Going Through

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. My family and I traveled to Austin to visit family and we had a wonderful time. My wife and I had a chance to visit with my old college buddy who I hadn't seen in maybe 10 years and we had a great time hanging out. A reoccurring theme of this past week for me has been about "going through". What I mean is that as we go through our lives, we ALL have to at one point or another go through.

These are the trials and tribulations of life that make us stronger on the other side. The message from my Sunday class this morning was about being thankful for the pitfalls of life. We were studying Joseph and discussing many of his trials. The key piece of the equation is having that relationship with Christ through the process. Through prayer and being aware, God gives us the wisdom and reveals over time what is to be learned through that pitfall. Without that relationship one could easily think that, "hey, life is screwing me again" and become angry and bitter. How do I know? I've been there.....

I'm still learning as this is a life long process, but I am getting stronger in my faith and learning to trust God through the good, but especially the BAD.

Consumers Unite! Rule #2b - Follow-up

Well, this is the final outcome of the dentist bill dilemma...wanna hear it? Here we go....

Where we last left off, the dentist office found an "error" and took off $166.90 from a bill of $440.70, which left me at $273.90. I was pushing for them to split that in half (50% their responsibility and 50% mine..even though it wasn't my fault). They ended up only taking 25% off. So I'm left w/ a bill of $205.43.

Let's see, because I asked questions and stood up for myself I reduced a bill by 53%!!!

Lesson learned....make dentist office provide print off of charges prior to having procedures done. Last but not least, find a new dentist office!!!

Consumers Unite! Rule #2a - Follow-up

Quick update on my dentist dilemma....well guess what? After a few phone calls, my bill has gone from $440.70 to $273.90....and it may go down even further. The dentist office miraculously identified an overcharge of $166.80. What can I say? I guess I do have a voice.

RULE #2a- RULE #2 WORKS AND THERE IS NO NEED TO BE AFRAID TO SPEAK UP! ASK QUESTIONS, "DA MAN" THRIVES ON CONSUMER IGNORANCE, EDUCATE YOURSELF.

Be patient, I'm learning as well, I know this is a whole different way of thinking for some people, but trust me it works!