Still out there a bit, just real foggy and restless – not anxious, just restless out of focus.  I was told it would take a bit for my system to settle down, and it is.

Thursday was an interesting day.  We arrived at the hospital at the appointed time to find that only our name had been placed on the schedule.  We had to fill our paperwork that should have been there already.

We know that part of that was because of the change in surgery dates, but somehow the information didn’t flow as well as it should have.

We got into the preparation area and the nurse looks at me and asked ‘why are you here?’  It wasn’t a confirmation question, it was ‘why are you here?”  It got sorted out in short time, but has to make one wonder whose hands you are in – fortunately I know ultimately I am in God’s hands so I didn’t get overly concerned.

I was assigned room number 5, and it was interesting to hear them talk outside, about number 5 not being scheduled.....

Eventually we got everything done and the anesthesiologist, along with his assistant wheeled me into the operating area – they told him they were ready, they were not.  It took several minutes before they allowed us into the room.

This time, instead of a bank of monitors it had a huge screen in the room where the equipment was given its own little part of the screen.  I asked them if they watch football on it, but was told it wasn’t hooked up to a cable – still I wonder – it would be a great screen when not used for surgery, and I am sure there are those that have thought the same thing.

As they started hooking me up with a myriad of wires all over my body – I am absolutely certain they store those things in a freezer – they made sure the screen was accepting the readings.

It didn’t accept all of it.  While the anesthesiologist tried working with IT he placed my on pure oxygen and had a nurse hold the mask to my face.  IT says, ‘it is working here,’ anesthesiologist says it isn’t working HERE.  Meanwhile I am laying there thinking, ‘what could go wrong.’

While he is waiting he told the nurse ‘you are doing a good job on holding the mask.’  I started laughing, the nurse started laughing and others in the room started laughing.

It sounded to me like something one might say to a toddler as they are helping pick up their toys, or maybe stirring a bowl – ‘g-o-o-d job.’  This is a professional not some child, it just seemed out of place – and most of the room shared that thought, I think.

However, the assistant was laughing, he said we have to encourage each other – the nurse said, as she laughed, ‘I will take any compliment I can get’ I said, yep.  Still.

Finally the a. decided that they would take notes with pencil and paper – like they did in years past.

That was the last I remember for over 6.5 hours.  When I awoke I was being told, hold your head down and lay flat or I am going to duct tape you to the bed....  I had to lay flat for four hours, wasn’t even supposed to lift my head.

My sinus were so stopped up I could hardly breath – turns out that it was they were swollen from all the air that had been forced through, it took several hours but I could finally breath.

Recovery was pretty standard I guess, did forget to tell the nurse that if I needed to be awaken, not to shake my shoulders, just my foot and tell be to wake up – almost hit him as he jumped back into the wall.

Carla was allowed to stay in the room and sleep on a recliner.  Deed went on home, traffic was terrible and it took a couple hours longer to get there – doesn’t make for a restful drive.  I can’t say how much I detest large cities.  I can’t imagine having to work in that environment and taking several minutes to cover just a few feet.  Stress has to be incredible.

Just lumbering around the house again today, too in the fog to do much else.

Isaiah 42:8  I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

One of the devotionals I read, daily, is written about the teachings  of A.W. Tozier, an American Minister, author and leader.  His thoughts on leadership have helped me understand how important allowing Christ to be in charge of our life, is – even if it is very difficult.

One of the very first things you learn as a police officer is to take charge.  Upon arrival at any crime or accident scene there is almost always chaos.  People are frightened or injured; people are angry and violent; people are curious and wanting to see; people are trying to manage the situation, one way or another.

In order to do our job, the first thing we have to do is restore some form of order.  We are there, it is our duty to bring a calming influence – as much as possible to the situation.  We are expected to be unbiased and to maintain a professional decorum.  Because we are not part of the original problem we should have neutral eyes to see what was done, what is being done, and what needs to be done to maintain order.

That is the ideal, it may be twisted a bit by the type of crime, or what has occurred earlier in the shift, or the officer’s own history and emotional state – but the goal is to restore order.

To bring about that the officer has to overcome the emotions at the scene – his, the victims’, witnesses and the offenders.  One of the most challenging and dangerous situations an officer finds himself in is the family disturbance. 

The action usually takes place in the residence of the offender who is empowered by the fact it is HIS residence.  Unless we have been there before (multiple calls to one residence isn’t unusual) we do not know the ‘lay out’ of the house – where weapons might be stored other than the obvious (kitchen) and where other rooms that may have other people in them are located.

We are often reminded that it is his house and we are commanded to leave – not withstanding his rights at that point, we must investigate and we must make a decision as to whether or not a crime has taken place.

It there is a crime we make an arrest; but in many cases while the emotions are high, rage runs rampant and the verbiage is violent, no actual crime has been committed.  At this point the officer attempts to calm the people and recommend alternative measures – maybe one of the people goes to another house.   

While the officer knows he cannot solve all the world’s problems or even the problems of the people he is working with, he does have to have control of the ‘current’ situation or it can escalate to more violence.  While the officer is on the scene, he must control the scene – no matter what it is – until he can do all he can to ascertain the nature of the problem and what he can do, as an enforcement officer, to resolve it.

The officer is trained in appraising the situation and making immediate decisions as to how to handle it.  Sometimes it is ‘routine’ as in an accident investigation.  There are steps to take and procedures to follow that come automatically to determine what happened and who is at fault.  Other times it is more ‘fluid’ and the officer must change tactics or use of methods to resolve the problem, such as the family disturbance.

In all, the officer is dealing with people because they need his kinds of service – which means there is trauma involved for one or more parties – and quite possibly at least one side doesn’t want to see him.  In order to do his job, he must get and maintain control.

As I worked my way up the ladder I became responsible for the actions of those that I supervised.  I had to evaluate and correct missteps that might occur.  I had to be in charge of the shift, later in the operations of volunteer organizations and finally the Sheriff’s Office.  I was the one responsible for those that worked with me.  I was held accountable for any mistakes and therefore felt the need to be in control.

The reality, of course, is we are never fully in control.  People are just that, people.  Some will do what they are supposed to do, others will try to work around the system to fill their own needs – they want to be in control of their own lives and feel the leadership is not allowing them to function in a manner they want to function.

The larger the organization, the farther away the leader is from the work ‘on the ground.’  It is more difficult to change things unless you have people within the organization in leadership positions that agree and enforce the policies of the agency or business.

And there is always resistance to change.

We often apply our roles as ‘people’ to our spiritual lives.  We want to be in control.  We want God to do what we want, not us doing what He wants.

In the world, leadership changes, philosophies change, what is important today may become toxic tomorrow and we can see that in what is happening in America; today.

People grab a platform and twist the ideas and thoughts to their way of thinking and the masses follow.  They are manipulated into committing acts and part of that is their feeling of having no control over their life so they must take it back.

Because we feel we have, or need to have, control we don’t relinquish it in our spiritual being – sometimes we feel that is the only place we have control.

But we don’t.

If we believe we must have control then God becomes irrelevant – what He says, what He requires has no meaning in our life.  EVEN if we claim it does. 

While society changes, God never changes.  He is constant and the thing that is most important for us to remember is that fact:  I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

We know that this nation as well as the rest of the world needs God’s grace.  A spiritual revival is needed.  We know how we think it should be delivered.  However, we are not in charge, God is.  We do not have control of others’ responses to Him. 

God has chosen people to minister to people.  However, we must follow HIS policies, His rules, His methods to minister to others.  While he will use our abilities, our personalities, our training and education to accomplish His goals, it can only be done if we acknowledge His role in the Universe and allow Him to use us for His glory.

God does give us a measure of control over our lives by evidence of the fact He has given us free will.  However, He has made it clear to us that if we wish to see the results of changes in this world, for the better, we must freely follow Him.  He is the one who is in charge and He will not relinquish that to others.

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again