Posts
Welcome
On the Welfare Side: These are posts showing me going through the struggles of getting from one socio economic level to another.
On the Wealth Side: These are posts that I consider wealthy. Wealth does not just include money, buy health, happiness and family- but a little money wouldn't hurt either.
Check Your Attitude
God has been dealing with me lately about my attitude. How do I know that? Because I'm more aware of it. I mean lately it seems like every television sermon that comes on t.v. is dealing with attitude. I find myself, even noticing MY attitude flaws developing in my own children. In my spirit I hear "If you'll change your attitude, your children will follow in line". What do you think about that? Have you ever noticed that whatever flaws you dislike about your children, generally speaking, if you look hard enough in the mirror, you'll discover where they picked them up from? This can be a painful discovery and hard to digest at first. But I firmly believe that a main part of getting to the next level is looking at self.
With improving self in mind let's do a review of the Life Today broadcast featuring"Wednesdays With Beth". Beth Moore flows in the gift of communication, teaching and breaking down the word of God, to a level of understanding. Today's lesson can be found in the bible in Acts 16:16-34. The famous story of Paul and Silas locked in jail. Many people have read and heard this story summized, but I like the way Beth breaks it down, to dealing with everyday life. She illuminates the fact that, Yes God is a Big God, but he is still concerned with the little things in your life too. If the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, don't we want God there at step number one? This means that we not only want God to change our life but our day, even our moment. Wherever we are on the journey we want Him to meet us.
Moving from one level to another is greatly determined by your attitude. Let's look at the situation of Paul and Silas locked in jail. First of all they were imprisoned without wrong doing. Second the bible says they were severely beaten. Think about that. Have you ever been to jail, had a family member or friend incarcerated? Imagine being beaten severely by the guard. Then the bible says their feet were fastened in stocks. This sounds very uncomfortable. They made a choice to praise God. Praising God is a choice. With burning physical pain and confinement, I'm sure they didn't feel like praising God. However they decided to praise Him anyway. On today's broadcast of Wednesday's with Beth, she spoke of Prayer and asking God to change your situation if it's an undesirable one. Yet if there's not an immediate change what are you going to do? Are you going to grumble about the problem? Not if you understand how much power your words have. Grumbling and complaining about the problem is just a cycle of creating and recreating more and more of the problem. Make a choice to praise Him in the mean time.
Points to remember:
- You CAN Praise In Pain
- Attitude IS a Choice
- Happiness IS a Choice
- Negative words CREATE MORE Negative Situations
- Your Attitude DOES Determine Your Altitude (how high you will go)
As we know the end of that situation ended triumphantly. Acts 16:25 -26 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundatins of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and eveyone's chains were loosed.
On a personal note let's hold each other accountable. You or I may feel locked in a situation that is undesirable. Let's pray for change and mantain an attitude of praise until change comes. The book of Psalms in the bible, has some excellent prayers for praise. For more information on Wednesday's With Beth, including a broadcast schedule vistit http://www.WednesdaysWithBethMoore.com
God Bless
Short Term Job Training
Persons on their way from welfare to wealth should be wise decision makers when choosing short term job training or education. The following fields of study are considered hot jobs to train for in the medical field:
- Health Unit Coordinator
- Phlebotomy
- Medical Assistant
- Pharmacy Technician
- Medical Billing
- Medical Secretary
These are fields of study that can be taken in short training formats ranging anywhere from 8 to 30 weeks. Some programs include an externship or a clinical phase to the program, which offers a chance to get some experience on your resume. All sounds great, right? Well it's been said that poverty level incomers tend to look at their right now situation when it comes to spending money. This is in direct contrast to middle incomers who tend to plan for the future when spending money. And believe me attending college training of any kind is considered spending money, even if the amount is not readily coming out of your pocket but under the guise of financial aide (especially student loans). With that little tidbit of information let's disect short term job training programs based upon my recent experience.
Wednesday, I attended a meeting with an admissions advisor at Ross Medical School. I have somewhat of a background in the clerical field and thought maybe I could add a medical element to those skills in order to be more in demand for today's job market. Ross Medical School offers two curriculums, Medical Assistant and Medical Biller. Personally through the years as I have attended doctor's appointments and such, I have noticed that Medical Assistants' responsibilites include clerical duties as well as the position of Medical Biller. So I was indecisive as to which curriculum to pick. The admission advisor went on to explain to me that although some doctor's offices do not require their Medical Assistants to draw blood from patients, it is a componant of the learning process there at Ross. This learning process would include experimenting with other students to perfect my blood drawing technique. Immediately Medical Assistant was ruled out for me. Take note: if you are squimish around blood and bodily functions, like myself, careers in the hands on part of medicine may not be for you.
After eliminating the career choice of Medical Assistant, the admissions advisor and I were free to focus on Medical Billing. She informed me that both curriculums would last 30 weeks and were considered intensive, as I would be attending class daily from 8:50a.m. - 2:50p.m. After explaining my clerical background to her, she also informed me that many of the courses would be courses I would be at the top of my class in based on my previous experience. (Translation, I would be paying to learn things I am already proficient in.) I summized that the medical transcription, insurance coding and billing concepts would be the only new concepts I would be learning . Therefore the only ones offering me value in my educational purchase.
After giving me a direct sales type presentation and administering the wonderlic test(which I passed by the way) she broke the numbers down. Both curriculums had the same cost, drumm roll please--- over $12,000 dollars. Approximately $4,500 of this would be covered by federal pell grants (money I don't have to pay back). I would have to take out a student loan of around $6,000 (money I definately have to pay back). This would still leave a small balance which would then need to be paid for in monthly installments of around $60.00. WHEW!!
Folks please rememeber student loans are no light matter. Especially Federal Student Loans. Please remember this!
- Almost every debt can be discharged in bankruptcy, except student loans.
- If you default on a student loan (fail to pay back) your income tax refund will be snatched and given back to uncle sam.
Enough said I refused to make a decision right then and there. Never be pressured into making a major decision like this without being able to pray, think, and conduct research. Any pressure to make a rushed decision should raise a huge RED FLAG. I went home, discussed this information with my husband who agreed it was way too costly, but ultimately left the decision up to me. I remembered that our local community college, which is state funded also offered a medical secretary course and a medical billing course. The fee? Are you ready, less than $500. The fact that the college is state funded is important, because the school receives most of it's funds from the state, tuition is in turn kept low to the student.
You know I'm still undecided as to if I will pursue Medical Billing, but now I can make an informed choice and I hope you will too. Please don't be sold or marketed to on this level. Unfortunately there are companies who will play on our socio-economic status and lack of information to make financial gains, that may not truly benefit us in the long run. Am I saying that Ross Medical School is a bad choice. No not by all means. On the positive side their intensive training programs offer students an indepth, hands on approach to learning, that gives them skills to obtain entry level employment, especially in the Medical Assistant Program. You may or may not have a state funded college, offering short term job training in your area. I'm just saying make an informed decision, when spending your money and planning your future career.
For more information on Medical Billing or a Medical Assistant career please click here.
