His eye is on the sparrow, Part 2

If you haven't already read "His eye is on the sparrow," my earlier post for today, please read it first before continuing on with reading this post. It's important to me that you get a very clear picture of what God is doing in my life and how He is providing each step of the way.

(continued from my earlier post today) That little lone egg in the nest had been abandoned because something was wrong with it. Either it hadn't been fertilized or it was damaged in some way. As I looked at that little egg, I thought of myself. I was damaged now. I had Cancer. But there was something different about that little egg and I. His parents had flown away and left him all alone to rot and decompose. Although my body was now scarred from surgeries to remove both of my breasts and my lymph nodes; Cancer was still running rampant in my body. My Heavenly Father had not chosen to leave me alone. My journey was just beginning. He was going to teach me to fly!

Evidence of that fact came today, when I received a telephone call from the Genomic Health project. My breast surgeon had given me advance notice that they would be calling because she had ordered a test to be performed on my recent tissue samples. The test, called an Oncotype DX, is performed on patients with invasive breast cancer to help predict chemotherapy benefits and the likelihood of distant breast cancer recurrence.This test is not covered by all insurance companies. The test costs $4500.00. As the screener for the test asked me many personal questions, she was very softspoken and kind. She allowed me to speak and ask questions. She informed me that our insurance company did not find this test to be a medically necessary test but they would be willing to pay 80% of it. 20% of $4500 is $810. All I could think was oh boy, another bill to add to our ever growing mountain of medical expenses. I must have breathed out a gasp when she told me our insurance company didn't think it was necessary because she immediately said, "now don't worry. If you fall under a certain income, you will not have to pay a penny of this expense." She asked me if our household income fell under $78,000 and I explained to her that it did indeed because my husband was the only one working. She then told me that we met the criteria and we would not owe anything for this test. I immediately started to cry and to thank her. After we hung up, all I could do was say "Thank you, Jesus!"

As I kept praising God for His provision, I was reminded of a verse in Isaiah 41 verse 10. This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible, but today, it was even more so. Listen to what it says,  
^" Fear not [there is nothing to fear], for I am with you; do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties, yes, I will help you; yes, I will hold you up and retain you with My [victorious] right hand of rightness and justice." Amplified version of the Holy Bible

I wasn't at all like that lone little egg in the nest. Yes, sometimes I felt like I was all alone and abandoned but really, I never had been. Although I don't know anything about what lies ahead on this Cancer journey, God does. He's known from before I was even born that He would allow me to travel this road. He's already gone before me and prepared the way. He's already made provisions that I am not even aware of but when it's time, He will reveal them to me. My job is simply to marvel at His mighty power...to rest in His love...to trust Him every step of the way. I feel like I'm on the very cusp of learning something new and exciting, in fact, I think I'm just about ready to fly!

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