Swagbucks - I have $106.98 in my Amazon account, thanks to gift cards I've earned from Swagbucks. I have another $20.00 in Amazon gift cards that are waiting to be processed. I love, love, love, Swagbucks! In fact, I'm buying some Christmas gifts today with my free gift card money. If you want to earn bucks to purchase gift cards to all sorts of places simply by doing your regular online searches, then click right here. You have nothing to lose, so go check it out.
Debra - A few days ago I saw a Facebook update from Ashley that said my dad had taken her mom, Debra, to the ER for a hurt toe. Several hours later my dad blogged about it, which gave me the opportunity to teach the boys about pins in the body, local vs. general (they understand general from their own surgeries) anesthesia, dislocations, fractures, etc. It was like a little health lesson, courtesy of my dad and at the expense of Debra's toe.
Insurance - Last year I spent four months working on getting our health insurance to cover my mammogram. I'm technically too young to have them covered, but having a mom who died of breast cancer in her thirties is supposed to earn you some special insurance treatment when it comes to mammograms. They eventually paid, but it took lots of sorting out communication breakdowns between various people. This year the charges were denied again, so I immediately called the woman who helped me last year and we tackled it head-on. Just two weeks later I was told that my insurance had paid up. Woo hoo!!
The Moffit Box - We send quarterly boxes to my sister's family in the Philippines. They're filled with birthday & Christmas gifts, various holiday stuff, totally random gifts, things they've requested, hand-me-downs to distribute, things they ordered online and had shipped to us, and other miscellaneous things. It's a ton of fun for our family (including my grandma, who joined the fun a while back, and my dad ,who now has a convenient way to ship gifts) to fill the boxes and we know they look forward to receiving them. I'd encourage you to do something similar for a missionary family. I know the cost of shipping can be prohibitive, but there are a few options. One is to join with other people and split the cost. Another is to use a shipping company native to the country the missionaries are in. We use LBC to ship to the Philippines. It costs $65.00 to send a honkin' box, regardless of weight, and takes five weeks on a ship to arrive in the Philippines. It's a bargain, for sure! Anyway, just think about it. It could be a really great way for you to bless a family, teach your kids to be thoughtful and cheerful givers, and have fun in the process.
And now I'm off to finalize the list of things going out in the next box. It's stuff for Christmas, Neo's birthday, and Valentine's day ... plus all the random stuff.
4 comments:
Love the Moffit box idea. We recieved our fist McCourtney box of the year just this week and it was full of fun surprises!
It never ceases to amaze me that while I am tucked away in my remote corner of the world, someone back 'home' thousands of miles away is thinking of me and buying me little things and putting all the love and care and attention that goes into sending a package. It definitely (for me) is not about the contents of the package, is the time and thought and care and LOVE that goes into it. We are a very loved missionary family!
Bethany, just saw your comments regarding getting your mammogram paid. That's encouraging to me. Not 5 minutes ago I was on the phone trying to figure out why my pelvic ultrasound was denied. I carry the genetic mutation for BRCA1 (the breast and ovarian cancer gene) and have already had br.cancer. They don't want to cover the charges for the ovarian ultrasounds that the dr says I need to have every six months. The dr's nurse is working on this from their end, and I am praying for favor with the insurance company. Would appreciate your prayers too!!!
Monica - Praying for you! My thought has always been that I'm prepared to pay for them if I have to. That's just my reality. However, I'm also willing to do the legwork necessary to get the insurance to cover it. :)
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