Now that the dust has settled from Friday's trial, I have to share with you the BEST part of the story.....God answered prayers!! Over and over again God answered prayers! When this case first started and I was appointed, I was nothing less than a nervous wreck. I knew from day 1 this case was going to be difficult (something better suited for someone who has been in practice a whole lot more than 3 years). I felt totally inadequate and worried that I wasn't going to be able to do a good enough job for my clients --simply because I didn't know what I was doing! But I'm here to tell you, God is faithful!
Early on in this case, I prayed and prayed for help--I was at a loss, not even knowing how to help this family and frustrated that DHHS wasn't providing the help I thought they needed--but it was a wierd enough situation that I didn't even know where to turn or who might be able to offer the kind of help they need. In comes answered prayer #1 -- after praying and stressing and stewing about where to turn for help, I remembered (I'm convinced it was more like God reminded me!) of a psychologist in Scottsbluff whom I had heard speak on infant mental health. On a whim I called his office, explained the situation and asked for advice. His office recommended I get in touch with a certain therapist in Kearney....so the next day I started trying to get in touch with her. After literally almost 2 weeks of phone tag, I finally got to talk to her....in the mean time, her voicemail message had told me on numerous occasions that she wasn't taking new medicaid clients. Umm...that's a problem because the only way I have to pay for her services is through the child's medicaid....and even that is only with HHS's approval. If HHS referred the child to another therapist, the most I could do would be to get a 2nd opinion from her....and that would require court and county approval all of which could take several weeks. Time was something that I didn't have - it could take several weeks to get an appointment once I knew I had funding for the appointment, and the 1st hearing was only DAYS away.
When I finally got to talk to this particular therapist, she told me, "Unfortunately I don't think I can visit with you much about this case, because I actually just received a referral from [HHS worker] to see this child. Coincidence?? I think not....more like answered prayer #2....although at the time I was busy being frustrated by the fact that she couldn't talk me me....I didn't know just how HUGE this answer would be! This therapist who I was told was one of the best in the area, who wasn't taking new medicaid clients is now seeing my kiddo (a new medicaid client).
Fast forward to the beginning of last week.....I was still freaking out (and praying, but probably should have been praying and trusting more, freaking out less). HHS was being less than cooperative and had refused to release any evaluations to me. They also wouldn't sign authorizations for me to speak to any of the therapists involved....so I had no idea what evidence was/wasn't out there....not a good way to head to trial. In comes answered prayer #3....the child's attorney gets frustrated with HHS and starts essentially leaking me information (not illegally....he's authorized to talk to whoever he wants, but HHS certainly didn't want him talking to me) and through a number of conversations I find out that this same therapist (see answered prayer #1 and 2) is very supportive of my clients and exactly the person I need to have testify at the hearing on Friday. There are only 2 problems...(1) I still can't talk to the therapist so I really don't know what she's going to say and (2) its too late to get a subpoena to compel her to be there and I can't talk to her to ask her to be there. So, I leave her voice mail messages, send messages with my clients, and ask the child's attorney to beg her to appear....and answered prayer #4...she's there friday! With less than 2 days notice, she clears her schedule and appears in court totally voluntarily! (UNHEARD of in the world of mental health experts!)
So maybe a better title to my last post is "Prayer pays off" because truly I think the result on Friday had a whole lot more to do with God than with my preparation! I LOVE when I can sit back and see God's hand in my life and in my activities. It's something I need to spend more time thinking about and focusing on. I know He is involved in every aspect of my life, everything I do--and yet, days can go by where I don't stop to see him working. I get so caught up in the little details, the little annoyances, the busyness of life that I don't see the big picture - God working everything together for His purposes. What a joy to get to play a role in His story!
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