Hope as a way of living

Yesterday, my husband asked me to make the call to the health insurance company for him. He'd received notices on 4/1, 4/16, 5/1, and 5/16, all stating that he had to contact them "for verification of benefits." He was told each time that until he called, all payments would be on hold. There was no indication that we would ever stop getting these extortion notices.

As soon as he dialed the number given, however, he was told there was no need to call-- everything was in order. Was this some kind of joke by United Health Care? Did they have nothing better to do with their time?

Naturally, I dialed the number he had called, and was given the same recorded message. The first time.

Then I called a different number: the customer service line, where I could talk to a human. After explaining our story to one lady, she decided I needed to speak with a rapid claims reconciliation expert --someone with the power to cut through red tape.

"Hello, this is Hope." Of course you are!

"I have a daughter whose middle name is Faith," I gushed.

"Oh, I have a sister, Faith. And Charity and Peace." What a household of spiritual gifts! I said as much.

"How can I help you?" she asked. When I told her our frustrating story, she discovered the problem, found how to stop the glitch, and asked if there was anything else she could do to help me.

While I had her on the line, I gave her a long-standing problem I'd had with the company over an old bill. She helped with that. Because I have trouble hearing information over the phone (where the tumor is--auditory cortex), she repeated the information several times so I could write it down properly with tender patience.

By the end of the call, I told her how much she had helped me, and blessed me by her way of living her name. Hope in action.

What an inspiration to me, and to us all: it doesn't take much to be kind, to do the right thing, to get up off the couch. Hope colors everything. What you hope for becomes what you live for.
This Hope showed me also it is how she lives.

Lord, do not desert me now! You alone are my hope in the day of disaster. --Jeremiah 17:17
Come back to the place of safety, all you prisoners, for there is yet hope! I promise this very day that I will repay you two mercies for each of your woes! -- Zechariah 9:12