I must confess I do trust God, and yet, I find He continually surprises me. You're not going to believe this!
As you may know if you been following Jean's knee saga, she had successful arthroscopic surgery back on July 3rd to remove a torn meniscus. At that time, our ortho doctor, Dr. Farr, had also confirmed to us that her ACL was essentially gone.
His official recommendation was that Jean needed to have a meniscus transplant, as well as, a repair of the ACL. He was inclined to do both surgeries at the same time, so as not to have to go into her knee more than once, and we concurred. However, the prognosis was somewhat disheartening. Because meniscus replacement surgery is relatively new, insurance companies are very reluctant to cover it. He gave us a gameplan on how to proceed in securing the approval for the transplant, but it would require getting 2nd and 3rd opinions from other ortho doctors, as well as, aggressively lobbying the insurance company to approve the procedure. Otherwise, we would be facing a hefty out-of-pocket cost to get Jean back on her feet. (The surgery itself can cost upwards of $50,000.)
Needless to say, we've been praying fervently (along with family, friends, and many of you) about this situation that God would give us some wisdom on how to proceed. Given the potential battle we were facing with the insurance company, we have been slowly adjusting our expectations to the reality that this process could likely take months, if not years, to resolve. But, given Jean's potential for incapacitation, there aren't many other choices available. So you commit to doing whatever it takes to restore her to a fully functioning lifestyle.
Well, wouldn't you know it? Just about the time your faith begins to ebb, God comes through. Jean received a letter in the mail this week that said she has been approved for the surgery! As you can imagine, our collective skepticism quickly rose to the fore, so she called the doctor's office and asked them repeatedly to confirm that indeed what she was reading in the letter was true. They confirmed it was, and she can schedule her surgery sometime between now and October 17th.
To put this in perspective, Dr. Farr told us that he has been lobbying the insurance company for similar meniscus replacement surgeries for the last seven or eight years, on behalf of more than 100 patients a year. During that time, they have only approved 3 meniscus transplant surgeries! Incredible!
I don't know all the particulars to explain how this improbable approval happened. But I do know that God does answer prayer. And when He promises, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you," He means it. My faith continues to be strengthened. And to all of you who have offered prayers on our behalf, we thank you. (I will keep you updated on how this whole thing progresses.) 
Sweet! He's so amazing!
Posted by: Mandy | July 25, 2007 at 04:21 PM
first off: HORRAY!
i really hope this gets fixed - i've seen first hand how debilitating bad knees are. it'd be hard for jean, hard on the family and hardon you, john.
having said that, and hoping that my next comments don't get in the way of my true joy at this news, you said:
"To put this in perspective, Dr. Farr told us that he has been lobbying the insurance company for similar meniscus replacement surgeries for the last seven or eight years, on behalf of more than 100 patients a year. During that time, they have only approved 3 meniscus transplant surgeries! Incredible!"
it *is* incredible, but what of the 97 others who's prayers god did not answer?
did they not pray "fervently" enough?
god not give them the "wisdom to proceed" ?
their friends and family not pray enough?
"And when He promises, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you," He means it"....
except to those other 97 people, to whom he did not mean it, apparently?
or did, perhaps, they not have enough potential for incapacitation to warrant god bothering to force the insurance company to approve the surgery?
i don't mean these to be snide -- it's just.... when i was a christian i skirted these issues until i couldn't skirt them anymore.
once i finally allowed myself to face them honestly is when i started to stop being scared to face anything honestly.
Posted by: chris from flickerbulb | July 25, 2007 at 05:10 PM
Hey Chris,
Just to clear up what I think about your questions- I believe in a sovereign God who knows whats best for each of us. I did not want to have knee problems in the first place- and what about the 1 billion other people who don't have knee problems... Did God say no to my request to be able to keep on running (my favorite hobby) for life, and did He answer the other 1 billion people's requests to not have knee problems? (presupposing they were even praying about it?) NO- I believe He knew that this trial was going to be a good thing for me- to refine me and help me to continue to trust Him more. For the others who didn't get the authorization for knee surgeries, He allowed that for His purposes as well. Bottom line is, I'm glad I'm not God- I couldn't handle juggling everyone's needs/ desires (i.e. see Bruce Almighty), but I believe God can and does. I'm not saying I don't struggle with why He says yes to some things and no to others, but I've seen a lot of good things come from bad situations and I believe that God understands a lot more than we do about what will help people grow and bring them to Himself. It is a choice of faith and I believe Him. Please don't take this the wrong way, but when I read your post I prayed for you that you might be able to come back to faith. I believe God loves you so much, Chris!!
Posted by: jean crane | July 26, 2007 at 06:43 AM
Jean beat me to the comment board to respond to your questions. Suffice it say, I would distill her thoughts down to a few questions that come to my mind regarding your comments, Chris.
First of all, how can anyone realistically assume we know both the spiritual state and/or the fervency in prayer that anyone brings before God? I can't speak for the "prayers" of the hundreds of other people needing knee surgeries, but I do know for certain that we (and a great many others) have been praying earnestly for this particular situation, and God promises to answer prayer.
Secondly, how often do we automatically assume that God's answer to our prayers should always be "Yes" (and therefore, if He doesn't say, "Yes", then He must not answer prayer)? As the saying goes, there are no unanswered prayers (despite what Garth Brooks thinks). We just don't acknowledge the many times when God may be saying, "No" or "Wait" for our own good. I suppose since He can see the big picture, and I can't, I give Him the benefit of the doubt that He knows what He's doing. And I have to trust Him for the outcome, even if my limited understanding would have me desiring a different outcome at the time.
Finally, assuming God is who He says He is--an infinite, all-powerful, all-knowing Being--who are we as finite creatures to assume we know what the Creator God *should* do in any given situation? That smacks of an authority that is not ours to possess, an arrogance that God addressed with Job (Job 38-41). We may not always know why God allows, or doesn't allow, certain things to happen in life. But our ignorance in such matters does not lessen God's faithfulness to do what is ultimately in our best interests over the long run.
Posted by: John | July 26, 2007 at 11:26 AM