gave everyone cans of pop to take and drink (or pour out, what have you) and then to rinse out the can and use it to collect spare change for missions. The original idea was to collect money for the Pokot tribe we support and the idea was going to be “Pop for Pokot” but, the money is now going to be put a missions trip to Doug and Molly’s and alas, we have no catchy phrase for that. But, people actually declined the cans of pop, saying that they wouldn’t drink it and it would go to waste. What!!! They totally missed the point that the cans were to be used to collect money for missions. My heart was very troubled for those people, that it was so easy to dismiss giving money for missions since they could decline a can of pop. Frustrated. There’s nothing more to say than that. Frustrated.
Yesterday I think I got to see capitalism at its best. I have been diagnosed with TMJ and need a mouth splint to wear at night. I had to go see an orthodontist about one. First off, just to say, about 90% of the services an orthodontist provides are not covered by insurances. The majority of dental insurances will never cover the cost of braces. So, here is this shiny, high-tech, snazzy office all built on money straight from people’s pockets. So, they talk to me, look at my mouth, confirm that my mouth is not balanced and my right jaw overcompensates for the left side, and confirm that I need a splint. To get a splint I have to come back and have another appointment where they will take impressions, they will create the splint, I will have another consultation to talk about the splint and then every 6 weeks I have to come back for another consultation. All told, including the $220 bill for yesterday’s office visit, this whole thing would cost $3,000 and that’s before the additional visits every 6 weeks. Oh yes, $3,000. Dental insurance won’t cover it and health insurance took three months to get the ok for this initial visit, the chances of them paying for the whole thing are virtually nil. So, I am off to find other alternatives. No thanks to the orthodontists who want to charge $3,000 for a piece of plastic only big enough to fit over my bottom teeth. It was unreal. I am unsure of how people manage without health/dental insurance.
So, those are the thoughts of the morning. I have caught a small cold which puts a damper on the day, but the sun is shining and the sky is blue and there isn’t anything more that I could ask for…
posted by Anna at
9:47 AM
2 Comments:
It was very good to listen on our behalf as well. Thanks again for your hospitality and openness. Trust and doubt--a good tension, I believe.
By
Anonymous, at 12:12 PM, May 02, 2006
By the way, congrats on being the new circle-K man...I hope that you make many new friends and meet many new and wonderful people at work!
By
Anna, at 1:27 PM, May 02, 2006
Post a Comment
<< Home