Daphne and I are sitting in the waiting room of the Children's Hospital procedure center in Denver, waiting for Jacqueline to go in for an Endoscopy and Colonoscopy. We're hoping and praying that this procedure will shed more light on her ongoing abdominal pains, and help us to understand why she remains way below the curve in her weight gain. She's understandably nervous, but having endured a colonoscopy in Senegal with no anaesthesia, I'm telling her that she'll simply wake up after a few minutes and not know anything has happened. It's basically a drug-induced nap - which I wouldn't mind having several times a week! The difference in the admissions system and the care & attention of the staff between here and France is incredible. While I never doubted the knowledge or experience of the doctors in France, their "bedside" manner and the care of the hospital staff left much to be desired. Different world, different cultures. We've already seen five different people (doctor, nurse, anesthesiologist, etc), each of whom sat down with us, explained what is going to happen, answered all our questions - wow, what a difference. Jacqueline even gets to choose the "flavor" of the gas they'll give her to put her out... she chose Skittles.
We just went in to the O.R. to be with her while she went to sleep. Kind of a strange experience, because her eyes stayed open even after she was out. Hopefully we'll have some helpful news after an hour or so.
Two days ago I drove an hour and a half down to Elizabeth, CO to take part in handgun course put on by Defensive Response Training. It either rained or drizzled all day long, but I had a blast. I took my .357 revolver with me, although it is too big to be easily carried or concealed. I ended up using one of the semi-automatic pistols that the instructor brought with him. They taught us how to handle the guns safely, how to load and unload quickly, and practiced shooting from several different positions - including one position where we stood with our head against the target, leaned forward, and shot several rounds while holding the gun back and high up against our chest to simulate a close-combat situation. I was afraid I was going to shoot myself in the foot (didn't, obviously) but the shock wave from firing the guns up close like that was amazing. The purpose of the course is to teach you how to handle your gun safely, and how to use it in the unlikely event that you feel threatened with serious bodily injury or death. It was great fun, and I learned a lot. I am planning to take another, more advanced course of the same nature in a couple of weeks.
After our last "straight talk" conversation with Karine, we've seen a significant change in her demeanor and her outlook on life. She's started spending a lot of time at the church building/restaurant, either helping in the kitchen or helping wherever the church team needs her help. I am very grateful for her change of mindset, and I am praying that this represents a genuine heart change. Parenting teenagers is a whole new ball-game; somehow I missed it when they passed out the parenting manuals for teens. We told Karine that our role has changed from that of only a parent, to more the role of a coach. As a coach we can't tell her what to do, or control her behavior when she's away from us; all we can do is encourage her to make the right choices, and impose sanctions on her when she makes wrong choices (take away privileges, restrict computer time etc). She calls that Punishment. I call it Consequences to her choices. When I consider the problems that so many parents in our church are dealing with (drugs, pregnancies, suicide) I thank God for our girls. These issues are really insignificant when I look at them in the grand scheme of life.
Signing off for now, as we wait for Jacqueline to come out of the O.R.
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