It's like winning the lottery...

***NEWS FLASH***

We have a doctor.

Yes, it's true.

It went down like this....

Friend Nancy called and said, "We just got in with a new doctor, but they said they were filling up fast. Call right now and call me back."

So I called right then.

Dr's office receptionist: "Dr.'s office, can I help you?"

Me: "I heard y'all were taking new patients. Do you still have room?"

Her: "Yes, but we only have a few slots left and we are booked up until mid October as far as appointments go."

Me: "That's ok"

Her:"Yeah, we aren't getting many people telling us no. Okay, let's get your information."

Me: "I have a husband and 5 kids as well - is there room for them?"

Her:"Oh dear." (I think we took the rest of the spots) "Okay, let's start with your husband and get everybody's info."

Me: "Thank you so much" (and a bit giddily) "I can't believe how hard it is to get a doctor! We just moved up from the states where you just go to a doctor and if you don't like 'em, you go to another!" (yes, I really said it - I was just so excited!))

Her: "Umm, yeah...what's your husband's name and birthdate...."

We went through everyone's info - names, birthdates and Alberta Health numbers.

Her: "Okay, that's everything. The next available appointment, so you can meet the doctor, is October 21."

Me:"That's fine."

Her:"Okay then, that's it."

Me:"Will you call to remind me or send something in the mail?"

Her:"No."

Me:"Alrighty then, I guess I'll put this somewhere I will remember it."(for 6 weeeks!) "Okay, I guess that's it."

Her:"Thanks so much for calling."

Me: "Wait, wait - what is the doctor's name?" (Because any information about the doctor doesn't matter, I just wanted to know.)

Her: "Dr. Muftee"

And since she seemed like she was trying to get off, I didn't ask my follow up - was Dr. Muftee male or female.

I guess we'll find out that and other exciting tidbits about our new doctor October 21. I hope she likes us. What should I wear? How should I do my hair? Stay tuned - it's sure to be interesting...

Oh yeah, what did I say to friend Nancy when I called her back?

"WE'RE IN!!!!" And then we both cheered.
It really is that big of a deal.
Sad.

After the rant...

I feel like my rant begs the question, "Then why are you there? You didn't have to move to Canada."

I have two answers:

1.There is soooooo much more to Canada than universal health care. It is what most Americans think of when they think of things Canadian, that and the affectionate "eh?" that appears at the end of a Canadian sentence - I love the "eh" by the way...
The beauty of God's world up here is amazing - we love the mountains in our part of the country and are so excited to be so close to such beauty. The people up here love them as well, as the summers are spent camping and and enjoying the great outdoors for as long as possible before the great white winter reappears.

Canadians, at least Calgarians, are a pretty friendly lot. Those I have encountered in service industries are patient and helpful, with smiles to boot.

Canadians, at least Calgarians, are pretty resourceful - while materialism is a huge problem, they also encourage reuse of things and recycling is huge here. I love the recycling bit because I can see our trash taking over our planet way before I see destruction from so-called "climate-change". I think because of the beautiful surroundings, Calgarians are more mindful to keep it that way.

And that is just a few things. We love our neighbors, we love our church, we love the community we are in right now and long to see it changed and transformed by the Gospel of Christ. We love being here.

and that leads me to :

2. We also don't trust in government health care. We don't trust in market run health care or insurance companies. We don't trust in the government to take care of us, nor do we trust in our own personal bank account. But we trust in the Lord our God and know that what ever He may send our way, He will walk with us through it, strengthening us and comforting us as needed.

And that's why we can be free to love Canada, and Calgary, and it's people. And love them we do - especially the overworked and overstressed health care providers. God bless them in their endeavors.

That's it - I can't stand it any longer...

Just heard this:

"Every time the health care debate is raised the Republicans drag out the three people from Canada who couldn't get an operation within 6 months." - Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, Columbia University Professor and frequent Fox News Contributor.

Excuse me? I can think of 3 people off the top of my head and I would wager it's not the same three he's thinking of.

So, really, When was the last time Mr. Lamont tried to get any sort of health care in Canada?Does he live in Canada? Work in Canada? Have a best friend or 4 million in Canada? As usual, he has NO idea what he is talking about as do the other proponents of universal health care who seem to think the Canadian/British/CUBAN????? (are those people risking their lives to get out of there?) systems are all that and a bag of chips - for everybody else, but them.

Let me tell you what I have learned about the Canadian Health Care system in less than 2 months.

1. It's NOT FREE. We are paying higher taxes than we ever have before and I believe we are still in the lowest tax bracket out there. And those high taxes don't only get you health care, but they also get you an exorbitant cost of living, because, well, the businesses are getting taxed as well, and they have to pay those somehow, so we the consumers get to help out there as well.

2. The patients outnumber the doctors by the thousands. NOT KIDDING. A friend just got yelled at by her stressed out doctor who screamed at her "I have over 3000 patients and I am totally stressed out!" Alrighty then.

3. You have to go through a family doc (who also deliver babies in their spare time - you only get to an OB/GYN specialist for problem) to get to ANY other doc - that's called a referral, and that is what you wait and wait and wait and wait for - that and the MRI.

If you break your hip, or have a heart attack, you can go right to the emergency room. But DON'T go if you aren't almost on your death bed because then you will get a lecture about how the docs in the emergency room don't have time for trivialities that aren't life threatening. Not kidding - happened to the same friend who was trying to get care from her doc. So...I guess you really aren't guaranteed care - it's up to the discretion of the doctor - who may or may not be in a good mood that day from being overworked and overstressed..

4. Six months is short for a Canadian wait. MRIs in particular are especially hard to come by in any reasonable amount of time - unless you are a dog or cat or rabbit or such. One of our friends relayed how he had injured his shoulder about 18 months ago. He went to his family doc and was told he would get put in line for an MRI and it would be about A YEAR before he would get in. In the meantime, he spent 11 months and his own money going to the chiropractor and getting massage therapy on the injured shoulder - all of which is NOT covered by Alberta Health, so he PAID for it. He did finally get called for the MRI, went in and found that his chiropractor had done a great job and the shoulder was completely healed. What a great help that "FREE" health care was!

Another friend just told me that she had been referred by her doctor to an internal medicine specialist in April. The internal med doc's office called her last week to make the appointment. Hmmm...April, May, June, July, August - it's a good thing she wasn't in a lot of pain or anything...


5. Loss of competition means loss of care - as my friend found out from her screaming doctor who had been fine for the past 6 years until she REALLY needed some help and it just sent this overworked, overstressed family doc over the edge. Not only did my friend get screamed at, but she got FIRED from her doctor! She was told she just needed to find a new doctor - WHY??? Because she had been researching her issues on her own and because she trusted the pharmacists advice over the doctor's - the doctor who told her to take two meds together, and the pharmacist who adamantly told her NOT to. The doc felt like there were "trust" issues and since she already has way too many patients, she told my friend to hit the road. Nice. Now they are on the hunt with us for the elusive animal, the "family doctor". Maybe we should get National Geographic involved. It's a good thing we are pretty healthy right now - but I better find that doctor, FAST.

6. Canadians have been coming to the states for health care for years - because it's better to get care and pay for it than to not get care at all. A friend who worked as a physician in Michigan said that half of his patients were Canadians crossing the border to get care.

7. Have I mentioned what's not included in Canada's universal health care? Prescriptions, ambulances, dental - umm, is that because it costs so much?? It's just a question. Then how in the world is the U.S. going to pay for a system that would care for a population4 times that of Canada? Again, it's just a question.

So I have a question that needs to be answered - Where is anybody bringing up the current FREE, and I mean really free to those getting the care, health care in the U.S. I know for a FACT that free health care is available for the poorest of the population. I have records to prove it. Before my two adopted children were removed from their previous home for neglect, they were taken to the Emergency room for everything from a snotty nose to an ear infection - why? Because their parents knew that they would receive care there and would not be obligated to pay.

People, you do not want this system - no matter how much your heart is bleeding for the poor - as does mine - but universal health care will only be universal in that everyone will get the same crappy care as everyone else - everyone else that is except the people who drag us into it. There has to be a better way.

Let me close with these statements from the latest meeting of the Canadian Medical Association:

"The incoming president of the CMA says this country's health care system is sick and doctors need to develop a plan to cure it. . . . 'We know there must be change,' said Dr. Anne Doig. 'We're all running flat out, we're all just trying to stay ahead of the immediate day-to-day demands.' " - Canadian Press report in the Thunder Bay, Ont., Chronicle-Journal, Aug. 16

"Other than enough finger-pointing to risk repetitive strain injury, what are the politicians actually adding? . . . The CMA, the Canadian health insurance industry and plenty of ordinary Canadians are calling for significant change in the way we deal with health care. It's time our so-called leaders caught up to the public." - Column in Windsor Star (Ontario), Aug. 16

And that is the truth, Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, and Ms. Pelosi, and Mr. Waxman, and President Obama, and the whole lot of ya!

Somebody had to say it.
Now I'm going to bed.

On Canadian Healthcare - a teaser

I know there are some of you out there waiting for a report on the Canadian healthcare system. Well, it's coming - I just don't have time to gather my thoughts altogether yet in a coherent blob. But in the meantime, just a taste -

I received this in the mail today.

A letter from Alberta Cervical Cancer Screening Program, a non-profit organization affiliatd with Alberta Heath Services (the government):

"Women have told the Alberta Cervical Cancer Screening Program that the main reasons they don't go for Pap tests are: they don't have access to a family physician, they sometimes prefer a female health care provider and they didn't know they needed a Pap test."

So, ahem...

But it's working! And it can work for you Americans too!

Hoping for change

My husband posted this along with a few other thoughtful posts regarding the election. Check out his blog here.

My friends who voted for President-elect Obama...please, please, please tell me that this woman is an anomaly and this is not what most of his supporters think is going to happen.

And would someone please tell me what he plans to do - or what people think he is going to do...besides change everything? Give me some specifics...please. I really want to know. You can post a comment or email me separately and I will not respond, except to say thank you, so no worries about getting into a big political thing over email. A friend and I have already figured out this week that doesn't work very well - too much lost in the medium.

I listened last night to conservatives and liberals both agree that no one really knows anything about him. And one guy, who I think is liberal, so he was not being negative at all, just making an observation, said that, "Barak Obama is probably the least known man to ever be elected to the Presidency of the United States. We really just don't know anything about him." And he went on to say so therefore a lot of hope is riding on his presidency.

When I heard that, I just thought, wow. Hope based on what?

Well, I have hope as well - that he will lead the American people not according to an idealogical agenda, but lead us according to the principles that made this country great and keeps it the place where anybody can do anything, even become President of the United States. So I will continue to pray for him - to lead and guide us with wisdom and grace.

A Call to Christians

This is not a call to vote for Senator McCain. And it is not a call to vote for Senator Obama. It is a call to prepare oneself to respond with respect and dignity to the man, who will be God's sovereign choice as our next President of the United States. Conservative Christians will need to lead the way in honoring a President Barak Obama, whether they agree with his policies or not. Liberal Christians will need to lead the way in treating a President John McCain with dignity and respect, whether they agree with his policies or not. We can disagree and still treat one another with honor, dignity and respect. It is part of what the nation was built on. If we were to always agree on everything, we would need a whole different political system.

But we are about to hire a new President, and we all have a choice in the matter. So today, make your choice, if you haven't already. And then follow Jesus, who through the apostle Paul says in Romans 13, "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God....Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed."

Liberal and Conservative Christian friends, let us lead the way in giving honor and respect, being salt and light to an unbelieving world. Not disdain, not despair, not condecension and insults, but graciousness, graciousness in the way we speak about him, graciousness in the way we disagree with his policies, graciousness in regard to the office itself - not a small feat to achieve. Because regardless of whether he is your choice or my choice, he is God's choice and His ways are wiser than ours.

I got linked!

Our friend Martha, living across the pond on the picturesque British Isles right now while her sweet husband is working on his PhD., linked my "King" post and then waxed eloquent a bit more on the issue at hand, especially reminding us who the True King is and that no matter what, He will always be so. Read her insights here. Take note - Martha spent some years as a child living in Russia.

"We want a king! We want a king!"

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, "Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations. And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, "Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you...only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.

So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. he said, "These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you:...he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties...he will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves....

But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, "No! But there
shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations...
I Samuel 8:4-20

Does the picture being painted in the I Samuel passage seem at all familiar? I read it and feel an enormous since of deja vu. I am not usually political and I do not desire to be so to the extent of getting into political battles with people I know or don't know, but I must confess that I am finally getting concerned about this election. I fear what we as a nation think we want.

Confessions first. I do admit that when Obama first came on the political scene at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, that I was impressed by his articulateness. The man gave a great speech, regardless of whether one agreed with what was said or not. It was understandable and passionate, and as a Communications major, I was impressed.

Shortly after we moved to Peru, living in a third world developing nation, I changed my Facebook political label from Conservative to moderate. If you were to ask me why, I'm not sure I could have really made a good case, but as I think about it now, I think it was that conservatives are seen as only caring about themselves and letting the rest of the world go to Hell in a handbasket. I knew I was still socially conservative, but I didn't want to be identified anymore with the "I'm an American and that's why I'm better than you" mindset.

This past Spring, right after the primaries, I had an interesting conversation with one of the other missionary wives. In Peru, the citizens are required to vote - and they have to do so like they did in Jesus time during the census - they have to travel to their hometown, wherever that may be. If they do not vote, they are fined - so it is government mandated voting. So the two of us were talking about the way the Peruvian system was and comparing it with the US voting system. I made the comment that I knew that voting was a right and a privilege that I didn't want to take for granted, but that I really wasn't excited about either candidate - John McCain or Barak Obama - I thought they were pretty much the same dressed in different clothes. And she said, "Voting is a privilege and a right, but so is not voting. We aren't mandated to do so. It's not like Peru. You actually have a choice to not vote." Which was brilliant I thought. It is a privilege, not a law. Chalk another one up to liberty.

(This is where I tell certain people to keep reading - or stop -whatever. Just don't complain to me about my post if you didn't read the whole thing.)

I came back to the states, still not sure if I was actually going to vote this time around - for President I might add. I was planning on voting, just possibly not in the Presidential race. But now I will and this is why:

1. The agenda put forth (accidentally on a few occasions) by the Democrats - Barak Obama and the like - is not just Socialist, but from how I am understanding things - and I could be wrong, but I think it's Marxism. And I would hazard to guess that if Barak was saying out loud, "Yeah, what I'm proposing is just Marxism", people would not be quite as glassy-eyed when they looked upon him. Vladamir Lenin had the Russian people's support to overthrow the Czar...until they were so oppressed by the Bolshevik government that they were"crying out because of the king they had chosen".

2. "Spreading the wealth is good for everyone." Before I am misunderstood, I will say up front that I am not in support of this. That said, I ask, is "the wealth" really going to make it down to the people it is supposedly intended for? Again, check the history books. When governments begin taking other peoples wealth to give to the poor, somehow, more and more people end up poor. How can this be? Unless those who are doing the "redistributing" in all their wisdom, are really redistributing to their friends and colleagues and those who helped them get where they are. ie. Cuba, China, Communist Russia, East Germany. How can we be sure that won't be what's happening? And I only ask because it appears to be what we want - for the wealth to be spread around. Fannie Mae? Freddie Mac? Hello?

3. The Dems are for "the people" unless you disagree with them, like poor Joe from Ohio who is forever been labeled "Joe the Plumber". I found this whole scenario funny at first. Joe challenges Obama on a question, Obama says what he actually thinks - which is good to know - but he let the cat out of the bag way too early - you weren't supposed to let the Marxist leanings out until AFTER you won the election, Barak. After which, when the Dems realized that their "king" had made a bit of a blunder, they sicced their thugs of reporters on this poor guy turning his life inside out. So thanks to ABC,NBC, CBS, CNN, and most of the major newspapers of the land, we now know that Joe the Plumber goes by his middle name and that he is in progress of getting his plumber's license. Thanks. But for them, and "the king", those, as well as a host of other tidbits that should not be public knowledge, were fodder for mockery of Joe and his "average" life. I thought these were the "working people" you were for Barak.

4. The Fairness Doctrine - All I can say to this is, "Are you kidding me?" What country are we living in? I thought free speech was such a protected right that even smut was allowed. You just didn't have to read it or hear it or look at it if YOU didn't want to. But no - in the name of "fairness" we can't have people disagreeing with the policies of the government. And we especially can't let that crazy Rush Limbaugh keep going on as he is. People are actually listening and we can't have that. My favorite comment comes from Laura Ingram..."They will have to pry the microphone from my cold dead hands." Again, shades of Bolshevik Russia, and Cuba, and China, etc.

So, I am a bit alarmed. Because even with the margin of error, this race should not be this close. But it is. How do we, as a nation, as a community, be for one another and genuinely helping one another without inciting envy among one another and without losing our foundations both biblically and socially? And how do we do so in ways that are winsome? How do I, as a conservative woman, and a Christian, stand up for truth with arms outstretched and open towards those who are struggling regardless of their political, religious, or social affiliation? How do I do it in such a way, that is so effective, and genuine, that it would never have to cross anybody's mind to have the government do it instead?

But another reason this race is so close is because the American people want their king. They want the suave leader who will whisper in their ear and tell them everything is going to be ok. They want the guy who looks good in a suit, doesn't sweat in front of the cameras, and inspires them with his words. They don't want to be bothered with any of the details of his past life and works and especially who his mentors were and are. They want someone to believe in - and it appears that right now, that someone is Barak Obama.

But it doesn't have to be. We have two weeks left. Is this really what we want?

But maybe it's what we need. To be given what we think we want so we can again realize what we need.

The people want their king.

I, on the other hand, will be voting for the other guy.