TIME TO MOVE FORWARD

INSURANCE INSIGHT 38

By Chad Denmon, Pastor at New Life Church

While reminiscing about 2020, there are a lot of feelings and thoughts that come to mind (not all good). I would assume that most of you would feel the same way. But when I think about Christmas, there is so much HOPE that comes with this time of the year. Taking the First Step Why? Simply put, because of Jesus and all that He has given us. He fills our lives with the hope of His love, peace, joy, grace and forgiveness. I don’t know about you, but I need His forgiveness! Christmas is all about a gift exchange, right? You will get gifts and you will give them. We should look at the inaugural Christmas in that way as well. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith— and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.“ Ephesians 2:8. We need to know that forgiveness is not a gift just to be received; it’s also a gift to give away. This is illustrated in Colossians 3:13 as it reads, “Make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” Forgiving others is a complex topic. So to understand what it is, let’s talk about what it is not. Some think forgiveness is forgetting what happened. Nope! It’s forgiving while you still remember. Unforgiveness is like a ball and chain that you carry around. It will exhaust you, while also potentially hurting those around you.

Others might think that forgiveness is trusting again. That, also, is not always the case. Trust may or may not ever be earned again. But forgiveness can still be given, even without renewed trust.

It could be thought that by offering forgiveness, you are demeaning the offense. For example, “I guess it wasn’t that bad” or “that didn’t hurt so bad.” It’s ok to say it was bad, or that it did indeed hurt. That’s why you remember it. Jesus never downgraded our sin to forgive us.

I’m reminded of a story of a Christmas truce. On Christmas Eve, 1914, in World War 1, the French, Germans and British soldiers made a truce. It started when the British and French heard the Germans singing “Silent Night.” After singing, the Germans started yelling out “Merry Christmas” and ultimately started walking towards their enemies. The British thought it was a trick but when they saw their weapons were down they reluctantly walked toward them too. They all started singing together in their native languages. They exchanged simple gifts like food and trinkets as they sang together. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God..” Ephesians 2:8.

Interestingly enough, the next day when the war commenced, the generals couldn’t get the soldiers to fight each other again. So the commanding officers literally had to reassign them to different fronts. It is important for us to know that forgiveness can be even more powerful than war.

There are three things worth noting from this story: First off, someone had to take the first step. From there, they all had to drop their weapons. What weapons would you need to drop in order to give or receive forgiveness? Then finally, they focused on what united them. It was their faith. Let us stay in a place where we remember the forgiveness that Jesus has given to us. That way we can give forgiveness to those around us. I’m thankful that Jesus took the first step towards me; aren’t you? 

By: Justin S. Elrod, Certified Elder Law Attorney, The Elrod Firm

Unless you know someone who has been living in a cave for the past twelve months, you’d be hard-pressed to find a single person who isn’t happy to see 2020 come to a close. Most people would agree that COVID-19 tops the list of horrible things the world faced. The record number of infections, the overwhelming number of hospitalizations, and the staggering number of deaths were bad enough.

When you add to that the widespread shutdowns of businesses and restaurants and the devastating economic impact the disease had in America and around the world, it’s hard to imagine how it could have been worse. The world economy shrank more this year than at any point since the Great Depression in the 1930s.

Unfortunately, though, the coronavirus was not the only troubling thing to hit in 2020. No matter where your loyalties lie, you’d probably agree that this year brought serious political tension, highlighted by only the third presidential impeachment in the history of our nation. Civil unrest was high, with protests breaking out from coast to coast. Tension was high internationally as well. Across the globe, we saw bombings, terrorist attacks, and plane crashes.

Don’t forget the natural disasters. Wildfires in Australia and in the western part of the United States brought severe devastation. Cyclone Amphan in India forced the evacuation of more than 4 million people and caused over $13 billion in damage. Multiple hurricanes ravaged Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi. There were earthquakes, volcanoes, and floods—and now we have “murder hornets” in the US!

With 2020 also came the deaths of several prominent figures that were heroes to many, from Kobe Bryant to Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Chadwick Boseman. Yes, most would agree, 2020 can’t come to an end soon enough.

If we didn’t know it already, 2020 should have taught us that we all need a plan. It’s almost impossible to predict the future, but that doesn’t mean we can’t plan for it.

First and foremost, 2020 has prompted many to prepare healthcare directives with a sense of urgency, and rightfully so. When it comes to healthcare directives, you need to have three things: 1) a healthcare power of attorney, 2) a medical records release to deal with HIPAA, and 3) a living will or advance directive.

Each of these three documents does something different, so you can’t get by with just one or two. The healthcare power of attorney authorizes a person of your choosing to make healthcare decisions for you (big or small) when you cannot make them for yourself because of age, accident, or illness. But to ensure this person (called an agent) can obtain all the important health information he or she might need to make those decisions, you must have a medical records release of some kind to deal with the HIPAA restrictions your agent may face. And to guide your healthcare agent through the decisions he or she must make when it comes to end-of-life care specifically, you should also have a living will or advance directive. It is in this document that most people choose to state their desire that they not be left on machines if they are ever deemed permanently unconscious with no hope of recovery.

Healthcare directives are important— now more than ever—but your planning shouldn’t stop there. Another crucial document to have before you

need it is a general durable power of attorney. This is the document that will allow a person of your choosing to make business and financial decisions on your behalf when you cannot handle those matters for yourself because of age, accident, or illness. From there, planning can go in different directions based on your age, the make-up of your family, and your mix of assets.

Some people need to have a Last Will and Testament to make sure the right person is in place to take care of their minor children. Others need to aggressively plan to stay out of an expensive and time-consuming probate court process through the use of a Living Trust or other estate planning strategies. Still others need more specialized planning because they see the possible need for long-term care around the corner and they don’t want to risk going broke in a nursing home.

Every family is different, so every plan is different. But no matter what stage of life you’re in, and no matter what year it is, you need a plan. 