Miracle

Back in November, if you recall, we were going to the Emergency Room with fevers a whole lot. One fine evening while Emma was there, I got an email from my bank that invited me to win $25,000 by answering the question, what are you #saving4? I took a picture of Emma, captioned it, and sent it in.

I didn't expect to win. I didn't expect to hear anything back. I was anxious, frustrated, and bored, and they provided a direction to blow just a little steam.

Kicking Cancer and Sending Her to College

In January I found out that I had won $500. I thought the email was a phishing scam orchestrated to steal my identity. The next day I got a phone call saying that my entry was selected by the judges for the grand prize. The Phishing scam was getting elaborate, and then it started to seem like it might be real, which was more surreal than real.

Capital One 360 had me sign a legal document that said I sold my 400-word blog post to them, so I can't rewrite it all right here. The story is on their blog, though. Clinton is a little uncomfortable with directly linking, so you'll have to google "we the savers" to get to more details. Today the story of Emma's winning photo is the second post, and will continue to drop as time passes.

I count it as a miracle. Strange as it may be, the financial worries of cancer made me feel more hopeless than the cancer itself. I trust God, I know her statistical prognosis, and I know her doctors are doing all that can be done; but years of paying medical bills into the future look bleak and dark. Clinton has a job, and we can budget; but it just felt hopeless.

We have spent 10 years working to get out of debt - cars, student loans, a failed business, the cost of living in D.C. on my Utah wages during Clinton's unpaid internship, and 3 years of reaching the out-of-pocket maximums on a high deductible plan. Not to get specific, but annual federal limits to HSA contributions are $6450 while out of pocket maximums can go up to $12,500 - ours is $10K. As Emma got her diagnosis, we were one month away from paying off my student loans. All we had left after that was part of the hospital bill from Caleb's birth.

It was as if somebody blew out the light at the end of the tunnel, that it wasn't daylight; but a lousy candle gone dead.

We get to pay taxes on this prize, but it brings us to debt-free except the house. It finishes 2013 and it pays the out-of pocket max for 2014 that we have already reached. Then, we will have enough from this year's and next year's HSA contributions to take care of 2015. There might even be some to help with 2016, the year that Emma should finish chemotherapy for good and all.

This miracle brought the sun.

To add to it, on Saturday we got a letter from somebody that we haven't met, someone who is following Emma's progress. A friend to our family or family to our friend... the kind of relationship that makes up so much of Emma's Team. This letter included a lot of money, too. Not $25K big; but big for us and big for a gift from a family. They explained simply that God had told them to send it, and please accept it. We will, with gratitude.

God is surely aware of us and our needs.
He arranged for sunshine where there was bleak worry.

The cancer is still there; yet there sunshine behind the cloud, turning it all silvery.