I received an “offer” from a health insurance company today.  I applied a couple of weeks ago through my financial advisor for a new health insurance policy because the premiums were going up on my existing plan.  I remember sitting there with him and saying, “okay, so, basically, they raise the premium every year on all of their clients and don’t offer them the opportunity to change their coverage.  It’s ‘take it or leave it?’”  ”Yep.” He said.  So, I said, “so, you have to apply with another company, fill out all the paperwork, give the blood, wait for them to pour over your records and then take whatever the new company offers?”  ”Yep.” He said again.  So I said, “Well, what if they just didn’t raise the premiums every year and saved all the man hours it takes (for the insurance co. and for me) to go through this process annually.  Would they maintain their profit margins just by saving trees and labor?”  ”Yep.  Probably.”  He said.  ”If you just sign here, I can get the ball rolling.”

So, I get the call today that my health and the health of one of my sons have “exclusion riders” written into the policy.  So, there are conditions in our health that the new policy won’t cover (it doesn’t really cover much now anyway.)  I could go on and on, but I’m sure my story is not the most heart breaking one ever told.  To me, it’s been very annoying.

I got fed up and I called an organization that I had looked into several years ago, but, regrettably, never participated.  It’s called Samaritan Ministries.  It’s really great and I think my wife and I are going to take a leap of faith and get involved.  What they do is organize Christians so that they can help support needs of the body directly.  You have a monthly committment and each month the organization sends you a notice of a need somewhere in the body and you’re to send your monthly committment directly to that person or family, along with prayers.  Then, if you have a need, you apply for it to be met and they do the same for you.  It’s refreshing to see this non-profit working to help Christians support each other.  I highly recommend you look into it.

Well, last week we finally paid off our last credit card!  Hallelujah!  It was so great to hit “Pay Now” on the last payment.  I was at work one morning and looking over things, and I realized that if I just move this money here and squeeze a bit more out of the budget, we could knock out our last payment.

I’m not bragging.  I’m writing this more to encourage me as I just had a meeting with my health insurance guy.  It’s hard to see that bill climb an extra $100/month.  I’m hoping to encourage myself and you with this victory over debt.  We still have some school loans to work on and some medical bills, but with this payment, we are consumer debt free!  It’s hard to lose sight of the goal when you’re in the trenches counting your dollars and trying to get ahead.

If you haven’t considered your financial situation, your debt and how you honor God with your money…you should.  Dave Ramsey is a great resource.  If you feel like you’re in over your head, start small.  Line up your debts and pay the smallest one off first.  That way you’re encouraged to continue.  Roll over the money you were spending on that debt into the next one, and so on.  Stick with it!  Dave says “You need a plan…Visa has a plan.  That’s why they have your money!  I’m a big fan of Dave Ramsey and can tell you, when we’ve stuck to the plan, it’s worked!

We’re reducing our household stuff, selling off unnecessary items and things like that.  It’s tight…it’s been tight for awhile, but we’re getting there.  We’re getting ready for a garage sale.  It’s good for the kids, I think, to see us simplify our lives and put material things in their place.  ”It’s just stuff,” I tell them.  We dine heartily on beans and rice regularly and try to, as Dave says, “Live like no one else, so you can live like no one else.”

I have to say, though.  Sometimes, it feels like we’re not getting anywhere.  There’s times when we get a bit ahead (like right now) and then BLAM!  We’re hit with some expense that knocks you’re feet right out from under you.  It can be really frustrating.  We are very thankful that we can chip away at our debt and we are praying for guidance always.  I found a great article focusing on five verses in the bible about money.  It’s a blog article on, what I think, is a pretty good site.  It’s called Christian Personal Finance.

My husband is self employed which means we don’t have the luxury of having health insurance.  We are covered if something major happens but the little stuff is all on our own.  We also have six children and when illness strikes our home it can last for weeks before everyone gets it and it can cost a small fortune if everyone went to the doctor, and got a prescription every time.  I had a dear friend introduce me to herbal and natural remedies.  From there it took off.   I am, by no means, all-knowledgeable of herbs and their potential to heal our bodies but I am a firm believer that God has put plants, minerals and even dirt on our planet for our benefit.  We see duplicity so often in God’s creation.  God is bigger than we can imagine and his plan so intricate that virtually everything serves more than one purpose.  Plants and flowers are not only beautiful and attractive, they’re also useful to us.

 I have read many books skimmed through even more.  The first book I read was one called The ABC Herbal: A Simplified Guide to Natural Health Care for Children by Steven Horne.  Other books to check out are Mommy Diagnostics (The Art of Taking Care of Your Family) Revised & Expanded, Herbal Antibiotics: Natural Alternatives for Treating Drug-Resistant Bacteria (Storey Medicinal Herb Guide) and I found a site that is especially helpful, mountainroseherbs.com.  These are all good references but nothing is better than just starting.  

So, I began creating herbal remedies for our family to take to keep us healthy and those to take when sickness did strike.  I picked a few recipes to start with and a handful of herbs to really learn about and went from there.  The first thing I made were glycerin tinctures.  I have since moved on to make alcohol tinctures as well as vinegar tincture.  It is not uncommon for us to have garlic in our ears for earaches, take steamy peppermint baths for a fever, garlic catnip enemas are given to small children with fevers, valerian and cayenne pepper for headaches, echinacea tincture is always stocked in our fridge and probiotics are a staple.  

We do still get sick but I have noticed that we don’t get as sick as we used to and not as often.  Our bodies are working better and we are healing faster.  It is possible to take control of your own health care and to not go to the doctor as often.  Our bodies are wonderful creations and have the ability to heal themselves, sometimes the just need a little help.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.  7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. 8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.  —Proverbs 3:5-8

Cindy and I had a meeting with our insurance guy this week.  I thought I’d write about life insurance.  I know, you’re thinking, “Here it comes, a boring lecture on insurance.”  Well, I do want to talk about it, but I hope it’s not boring.  We purchased a term policy a few years back and have had a couple kids since so we thought we should take a look at our coverage.  It turned out we were under covered.  As we talked with our agent, I realized, in most situations, when there is only one spouse who works, that spouse’s life is insured for a greater amount.  The assumption is that it would be more difficult to replace that income.  Now, I don’t profess to understand the actuary behind insurance, but the idea is that if a spouse dies, your benefit should be enough to allow for the interest it earns in a standard investment in a decent economy (yeah, right) is enough to replace the income of the lost spouse so that your current lifestyle could be maintained.  Meaning, in our situation, that if I died, Cindy could continue to homeschool the kids, living off the interest of investments made with the money received from life insurance.  Okay, I get it, and we didn’t have nearly enough insurance on me to make that happen.  My wife and children would have received a big chunk of dough if I kick the bucket, but it wouldn’t last as long as it needs to last.  So, we get more insurance on me. 

Then I thought, (and I hate to think about it, but that’s what we’re talking about) what if Cindy died?  We had even less insurance on her.  I thought, “that’s okay, I can still work.”  Only, I’d have to homeschool the kids, too, or at least have family friends help me.  There would be great expenses.  I’m guessing I wouldn’t be able to take as many clients and projects as well.  I figure I’d be able to work at about 40% capacity until my children were raised.  We did the math, and it turned out we need as much insurance on her as what we have on me.   Being partners in marriage, family and life, it should’ve been no wonder that would be the case.

You want your family to be taken care of if you die.  I’ll remind you, I’m not an insurance salesman.  I have no affiliations with any insurance salesman.  I just happen to believe in this particular idea.  Look at it this way, the money you spend on a policy pales in comparison to the hardships your family would face if you hadn’t bought it.  I’m not trying to scare you into buying life insurance.  Look into it yourself.  Unless you can afford to self insure (which is my goal, by the way,) you owe it to your family to investigate this issue.

Things to consider:

• Term vs. Whole Life
• Multiple Policy Discounts
• Good Credit Discounts
• Insurance Shopping Techniques

One article I found interesting was an article from money.cnn.com click here.  This article goes through several steps and explains the different aspects of life insurance.  Make sound decisions based on as much information as you can.  If possible, find an agent through a referral from someone you know.  God bless.