Back to Baby Steps

Mom, I am going to start with baby steps. This is what Renee said to me this morning! For her, baby steps probably seem like many,many years past. I mean she is 14 already! But for me, her mommy, it seems like yesterday that we were cheering her on and working those little legs and feet!

Renee had a major interruption in her life on Saturday, October 2. From Sunday to Friday of that week, tropical storm Nicole was causing havoc throughout Jamaica. We had no electricity for a couple of days, school was cancelled for 3 days. Life was chaotic to say the least!

Renee was inundated with tests so during the storm we tried to study, at least in the daylight hours. Study. Study. Study. By Saturday we were going stir crazy. She normally has dance lessons on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Wednesday was cancelled due to the storm, so I called on Saturday morning to see if, by chance, classes had resumed. Yes! Maybe everybody was looking for some normalcy on Saturday and wanted to get out of their houses like we did!

At 1:30 I dropped her off and came home to try to finish the Storm Nicole blog and my phone rang. It was Renee's number showing through on my phone, so I thought, well maybe nobody else showed up and class is cancelled after all. Only something was different, it wasn't Renee on the phone! A voice said, Are you Renee's mommy?

There is always a fear when a scenario like this happens and my first thought was UH-OH!
The person continued to say that Renee had dislocated her knee. I responded, Is she okay? Meaning, is it back in? is she frightened? is she emotionally okay? I'm thankful that without me asking all those questions the person was intuitive to what I was really asking and she responded, "No, she is crying out in pain. The teacher is trying to get it back in." All I could say was, "We are on the way!" I realized later I didn't even say thank you for the call!

We quickly hurried to the studio and rescued our little girl who indeed was very frightened. Now Den, on the other hand, was frightened for another reason!

Medical care in Jamaica is weak. Since we moved here we have an agreement. If one of us needs attention, get us on the first plane to Miami and we will get our medical care stateside. We have seen and heard too much to give us confidence to stay. On the way to Renee I was interceding for her and Den was interceding for guidance!

He called our landlord and asked her what she would recommend. She told us what hospital to go to. There are two hospitals in our town, one government run and the other privately owned. In the meantime the landlord actually called her friend, Dr. Audin. Wow, were we grateful for her assistance.

We arrived at the emergency and the wheelchair came quickly. The staff was so wonderful. As a matter of fact, one of the nurses said to Renee, "I heard you singing in the grocery store yesterday!" That was a surprise! During the storm we had gone to get more drinking water and my happy little girl shines wherever she is.

The xrays were taken and then had I wished for my camera! Dr. Audin was wonderful. As a matter of fact, he apologized for his appearance. He was still without electricity in his home, so he was not clean shaven and, I suppose, embarrassed but you know what, in that situation, who cares what anybody looks like! We were only concerned with Renee's knee.

The xrays revealed that there was no damage that would require surgery of any kind. We praised the Lord for that. The doctor said the dislocation was just a freak thing. When she was dancing she must have been twisted funny and the knee cap popped away. He told her about the basketball players that injure themselves in the same way and have to have drastic surgery. He said that with the knee cap popping away it actually spared her from damage so it was a blessing and not a curse.

A funny thing happened while he was reading the xrays. Out of the blue, Dr. Audin said, "oh my, her growth plates are not fused. Look at this line, look at this line and look over here!" We laughed out loud. How did our children get this height? We told him that Ryan is 5'11 and Renee is 5"9 and look at us! He said that for both of our children our recessive genes kicked in. It was not one-sided but both sides!

Renee has not been real happy with being so tall. As of late, she has complained about it. I have given the short person's perspective and its disadvantages but when the doctor told her she has a couple more inches to grow, I think she may have accepted the fact. Now she doesn't have to suspect that she will grow, she can expect it!

It was hard to get Renee to the car and into the house, especially in the rain, so Den went on a search for a knee brace and crutches. It was not an easy search but ended up being a successful search! They were found and without those 2 helps she never would have made it!







The pain was very intense at times. She did however go to school on Monday. Thank God for Nurse Randall and ice packs she got through the days. With a lot of help from her friends, she found out that she doesn't have to be independent and self-reliant all the time! Her dance teacher called and mentioned to get her on fish oil and caster oil right away. Today on day 12 she is doing much better. We also anoint her with oil every night and God, the sovereign one, is healing her.










We are celebrating Heroes week here in Jamaica and yesterday Renee's school had a program. She was able to sing in a little ensemble and was getting around quite well.....with a little help from her friends!








Well, what do you do with an interruption? How are you supposed to respond to an intrusion? What can we learn about ourselves when suddenly our days aren't normal? In our pondering and life-lesson talks,(and there have been many now that she is sofa-bound whenever she isn't in school) maybe there is a reason for this mishap. I shared with Renee what I heard Joel Osteen preach. Every step is ordered of the Lord and so are the stops. Ultimately, could this interruption turn into a blessing? Did Jesus allow this so as not to experience something else in the meantime?

When Jesus was interrupted on his way to something else, what usually happened? A miracle.

It is easy to get frustrated and angry when life hands us a lemon. Renee told me that at school she told someone to chuck her "walkers" against the wall. She was just plain tired of them. Tired of the hurt they cause, tired from them holding her back from her activities, tired of her palms hurting...just plain sick and tired.

Could it be that inconveniences, delays, interruptions are, ultimately, blessings from Jesus?
Could it be that Jesus is going to work IN ALL THINGS something for our good?

Renee has been dancing since she was 2 years old. She is frustrated not being able to dance right now. There are many things she can't do at the moment, but it will change.

In our discouragement we must remember that it won't rain always. The sun will shine again. Renee will dance again.....after the baby steps!