Everyone loves a freebie, I've been told. Well, I've never hosted a contest before, but I am beginning 2009 by doing so!
Anyone who posts a comment after viewing a TV program on which I will be appearing Friday evening (this coming Friday, January 9) will be eligible for a FREE AUTOGRAPHED copy of my award-winning memoir Soar Unafraid: Learning to Trust No Matter What!
The program to watch is "The Good Life" on CTN at 9 pm EST. You can find CTN on DIRECTV channel 376 and DISH Network channel 267. You can also go to this to check out various markets where it is showing or you can watch it online.
On January 12-16 I will announce the winner who will be drawn randomly from those who post comments or email me from my newsletter we are sending out on Monday. Anything you'd like to share about what you learned, something you thought was funny or an "ah-ha" moment, just so long as you're not totally negative will be accepted. We will ship my book to the winner at our expense as well.
And next week I will share the amazing story of how I got and from to Tampa, FL to shoot the live taping on December 16. Considering the fact that I was so weakened by the MS last summer, it's quite a story.
Here's hoping you make time to watch and enjoy "The Good Life" Friday January 9!
Have a great first week of the new year!
Jo
Showing posts with label book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book. Show all posts
Friday, January 2, 2009
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
People Around the World
Lisa and I had a great time during my blogtalkradio interview yesterday. I love interacting with people after I speak to an audience, at a book signing, anywhere actually!
Sandra called in from England at midnight her time to share how she is encouraged by praise music. I so relate. As Sandra put it so aptly, God inhabits the praises of his people, and when we praise him our hearts are comforted and rise above our circumstances. (On another note, it was fun to discuss my traveling to England alone using forearm crutches. She knew where I had stayed with "me English mum" for a week!)
I'm sorry that I didn't get the woman's name who called in and talked vulnerably about those who help her due to her MS. She also gave pearls of wisdom for the listening audience as she gratefully told about a friend who drove her three hours to her neurologist appointment--what a sacrifice of time! And another friend who took her shopping. I have had friends do both of these things and I know how precious they are.
No matter where we live around the world--which is much smaller than we realize when we look at a globe or map--we have common needs and desires. We appreciate the needed help of friends and our hearts are lifted by praise to God.
I apologize for having the wrong phone call in phone number listed. I didn't know it had been changed. If you'd like to call in today, Thursday or Friday, use the following number: (347) 202-0072. You can click on the link to the right to check out the schedule of talks.
May each of us be a friend to those in need . . . Have a great day!
Jo
Sandra called in from England at midnight her time to share how she is encouraged by praise music. I so relate. As Sandra put it so aptly, God inhabits the praises of his people, and when we praise him our hearts are comforted and rise above our circumstances. (On another note, it was fun to discuss my traveling to England alone using forearm crutches. She knew where I had stayed with "me English mum" for a week!)
I'm sorry that I didn't get the woman's name who called in and talked vulnerably about those who help her due to her MS. She also gave pearls of wisdom for the listening audience as she gratefully told about a friend who drove her three hours to her neurologist appointment--what a sacrifice of time! And another friend who took her shopping. I have had friends do both of these things and I know how precious they are.
No matter where we live around the world--which is much smaller than we realize when we look at a globe or map--we have common needs and desires. We appreciate the needed help of friends and our hearts are lifted by praise to God.
I apologize for having the wrong phone call in phone number listed. I didn't know it had been changed. If you'd like to call in today, Thursday or Friday, use the following number: (347) 202-0072. You can click on the link to the right to check out the schedule of talks.
May each of us be a friend to those in need . . . Have a great day!
Jo
Friday, July 18, 2008
Sometimes We Are Surprised
Since I've had MS since 1977, and was diagnosed in 1978, I have been blessed by so many caring medical staff--nurses, doctors, physical therapists, and occupational therapists, to name a few. I've been so impressed by almost every one that I have a paragraph in my Acknowledgements section of my memoir Soar Unafraid: Learning to Trust No Matter What dedicated to them with thanks for who they are and what they do. It just means so much to me.
I have also been blessed to have private insurance throughout all the years of MS, something that I know many cannot claim. But there is no word of thanks in the Acknowledgement section of my book. Usually I encounter people who are rude or put out though they are supposedly doing their job of "customer service." I get off the phone wondering where the "service" was supposed to come in.
Today I was surprised.
I've been going round and round with our insurance regarding a payment they owe for April 2007 (!) for the Betaseron I inject for the MS. This was a new insurance plan as of last spring. On June 24 Iris told me it was "being expedited" since they had now received the medical records (which I had sent to them twice already, by the way.) These records not only showed that I had MS, but also the neurologist's prescription for the past several years (and I've been using it since 1994 when it was released by the FDA.)
On July 1 I was informed by Iris that the claim was in process. Today when Iris returned my call she said, "The claim has been denied by a nurse due to pre-existing conditons." I said, "How can that be when I have always had insurance and taken Betaseron since 1994, and they paid every other month thereafter in 2007 and 2008?!" She answered, "I don't know, but you can appeal."
As a recovering codependent--a person who has tried to please everyone--I try to be assertive without crossing the line into aggressive. But I was upset!
While I prayed to calm down and my husband said, "Let it go for now. We'll file the appeal" I took my afternoon rest. I've learned I need that time each day in order to rejuvinate my body and mind. Minutes later the phone rang.
"Hi, is this Jo? This is Iris. I began looking through your claims paid by us and you're right. There is no explanation for this. I am going to walk to that department right now and tell them so. If I can't get an answer for you today I will call you on Monday."
!!!! Need I say I was surprised? I responded, "Iris, thank you. You are a blessing. I so appreciate you showing concern."
How often do you find people who go the extra mile in business for you? Yesterday we had an installer out and he was from a foreign country where he had been a civil engineer. He said here in the US he has to get a four year degree to do the same thing and he can't make ends meet with his three children. Ray felt such empathy for the man and was kind, conversational, and showed genuine concern.
But after he left Ray found many sloppy things the installer could have done correctly. His laziness or bitterness showed throughout the job he had done. And, he cut a cord of Ray's and never told him about it when he could have just apologized.
I was just comparing Iris and this installer. Iris--whether she knows it or not--is doing as Jesus said, "If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles" (Matthew 5:41). I'm praying Iris feels the blessing I gave to her for going the extra mile for me. There are so few in this me-first world that really exemplify that. May she sense a smile from God.
Hoping you too are having moments of being surprised by others!
Jo
I have also been blessed to have private insurance throughout all the years of MS, something that I know many cannot claim. But there is no word of thanks in the Acknowledgement section of my book. Usually I encounter people who are rude or put out though they are supposedly doing their job of "customer service." I get off the phone wondering where the "service" was supposed to come in.
Today I was surprised.
I've been going round and round with our insurance regarding a payment they owe for April 2007 (!) for the Betaseron I inject for the MS. This was a new insurance plan as of last spring. On June 24 Iris told me it was "being expedited" since they had now received the medical records (which I had sent to them twice already, by the way.) These records not only showed that I had MS, but also the neurologist's prescription for the past several years (and I've been using it since 1994 when it was released by the FDA.)
On July 1 I was informed by Iris that the claim was in process. Today when Iris returned my call she said, "The claim has been denied by a nurse due to pre-existing conditons." I said, "How can that be when I have always had insurance and taken Betaseron since 1994, and they paid every other month thereafter in 2007 and 2008?!" She answered, "I don't know, but you can appeal."
As a recovering codependent--a person who has tried to please everyone--I try to be assertive without crossing the line into aggressive. But I was upset!
While I prayed to calm down and my husband said, "Let it go for now. We'll file the appeal" I took my afternoon rest. I've learned I need that time each day in order to rejuvinate my body and mind. Minutes later the phone rang.
"Hi, is this Jo? This is Iris. I began looking through your claims paid by us and you're right. There is no explanation for this. I am going to walk to that department right now and tell them so. If I can't get an answer for you today I will call you on Monday."
!!!! Need I say I was surprised? I responded, "Iris, thank you. You are a blessing. I so appreciate you showing concern."
How often do you find people who go the extra mile in business for you? Yesterday we had an installer out and he was from a foreign country where he had been a civil engineer. He said here in the US he has to get a four year degree to do the same thing and he can't make ends meet with his three children. Ray felt such empathy for the man and was kind, conversational, and showed genuine concern.
But after he left Ray found many sloppy things the installer could have done correctly. His laziness or bitterness showed throughout the job he had done. And, he cut a cord of Ray's and never told him about it when he could have just apologized.
I was just comparing Iris and this installer. Iris--whether she knows it or not--is doing as Jesus said, "If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles" (Matthew 5:41). I'm praying Iris feels the blessing I gave to her for going the extra mile for me. There are so few in this me-first world that really exemplify that. May she sense a smile from God.
Hoping you too are having moments of being surprised by others!
Jo
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