Month: November 2025

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Until Death Do Us Part

More Valuable Than Sparrows

Sparrow main
Image by junfangsjs from Pixabay. Description: the pavement is covered with a large flock of sparrows either sitting or taking flight.

What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins?
Yet God does not forget a single one of them.
And the very hairs on your head are all numbered.
So don’t be afraid;
you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.
Luke 12:6-7 (New Living Translation)

On October 9, 2024, I was visiting Robert at the Cleveland Clinic, Martin North Hospital. At 3 PM the hospital went into emergency lock down mode. Windows were shuttered. The parking lot emptied. Staff made their way into the building with sleeping bags and personal care items. All because Hurricane Milton sped towards Florida as a Category 5 storm. I left the hospital trusting Robert into God’s care.

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Image descriptions: LEFT – a female carrying an arm load of bedding topped with red slippers walking towards a three story hospital building with shuttered windows, adjacent palm trees, well-manicured shrubs and a large flowering plant in the foreground; RIGHT – a lowered ramp on our wheelchair accessible van faces a row of empty accessible parking spaces with a background perimeter of palm trees and two parked ambulances.

Although Milton slowed to a Category 3 hurricane, wind and rain ravaged the west coast of Florida and a record number of tornadoes wreaked havoc as it crossed the State at hurricane speed. When driving to emergency shelter with a cousin, our cell phones pinged repeatedly with warning of tornadoes in the vicinity. The next morning we praised God for keeping us safe and sparing our homes and the hospital from the deadly destruction of multiple tornadoes in the area.

Despite being critically ill, Robert was discharged from the hospital two days later. He was admitted to Solaris HealthCare Parkway, a subacute rehabilitation and skilled nursing facility. I knew Medicare would cover the cost of rehabilitation for up to 100 days, but was blissfully ignorant that Robert only had 14 days to demonstrate progress. When he failed to meet Medicare’s rehabilitation benchmark within two weeks, the administration began talking to me about discharging him from rehabilitation services.

Because Robert was in no condition to come home, his only option was to transfer to long-term skilled nursing care at Solaris—a private-pay service billed at $9,500 per month! Whoa. It felt like another emergency was about to hit. Not only did my mind boggle over the $9,500, but also on making this payment every single month. Sure we had sufficient savings to cover a short-term stay. But long term? And would there be any money left to cover long-term care for me should the need arise in the future? It was time to create a personal emergency plan—one that didn’t involve lockdowns, shutters, or shelters.

As a couple, we did not meet Medicaid’s financial criteria, so I consulted with an Elder Law Attorney. However, her recommendation that I apply for Medicaid’s Institutional Long-Term Care Program did not sit well with me. I had already rejected the suggestion of his cousin that I qualify Robert for Medicaid by divorcing him, but the lawyer’s advice was almost as disturbing. She said Robert would qualify as an individual if I removed his name from joint bank accounts and chose not to pay his nursing home bills. Although this spousal refusal option was a recognized choice used by many applicants it didn’t feel right to me.

Thankfully God’s master plan was far better. It also confirmed how He cared for His children way more than the sparrows. However, it took several weeks to understand how God would do this. Here’s how it played out.

Robert’s nine-week stay at Solaris was punctuated with two hospital admissions. Both coincided with discharges from rehabilitation services. So whenever he returned to Solaris, the calendar reset for another 21 days of rehabilitation covered by Medicare. Because this happened twice, Robert’s final discharge from rehabilitation services happened one day before he left Solaris for the last time. As a result, instead of my private-pay bill being in the tens of thousands, I only paid a total of $317! God took challenging circumstances and worked them for our good.

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
Romans 8:28, New American Standard Bible

Surprisingly, not meeting Medicaid eligibility also created an issue for Robert’s transportation from Solaris to the dialysis center. The first time I arrived at Solaris to pick him up, a nurse objected to my transporting Robert in Hugo, our wheelchair accessible van. She followed us out to the van and watched the boarding process. After I securely tied down Robert’s scooter, she told the aide standing next to her that this would be the last time for me to take him in the van. So I looked at her and said, “So how is he going to get there?” She referenced transportation services. Without hesitation, I retorted:

“And who is going to pay for it? Solaris won’t pay, Medicare won’t pay, the dialysis center won’t pay, Robert doesn’t qualify for Medicaid or State-funded transportation disadvantaged rides, and private-pay accessible transportation would cost around $1,200 a month.”

After announcing that we had purchased Hugo two years earlier to transport Robert where he needs to go, I pulled in the ramp, closed the door, and drove Robert to dialysis. The only response I got from Solaris after that was from an Occupational Therapist who added a seatbelt to the scooter.

Because each hospital stay lasted about a week, there was a question mark as to whether there would still be a bed available at Solaris when Robert was ready to return. But God was faithful in answering our prayers. In October, caring staff welcomed him back to the same room he had vacated the week before. Although his November return involved a room change with less space and different staff, he now had a window view of the garden in a cheerful well-lit room. The bonus was that his post COVID-19 status meant he had the room to himself for ten days! This was a big deal because there was a very long waiting list for single occupancy rooms.

After Robert discontinued dialysis on December 11, 2024, it was important to me that he spend his final days in a peaceful setting with compassionate and skilled care from nursing staff attentive to his end-of-life needs. Hospice House was where this could happen. God knew that timing was of the essence and moved with record speed—December 12th was the intake, December 13th he was transported to Harper House, and at 10:45 PM on December 14th he died peacefully in Hospice care. God clearly showed how valuable Robert was to Him!

For more Angela Muir Van Etten blog posts in the series, Until Death Us Do Part, go to:

For a musical bonus, listen to Chris Rupp. “His Eye is on the Sparrow.” A Cappella, Official Video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTiIHLfuzxc

For Hurricane Milton details, see: