If the Obama health care plan makes sense to you, it's time to up your medication.

Yes I did, thank you. I most certainly enjoyed the cooler air. And like the commercial, oh what a relief it was. But, I also read from a climatologist who is projecting the drought for our area to maybe last until 2020. Not the TV program, the year! Let's hope he is as right about this as Al Gore was when he took credit for inventing the internet. But, I digress. That cooler air was like getting CPR after you've passed out from the heat. Thanks be to God who gave us a few days of restorative and invigorating breathing. Hello and welcome once again to the forum where I get to stand up on my soap box, take a deep breath, and then open up and let it fly. It is Monday, October 3, 2011. I worked hard to get myself set up on a viable health plan to guide me through the Medicare maize. Last week I received the changes being planned for 2012 to my new program. Talk about breath taking! It doesn't even resemble the plan I joined last summer. When I initially signed on the bottom line, there were very few co-payments and for 2012 there's one for everything along with major reduced coverages. What in the world is going on? According to the Kaiser Family Foundation who has conducted extensive studies, this radical change going on in the insurance coverage world can be directly linked to the so called Affordable Care Act, or Obama Care, or as some now call it, the Unaffordable, Affordable Care Act. I couldn't have been more surprised and let me be blunt here, disgruntled. Unfortunately, the competing plans are all having to do the same thing, therefore, it's not like there's somewhere else to turn to. The commercial on the government website still proclaims that this monstrous piece of government bureaucracy will save huge amounts of money while adding 32 million people previously uncovered to the rolls, many of which that cannot pay, but yet, they still are promoting it as an immediate cost saver. Then they wonder why people have so little confidence in anything said by our President or his administration. The proof of this debacle is being played out as every individual who currently has any insurance of any kind, be it self purchased, employer purchased, or any other flavor, when renewals for 2012 are being made.

Maybe I should put myself in timeout before I do need to up my blood pressure medicine. But, the bottom line is that as a believer who has found victory in Jesus, even with all the ups and downs, irritations and inconveniences, I, and all who have found the same victory, are blessed beyond measure. Our blessings are not dependent upon what the Congress does or who is favored in this new program. We, as believers, are highly favored by the Lord God of heaven and that's something we should never forget, in fact, in this unsettled world we have to deal with each day, we need to be reminded of this truth often. I'm not talking about some kind of feel good self happy talk kind of reality. I'm talking about the truth given to us by Almighty God who defines who we are and lays out for us the way in which He cares for us. The enemy of our soul, Satan, who is alive and active, would like nothing more than for God's children to be overwhelmed by the difficulties brought to them in this life. No one said it would be easy but nothing that happens to any of us changes the reality of our position in Christ and in our eternal destiny that He secured for us on The Cross. When we waver in our faith and begin to doubt the truths about our relationship with our Savior, even this will not change our position as His child and it will never change all the truths that He has revealed to us about His eternal plan and purpose in us. See it, know it, and do your best, with His help, to live out the victory that is yours in Christ. Amen.

Yes. I too have to be reminded of keeping life in the right perspective, the eternal perspective. Why? Because it can get tough and when wave after wave of stuff beats against our lives, whether in our families, or our jobs, or our personal relationships, we need to be grounded with something more than the here and now. The here and now can get pretty ugly sometimes, and yes, I do get stirred up when I see folks suffering because of changes like the ones I mentioned about health care costs. We are still blessed to be gainfully employed but there's many who will likely just forgo making that appointment or getting that needed procedure because of these new cost adjustments. But, be reminded that none of this is a huge surprise to our God and yes, He does care about each bird that falls, and He cares even more for those who are His own. I have to reminded of what the writer of the Hebrews told his readers. They were undergoing some tough times, some suffering, and some persecution, but he informed them of this: "You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;" (Hebrews 12:4) And, I haven't either, therefore, I know that we remain in a position of being blessed and we thank God for His help that has seen us through, and is seeing us through, and will see us through until the end, Amen, hallelujah, praise His Holy Name.    ........More later.