God is good.
In the process of moving to another country, there are many unknowns. I have so many questions, sometimes I don't even know where to start! Several of these questions involve the availability of items I take for granted. For example, "Will I be able to buy a jar of peanut butter there?" or "I wonder if they have cereal there." Most of these questions are pretty unimportant. I can live without peanut butter. I'll find something for breakfast that doesn't involve crunchy flakes in milk. However, there are some other questions that are more essential.
One of my fears about the transition involves my asthma. For those of you who don't already know, I have exercise and allergy induced asthma that I control with a fast-acting inhaler. My asthma is triggered by physical activity (anything cardio), allergens and pollutants (dust, cat hair, cigarette smoke, etc.), and dry, cold air. Being high in the mountains, La Paz is said to have a somewhat cold and dry climate. Additionally, many people suffer from shortness of breath due to the altitude itself. These factors make me wonder, "How is my asthma going to react when I'm there?" and "What if I can't breathe?"
Anyway, one of my questions about the transition has been, "Will I be able to get enough inhalers to last while I'm in Bolivia?" and "Do they sell them there?" I've only ever gotten one inhaler at a time. Now, I'll need at least 4 for August to December. I started praying that God would make a way that I could get 6 inhalers (a six month supply) to take with me on my first move.
Well, I went to the doctor and presented my request to her. She said she would write a prescription for 6 months but she didn't think they would give me more than 3...I kept praying. When I went to pick up my inhaler, they had mistakenly only entered one inhaler into the computer. I explained my situation to the pharmacist who told me she could give me 6 inhalers, but my insurance would only cover one. However, my insurance only knocks $5 off of the cost of the inhaler anyway...And, she told me she could give me a "card" (similar to frequent buyers card, I guess) that would knock off about $5 for each. After a few minutes, I walked out of CVS with 6 inhalers in hand! Thank you, God!
God is continuing to open doors in this process. He is faithful, and he continues to surprise me with his goodness (which I guess I should really expect since he is always good). Some of these surprises have come in the form of sale purchases.
I was praying about what jacket I should buy for the trip (I know it may sound silly to pray about what jacket to buy, but I did it anyway! I pray about lots of "silly" things.). There were a few factors that went into this decision. 1) It is cold. My jacket should be warm. 2) It rains a lot (even though it is dry?). My jacket should be waterproof. 3) If I hike in the mountains, there might be snow. Again, I need a warm, waterproof jacket. 4) It warms up a lot during the days, and the weather changes quickly. I need a jacket that I can change when the weather changes. 5) I don't have a lot of packing space to work with...So, in conclusion, I need a multi-purpose jacket to accomplish these goals.
I looked around online and found some "3-in-1" Northface jackets that have a removable fleece liner and a waterproof shell with a hood. They looked perfect! If it is cold and rainy (or snowy!), I could wear a warm, waterproof jacket. If it is just cold, I could take out the fleece liner and just wear that. Or if it is just rainy, I could just wear the outer, waterproof shell as a rain jacket. Like I said, perfect. Except...shopping for a warm, waterproof jacket in Florida in the summer does have its challenges. Plus, all of the online sellers seemed to be sold out of my size or were charging a pretty hefty price for the jacket. Hm...after several hours of searching and indecision, I found a jacket in my size (in an agreeable color) for a large but reasonable price. I submitted an offer to eBay and...was informed that the item had already sold. Ok, God. I guess that's not the one! Back to the search engine.
As it turns out, when I searched again, a new site popped up. A site that was selling the jacket I wanted, in my size, at 50% of the price I was about to pay for it! Wow! It is surprises like these that make me laugh and celebrate God's goodness. God is a good Father to me. Even in some of the "silly" things (non-life-altering things), God continually shows me that he is taking care of me and that he loves me. Some days, it is finding a parking spot. Other days, it is finding my keys...And some days, it is getting a GREAT deal on a warm, waterproof jacket!
No comments:
Post a Comment