Musings about Money

I finally dug into the file for the health insurance Benefits Summary and discovered - we have no lifetime maximum!  "Unlimited benefits for each individual."  Thank You, Lord, and thank you Blue Cross Blue Shield!  I knew we had good insurance, but I still thought we might have a $1 million per person limit or some such.  Joel's bills will quite likely exceed that total, although BCBS might not pay that much; they negotiate down with Preferred Providers, sometimes as much as 50%.

A few weeks ago, an envelope came from Life Links, the Hutchinson helicopter provider that flew Joel to HCMC on the night of the accident.  The bill for almost $30,000 was accompanied by a notice that BCBS had "denied your claim because we are a Non-participating Provider.  They will pay you directly."  They included a whole page of instructions on possibly routes to take if BCBS did not pay us the full amount, and concluded with a reminder that "you are responsible for the full amount."  That caused a few nervous moments, along with questions - "How could they refuse to pay it?  It was an emergency; it wasn't like we had a choice to go with a Participating Provider!" - and gratitude that we actually do have the money to pay that bill if necessary.  But within a week, a check arrived from BCBS for the exact amount.  Once again - we have great insurance!

Because we have the top-of-the-line policy, we (and our employer) have paid a lot in premiums over the years - well over $1000/month since going to work for Gorans Bros.  But even if we've averaged $1000/month for our entire married life, that totals $300,000 - less than the bill for Joel's stay at HCMC, let alone Regency and now Sister Kenny.  As sister-in-law Tanya and I agreed the first week after Joel's accident (and before Steve's accident), that's why we have insurance.  But the ability of BCBS to pay these bills depends on a whole lot of people all paying more in premiums than they take out in claims in order to have enough money left over for Joel.  And to think of all the money that goes into caring for Joel, and that has gone into developing all the procedures and machines that are helping him recover, boggles our minds.  Our American health care system is serving us well, but there isn't enough money in the world for every person in this country to receive this much care.  Fortunately, most people never will need this much care.  It's easy to see the conundrum that we face, however:  how can we afford enough care for everyone?  

Me and My Stuff

My aunt occasionally sells her possessions so she can give more to one of her favorite charities. I admire her, but I haven't emulated her. Of course, very few of my possessions are worth anything by the time I get done with them. However, in my Lenten fast from sweets in my house, I haven't given away the money I saved. We tithe to God's work, and sometimes give beyond that if a need comes to our attention, but we haven't developed the mindset of giving up things to give more to others. If I want something, I generally buy it; if we have extra money, we generally save it. I can't think of a time when I wanted something, but didn't buy it and gave the money away instead.

I have decided to quit looking at the catalogs that come in the mail, whether for clothing, books or fun little gadgets. If I need something, perhaps I'll use the catalog as a possible source, but otherwise, the temptation to buy something just because it's fun or cute needs to be eliminated.

Question: If the Body of Christ followed John Wesley's advice - "Earn all you can, save all you can, give all you can" - would the problems of poverty in the world be solved?

Some politicians and governmental officials desire to tax the rich more so the poor can have more. The appeal of this approach for Christian voters and politicians lies in God's grace, and His concern for the poor. We feel the government - of the people, for the people and by the people - should follow these Christian principles. The problem, though, is that God gives his grace voluntarily, and He gives only what is His to give - whether through His Body or any other way. The government, however, can only have something to give to one person if it takes it from another - by force. That creates resentment, feelings of superiority and inferiority, and ingratitude.

I'm selling a bunch of books, primarily to remove them from the shelves and the house. I was planning to use the money to pay for the Kindle I bought, but now I think I'll give the money away. May Your Body, O Christ, do Your will and serve others.

Procrastination Pays

My friend Yvonne and I have been concerned about a young friend who recently had her first child. Jill's husband, Jack, has been insisting that Jill go back to work when John turns 3 months old, because otherwise they may have to sell their home. Jill was working at a day care which is understaffed, often resulting in cranky children; she didn't get that many hours; and she would have to pay for John to be at the day care with her. Yvonne and I were thinking that working probably wouldn't bring in that much money, and that Jill's family could probably benefit financially if she would learn to save money instead of earning it. We prayed together for Jill several times, and were wondering what we needed to say to her or to Jack. Yvonne's been learning from the Lord that she has this feeling, left over from her childhood, that if she doesn't do something it won't happen, and that He wants her to trust Him more in certain situations, instead of trying to do something. Sure enough, a few days ago Jill called Yvonne and asked if she could work at the church day care (with Yvonne!) a few hours per week. Jack had run the numbers and determined that the net income from Jill's job would be miniscule.

Whether the Lord prompted someone else to talk to Jack, or gave Jack the idea, Yvonne hadn't lifted a finger, I hadn't said a word, and the job was done. John will be better cared for by his own mother; Jill will be happier and healthier; and Jack will have just as much money for his family. Thanks, Lord - may we know when to procrastinate and when to act!

Gratitude, Guilt and Giving

Yesterday I had the worst toothache I've ever had. In the night I couldn't sleep because the whole right side of my head hurt - I thought maybe it was my ear because after I took an Advil and massaged the whole side of my head around my ear I was finally able to sleep. In the morning, I had two excruciating episodes of sharp pain in my mouth, and called the dentist. At noon he was able to fit me in - "get here as soon as you can."

On the way in, I was struck by the thought of people in Japan who have abscesses (that's what I thought it was) or other terrible troubles, and they can't go to the dentist because the dentists have no electricity. Then I thought of all the people in many countries where there are no dentists, or very few and only for the very rich. And the people in this country who don't have insurance or cash, or live in a region with few dentists.

The comfortable lives we lead are, to an unimaginable extent, given to us. Why can I go to the dentist and get rid of tooth pain? Because I was born 1) an American, 2) in a region where the economy is stable, 3) into a family of means, both financial and "mindset." When something goes wrong, we believe we can fix it and we try.

When I wasn't pondering these deep philosophical truths, I was asking the Lord to make it the least serious problem possible. The dentist couldn't get my tooth to produce the same kind of pain I had had before, so he sent me home to wait and see. It could be it was just strain or stress on the tooth and it will improve by itself.

I don't believe that feeling guilty about our good fortune is productive, but I did determine that if it turns out not to be an abscess, and I don't have to have a root canal (thank you, Lord!!!), we're going to give the money we save to someone who needs dental care and otherwise can't get it. Pete agreed. While we can easily share our financial means, how can we share our "mindset means"? The mindset that says, "When something goes wrong, we can fix it. Let's try!" That's the challenge before the Church!

What if we all tithed?

Yesterday we had our church annual meeting. A good chunk of the meeting always talks about the budget for next year, which has increased very slightly. The church is considering doing a stewardship program called "Step Up," or something like that, which encourages people to increase their giving incrementally each year until they reach a tithe, or 10% of their income. I'm intrigued by this because essentially the same program was proposed at a company profit-sharing meeting a week ago. Apparently a lot of people don't put any money in their 401(k) accounts because they hear that they should be putting aside 10%, they think, "I can't do that!", so they don't do anything. But they can usually imagine putting aside 1% of their incomes, and the next year they can probably imagine setting aside another 1% of their incomes, and so on, until they reach 10%. "Step Up" is trying to encourage people to increase their giving the same way - by 1% of their income each year until they reach 10%, and then go even further if they wish. The tithe, of course, was commanded by God in the Old Testament, and He even said, "Bring the tithes in and see if I won't bless you!" (Malachi 3:10) so that seems like a good goal.

Pete & I have always tithed, and in the lean years, it was amazing to see God provide. Money would occasionally come out of the sky, it seemed. I had a strict budget, of course, but sometimes there would just be more in the checkbook than there should have been. A couple of times, we got checks in the mail from telephone companies in towns we'd lived in years before for a year or two - some kind of co-op dividend payment. Things like that happened just when we ran short.

What struck me today is - what could our church do if everyone tithed? If the average giving is 1.5% of incomes (as I've read in several places), then we would have almost a million dollars a year EXTRA. Do you think our church could help some poor people with that kind of money? Do you think we could support some missionaries? Do you think we could provide some great opportunities for struggling learners, or struggling doubters, or struggling marriages, or whatever?? I think so!! And that's just little Svea. What could the churches in Kandiyohi County do if everyone tithed? How about Minnesota? How about America? The answer to Big Government is - Tithing Christians!