by

Prayer Requests 11-9-17

It’s Thursday, so don’t forget to pray for Jo and the people of PNG.

Anyone else?

Psalm 93

1 The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty;
    the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength;
    indeed, the world is established, firm and secure.
2 Your throne was established long ago;
    you are from all eternity.

3 The seas have lifted up, Lord,
    the seas have lifted up their voice;
    the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.
4 Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,
    mightier than the breakers of the sea—
    the Lord on high is mighty.

5 Your statutes, Lord, stand firm;
    holiness adorns your house
    for endless days.

21 thoughts on “Prayer Requests 11-9-17”

  1. Just catching up on the prayer requests: Six Arrows–you may want to check out Dave Ramsey’s site for information on life insurance. Mary Hunt may have some advice, also. I do know whole life policies are not worth it. Term life is the way to go. Considering what is needed in a worst case scenario is what is important.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  2. Kathaleena – That’s interesting that you say that whole life is not worth it, but term life is the way to go. When I was younger, we were taught the opposite, but I don’t remember why.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  4. Kathaleena, thanks for saying that! I really wanted to but feared that I recommend his advice too often.
    Kizzie, I’m not sure who taught that (maybe the folks that were selling it?). Anyhow, the short answer why term is better is – whole life costs much more and when you die, the insurance company keeps the difference between the actual cost of the insurance (which is what term would have cost all along) and what you paid. In other words, you are giving away the money you paid over and above what term would have cost you.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  5. Thank you, Kathaleena and Linda. I’d never heard of Mary Hunt, so looked up some of her recommendations. Her advice sounds very good. And Dave Ramsey, well, I don’t tire of hearing what his advice is, so feel free to continue sharing, Linda. 🙂

    Kizzie, if it’s any consolation, we were led to believe that whole life is better, too, but found it to be a mistake. Premiums were too expensive, and we stopped paying them years ago after our family grew larger. We got hoodwinked into buying life insurance for our oldest two kids, too, when they were young, which I know now was a waste. Not a good idea to take advice from the one selling a high-priced product, I understand now.

    We have three term policies in effect now (two for my husband, one for me), and one of his term policies will expire in March. There is term insurance offered through his workplace, but all insurance changes are due next week, thus my husband wanting me to get a decision made soon. From my recent reading, it sounds like getting life insurance through one’s workplace isn’t a good idea, because if one loses his job or leaves the company, the insurance is gone. So I’ve decided he probably shouldn’t get life insurance through there, if I’m understanding correctly.

    Which will also buy us some more time for shopping for a different term policy. And time to consider other factors, like what my daughter’s long-term health needs might be with her asthma diagnosis (not sure how her medication needs might change our financial picture). Not to mention the always-unknown situation with our special-needs son and whether he’ll be able to live independently some day. I appreciate all advice, and especially the prayers. I feel more confident today in making a decision on this compared to how I felt about it yesterday. Thank you for your prayers.

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  8. Yes, 6, DR also advises against employer’s life insurance. He says that when you leave, AND YOU WILL LEAVE, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER (his emphasis), it doesn’t go with you.

    Like

    Reply

  9. OK, that confirms what I read, then. Good to know. Thanks, Linda.

    I have other life insurance questions, but decided to move them to the daily thread.

    Like

    Reply

  10. Generally I go with Dave Ramsey too, but I get the most life insurance I can through my employer because I simply can’t afford it any other way. Because of my heart history, when I’ve applied on the open market I either get turned down or rated so severely that I can’t really afford the premiums.

    As far as how much life insurance, the idea is that it would provide the income your survivors depend on that they will no longer have because you’re gone. Dave Ramsey recommends ten times your income (take-home income, I think) because your survivors could live off the interest from that.

    Of course the ideal is that you’ve saved up that amount of money. Then there’s no reason to pay premiums for life insurance.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. Kevin, since you listen to DR, you know that he acknowledges that there are exceptions like yours and recommends that you do get as much as you can, any way you can (like on your mortgage). Are we all DR groupies?

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  14. Well I’m not a DR groupie — 🙂 I remember receiving money through my mom’s life insurance she had with her company (that she’d retired from years earlier). I’d assumed there was some way you’d pay to keep it in place once you left, if that was your choice.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  15. Thanks, Linda. I don’t get to listen to DR that often and I’ve never heard him talk about what to do about life insurance in cases like mine. I’ve never thought about the mortgage insurance but I guess that does make sense. There are other group life options like through AAA, but I’ve not bothered trying them because of the medical questions they ask. But I guess I should try everywhere I can. As my dad used to say, “The worst they can do is say no.”

    Like

    Reply

  16. Praying for Jo’s aide in PNG. This is, after all, supposed to be the prayer thread. 🙂

    Daughter KJ seems a little better today, uncertain about whether to try to work tomorrow (she has Friday and Saturday shifts as a cashier at The Home Depot .) Mrs. B. doesn’t think her situation qualifies for their medical leave. I’ll look at it with them tonight. Praying for her physical recovery and her emotional state.

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  17. They used to say whole life was like buying a house and tern was like renting a house.
    Shop for the best rates on term. Kizzie I️ would suggest you have enough to pay off the house and make an necessariy repairs for your family to continue living there. Any more is probably a waste

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  18. Praying for Wendy, Jo. And continued prayers for your daughter, Kevin.

    You know, Mumsee, 5:54, your comment reminds me of a situation that I’ll bring up here. I suppose this could go on the daily thread, since I took some of my life insurance discussion over there, but I’ll mention it here because, well, I’m not good at explaining, but you’ll see…

    When I was a teenager, our pastor died very unexpectedly. (Heart attack, age 36.) He left a wife and three young children, including an infant.

    I remember my dad pointing out a short time later that the pastor had no life insurance, because he didn’t believe in it — he thought it was the duty of the Body of Christ to fully support a widow with young children.

    I’m not sure what assistance our church gave her, but she moved a few months later to be near family who lived in a different state.

    A lot of people were aghast that our pastor did not provide for his family in that way, but, was he wrong, biblically speaking?

    It’s always made me wonder: are we discouraging the Body from ministering financially to a widow with dependents with all this talk about how much parents of young children should be putting aside for life insurance in the event of their untimely deaths? A pastor’s salary in a small rural congregation, supporting a stay-at-home wife with three young children, would make it harder to afford life insurance and still have funds for food and other immediate needs.

    I don’t know the answer, but it makes me think when I hear of situations like that.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  19. 6 Arrows, we made sure that our “call package” to our pastor included life insurance.

    My dad grew up in rural Arkansas in the 1920s and ’30s, and for all I know his experience wasn’t typical, but he said that when he was growing up nobody had insurance–I don’t remember whether he was talking about medical, fire, or any or all insurance. But he said if there was a need, a neighbor went door to door and collected money to meet the need. I think that’s actually a pretty good system.

    However . . . we do have insurance now, and I think it’s potentially rather presumptuous to think that everyone else is going to have insurance (you will never have to give them $2,000 toward that huge medical bill), but you yourself can count on others’ goodwill–especially for a lifelong need such as life insurance. The truth is, if people die young without life insurance, the spouse is likely to have to marry and/or return to work. In theory it is good to provide for the widow and orphan by meeting all their needs, but in practice the only way that is likely to work out is providing a bedroom for them to sleep in and in return the mother will work for you this many hours a week. If she is your family member you might take her in. But a church is not usually in a position to provide full living expenses to the family of a former pastor while they also pay the salary of a new pastor.

    When my sister’s husband died, she did not initially know if there was any life insurance. She knew that there had been, at one point, and she knew there was a very small plan ($10,000 or so) paid by his workplace, but they had talked about cutting expenses by dropping the life insurance, and she didn’t know if it had actually been done. I kept my opinion to myself, but it was something like “What?! You think it is wrong for a woman to work outside the house, even if the children are grown, and you are debating whether it is wrong to accept social security even at retirement, and you’d drop life insurance to save money?” They were barely making it with him alive, so I knew they didn’t have even a few months’ living expenses in the bank. She felt it important to stay in their home. Some in my family are in a position to help, but some of that help would have been moving them closer to those able to help, not just paying all living expenses of a large family in another state whose mother would never work outside the home. I was very relieved when they did find life insurance, and also when she decided to apply for the social security (since life insurance would not have covered her anything close to the rest of her life, probably not even the time till the children grew up).

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  21. Hi, all.
    Dakota is awakening too early!!! It’s currently 3:30 in the morning…and we’ve been up since 3:00. I have another headache–and he’s frisky from our wonderfully cool weather (it’s around 50 here), so after attempting unsuccessfully to put him back in his kennel, I decided I might as well make coffee…..

    I had the MRI on my pituitary last night and had them give me a digital copy so I can take it w/ me to MD Anderson.

    Regarding life insurance: Hubby handles all our finances (he was a finance major in college and I hate dealing w/ money). When he bought a policy many years ago, a nurse came to our home and checked him out. After examining him, she said that in her 25 years of being a nurse, he was the healthiest person she’d met. It’s ironic that Mr. Healthy married Ms. medical issues….but, as they say, “opposites attract.”

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

Leave a comment