I am writing this from San Jose. My wife turned sixty on March 13. My son Danny and his daughter Abby’s birthdays are also in March. For Korean-Americans, a baby’s first birthday means something special. So all of our families, including Sunju and Peter, are here to celebrate three birthdays; one celebration every day for three days.
I can’t believe that my wife is now sixty years old and that we’ve lived together for 36 years. How true it is that time flies like an arrow!
Speaking of my wife, as some of you may know, she started working again part time last January at the clinic she used to work for. They asked whether she would be willing to work again and she said yes.
When she was forced to retire last year, our concern was not about our finances but for her health insurance. She still needs regular medical checkups and doctor’s prescriptions for her medicine. If she needs a CT scan or endoscopy, it can easily cost $7,000 to $8,000. For a year after her retirement she received the same coverage from the same health insurance company under which she was covered while she was working, although we had to pay a much higher premium. But that coverage expires a year after retirement. She must buy the same group health insurance our church buys for church staff. But it’s a catastrophic insurance. It’s for emergency cases and not suitable for people like my wife who needs continuous medical attention. Buying other insurance would have been difficult because health insurance companies would not accept someone with her health history.
We weren’t overly worried, because we believed that God would somehow take care of her health problems. Then she received this invitation to return to work at her old clinic. She would work 20 hours a week as before and her medical coverage would be the same as for a full time employee.
God granted us an unexpected favor. His timing couldn’t be better. If she had not retired last year we would not have been able to take trips during my Sabbatical to places including Biblical sites in Turkey, Greece, and Patmos Island. On the other hand, if she had not started working this year, we might have had difficulties with her health issue.
My prayer is that I love this good God, our Father, not only in blessings but also in trials. My wish is that I would die for him if necessary.
Pastor Chai
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