Final preparations
On Thursday morning, I received an email with the discharge papers from the facility in Georgia. I signed the forms and we were asked to be at the facility for discharge at 9 am Saturday morning. I then confirmed our hotel reservation in Atlanta for Friday night. I also booked our dog sitter to take care of my bulldog while we were gone. My wife and I were a bit anxious and have been digging into some books and articles on Borderline Personality Disorder. We are learning a lot, but it will take some time to implement what we are learning. We know that we will need to allow the local therapist to make some progress while we learn to implement what we have learned. My wife and I plan to join our daughter during her therapy sessions, once she is comfortable and the therapist feels it will be helpful.
Last night after dinner, our daughter called and began to get an attitude with my wife. She was made of aware of her new discharge date and was now feeling very confident and began talking like a thug. During her recent calls, she is yelling across the room to her friends and not paying attention to my wife and I. While speaking with my wife, she again started complaining about not being allowed to use a razor. We have gone over this several times and the facility therapist went over it with her also, but she seems to be hung up on it.
After the call, our son asked why my wife was upset. My older daughter then made a sarcastic comment. Our oldest daughter harbors much frustration with her sister over the recent events and is having a difficult time having any compassion or understanding. Our son misses our daughter, but is concerned about the chaos that ensues when she is home. My wife and miss our daughter also, and want her home. To be honest, we have enjoyed peace and tranquility in our home over the past 2 months. Our days consist of the TV off and worship music playing all day, while the dogs nap. At first, we felt guilty for enjoying the peace, but through our reading on BPD we have learned that we shouldn't feel guilty for enjoying it. We know that the peace will likely evaporated in the coming days and we are trying to prepare ourselves. We know that there is only so much we can do and the rest must be left up to God. We know He can work all things out, we just need to hold our tongues and respond in love to whatever may come.
Tomorrow, we will make a final sweep of the house, removing all knives, scissors, medication and anything else that was outlined in the Safety Plan. All items will be secured in our bedroom. Today I added a keyed door lock to our bedroom to prevent our daughter from entering, which she has always done without asking. We plan to leave early Friday morning to avoid rush hour traffic in Atlanta. Our daughter has requested that her brother come for the ride. This is likely due to the fact that she doesn't want to be stuck in the car with just my wife and I for the 6 hour ride home. I am concerned that one of the first outbursts on the ride home will be that my son has a new iPhone that he got from his bother. Our daughter will likely start an argument about wanting her cell phone back. Based on her past rule breaking, it is likely she won't have a cell phone for a very long time. I hate to sound negative, it's just that our daughter is very predictable and the cell phone issue is a hot subject. I will continue to pray for a peaceful 6 hour ride home.
Lord, go before us and work on our daughters heart. Help her to enjoy the fact that she is coming home and that we love and miss her. Lord, give us strength to cling to your word and remain faithful that you will work things out in our favor. Lord, I rebuke any rebellion that tries to hitchhike home from that facility. Lord, when our daughter steps out of that facility, I ask that any chains of the enemy would fall in the doorway and she would be free from the bondage of that place. Lord, I speak blessings of love, kindness and truth over our daughter. Give her peace Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.