Blue Cross, I Don't Understand You...

So...for those of you who read my post titled "Blue Cross, You're Evil" this is for you. An update.

Hubby called BCBS today to get his plan switched to the plan that I am working on getting (switching from Flexible Blue to Individual Care Blue) because the ultimate goal was to get our whole family on the same plan instead of two different plans as we have been for years. So he switched. Then I asked about my plan. Apparently my coverage is effective now, as of February 1st (thanks for calling me back Blue Cross lady, and letting me know-oh wait, you didn't). Since my coverage was effective, I asked that hubby, B and I all be merged together in one family plan, because that is what we were told to do when this whole process started back in October, by a Blue Cross agent. This is what we were told: we cannot merge our plans because we are both on group conversion plans. Hubby was never part of a group plan, so I don't understand why he has group conversion. I have group conversion, and after the whole mess that we went through I decided to not do a group conversion so I didn't have to back pay, and just accept the pre-existing conditions waiting period...which has been waived I am told...and the only way to merge our family into one is to cancel both plans and start over (which, would raise our costs, and we would have waiting periods). So to make more sense of all that, basically we will have to pay more out of pocket a year than expected due to being on separate plans STILL, but as far as we were told today my waiting period has been waived, which totally contradicts everything I have been told up to this point. So I guess I won't complain, unless, that is, if BCBS comes back another time and says "oh wait, that was wrong, we're not covering THAT" which would make me so very angry, so much more angry than the first mishap that this company had with me. But this is the process up to now. But at least I finally have a contract number, which is something I have not had and have been waiting for for FOUR MONTHS. Can you believe this process took over FOUR MONTHS? Yeah. It did. But that's all I have to say about that.

On another note, American Idol is not so exciting this year. Last year was great. It's just not thrilling to watch, and they hardly show any audition at all, it's just a bunch of recap. I hope the show gets better because last year was really fun to watch, or I just might not be a viewer for a while. There are plenty of shows that could capture my attention...well, if I were to actually watch more tv and find out what those shows were. Books. Books are calling me. Maybe I can get a lot more reading done. It took me three months to read the last book ("The Story We Find Ourselves In" Brian McLaren), and this week I started a new book and hope to finish it soon ("Ms. Understood" Jen Hatmaker). Happy evening time friends.

The Story We Find Ourselves In...

I have been reading lately, that is, when I get the chance, a wonderful book titled "The Story We Find Ourselves In" by Brian McLaren. About a year or so ago I read the first book in the trilogy ("A New Kind Of Christian"), and it was very eye opening into some of the postmodern theories and exploring the idea that maybe we have missed the mark somewhere, and maybe everything is not so black and white-type of thinking...and this book continues that even furher digging deeply into ideas of spirituality and faith and new understanding of biblical stories. And I am fascinated.

Thoughts From A Few Pages...

I just finished reading this book, "A New Kind Of Christian" by Brian McLaren. It was amazing, and it will change your view of how you look at Christianity and the Bible. One of the things I have realized is that we have to accept that we don't have any answers. We may not even be looking at the Bible through the right lens. We might think we know what something means, but who decided what that something meant, and how are we to know if that person was even right or way off track? I am learning that I need to be open, open to change, open to differing perception, open to a whole new way of understanding. What does it mean to follow and live like Jesus?

I am also in the middle of reading "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell, which also expands the mind to truth. We cannot spend our whole life building up a brick wall of unchangeable faith and doctrine, because the second someone challenges that and proposes the idea that there might be another way, a brick is removed and the whole wall comes tumbling down. Instead, we should be jumping on a trampoline, where the springs are our doctrine, the truths we believe, but they are not solid like a brick. The flex, they bend, they can form, they change. This is so important. Everything we know we learned from someone else, whether we think we did or not. We act certain ways because someone acted that way and we think it is right. Become open. Allow change. Allow questioning.

Our faith grows and lives in the questions that we ask. When we think we have it all figured out, we no longer need God. Questions are essential. We never have it all figured out. We may think we understand, but who are we to say that there isn't another way of understanding?

I want to be open, to different views, to different opinions, to different ways of looking at things. I want to be out of the box. Not someone building a brick wall. This must sound like unorganized rambling, and it may be. These are just thoughts going through my mind from these books. I wish I were able to describe more. The knowledge is in my memory, but I just can't put it all into words. The only way I can say it is I have been in awe lately, and have more of this desire to learn, to be, to live, for something new. I may not find it, but I am on the path to search for it.