I recently moved.

There’s a lot that has to change when you move.

One of those things is healthcare.

Yesterday after 4 calls to a local medical center I finally was told that I would be called back to set up an appointment and get in the system. So, today was day 2 of trying to get a PCP. I finally a got a call back to set up an appointment. Yay! Then I asked how much it would cost. They said they would pass me to billing. Alright, cool. A new lady picks up, I give her the shpeal and she says I have to talk to the office I’m going to be setting an account up with. Okay? She transfers me too. Another lady picks up, says she doesn’t do billing at the front desk so she has to transfer me to billing. I plead with her not to, because I just came from billing, so she explains that it’s a different, internal billing. “Oh” I say, I guess that makes sense. She transfers, it doesn’t work and it goes back to her. That’s okay with me, I fail transfers sometimes, it’s all good. She tries again and I get music and some ringing. I wait about 5 minutes and then the end of call survey begins.

…

Okay. It’s fine. I give an honest review and then call the office number. I go through about 3 or 4 menus and it tells me I can stay on the line to speak to a person. Cool. I wait. Then it says incorrect entry so I have to choose a menu item. I do so and it says two minute wait time. I wait 8 minutes and the phone hangs up. Haha. Okay. I call again. Go through the entire menu. Select all the options. Says there’s now a 19 minute wait time. Not too upset because at least that sounds more likely. I wait for 9 minutes and the phone hangs up again.

I try the chat. Robot only.

I look for an email. None.

I scour other websites for alternative phone numbers for this office.

I try calling the original number that called me to begin with. It says there is something wrong with the number.

…

That’s it, it’s table flipping time. I decide I’m driving down there and letting them know what I think of their customer service, canceling my appointment, and driving away… My dad tries calling to talk me down but I’ve had it and won’t listen to his advice. I’ve had it and they need to know. But it takes a minute to look them up on the map. And that minute gives me some time to think.

Going over there and being a grump is not what Jesus says to do. He never taught me that. So who’s steering the ship right now? Not Him and that’s an issue!

I decide to take a ten minute break to recline and just think about my breathing and tension. I realize how much it changed as time went on. How my patience had just slipped away.

Patience. Patience is endurance.

I looked up patience in my Bible app search bar for a verse. This one was more in the context of among Christians but I think it can be applied here, and it really helped me:

“Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,” Ephesians 4:1‭-‬2 CSB

It was a reminder of the kind of spirit I’m supposed to have. Walk worthy.

After my ten minutes were up I reached out to my dad and told him I was good. His answer really shocked me. I was expecting him to show some disappointment but instead I got, “I’m glad that you are able to self-diagnose when you need to lie down. That can be a hard thing to figure out, so that is good. You’re making great improvement.”

Wow! Felt like words timely sent by God. In the middle of my failure, a tiny seed of hope was planted.

Sometimes growth is slow, but after seeing the need to change, the next step is giving yourself the space and grace to. That will help you give more space and grace to others, too.

If I could name one thing that God has definitely been trying to teach me for the past two years, it would be patience. Today I failed, but I still had growth and I’m determined celebrate that and continue.