Surviving Summer....without melting

We have not been getting out and exploring as much as I wanted this summer. Every year I have such grand plans of all the things we are going to see and do, but then life somehow always gets in the way. One of the biggest problems this year is the weather. It has been between 95 and 100 degrees ALL SUMMER- and we are NOT heat- loving people. In fact, all of the places we have lived since becoming adults (Alaska; Vermont; McCall, ID) we have chosen for their cool weather. However, life has somehow managed to get us to live in one of the hottest areas in Idaho. The Clearwater River Valley is so hot it is known as Idaho's Banana Belt. Our humidity is low, which makes the heat more comfortable I guess, but it also makes us research forest fire activity before we go anywhere. This even hotter- than- usual summer forces us to only go to places several thousand feet higher in elevation (which is a long drive) or to go out during the last hour before it gets completely dark in order to enjoy more bearable temperatures.

Another situation getting in the way of my outdoor plans is the fact that Matt was been working an awful lot and he actually wants to rest some on his days off (weird, huh?). One of his fellow officers received a powerful punch to the face while working, causing several broken bones in the jaw area. Of course this officer will not be working again for a while. Matt works for a very small police department so whenever one officer is not working, it makes things busier for everybody else. Also, on our weekends chores keep popping up, including fixing our Jeep's window regulator and our slow progression of putting the nursery together.

We do manage to get out once in a while:

Our little polar bear trying to stay cool

 

 

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Psalm 19:1



Police Officer Week

This is National Police Officer Week, a time set aside to remember those officers who gave the ultimate sacrifice to protect their communities. An average of 154 officers die each year in the line of duty. In addition, there is an average of 58, 261 assaults against law enforcement officers each year, resulting in over 15,000 injuries.

While it is important to remember the fallen in our hearts and minds, it is equally important to consider the state of our current police officers, working day in and day out so we can live our lives in relative peace and security. Last year 120 officers died in the line of duty and an additional 126 committed suicide. They are killing themselves at the same rate as their job is. That is concerning. Studies show that law enforcement officers tend to have higher rates of depression, anxiety, domestic violence and divorce than other groups of people. One third of officers suffer from PTSD (and most are not being treated for it because they don't even know they have it).

There are many factors that cause this high rate of depression and suicide in police officers (crazy schedules, feeling unappreciated, city and department politics, lack of faith in the judicial system), but I think one of the biggest contributing factors is the lack of balance. There are many other stressful careers out there, but most of them have a balance of good and bad in them. For instance, medical professionals see people die, but they also watch people heal.  Police officers generally only see the dark side of humanity. When a person is being kind to others, the police are not called to witness it. When they come in contact with people on duty, it is because those people are drunk, violent, selfish or are accident victims. In the role that police play in our communities, they do not often get to see people turn their lives around, families being reunited, or victims on the mend. Being immersed in negativity every day is bound to make even the most cheerful person a little melancholy.

I have posted a story below that kind of shows what it is like to be a police officer. Let's take a moment this week and say an extra prayer for the physical, mental, and spiritual health of our law enforcement officers.

When God Made Police Officers

When the Lord was creating Police Officers, He was into His sixth day of overtime when an angel appeared and said, “You’re doing a lot of fiddling around on this one.”

And the Lord said, “Have you read the requirements on this order? A police officer has to be able to run five miles through alleys in the dark, scale walls, enter homes the health inspector wouldn’t touch, and not wrinkle their uniform. They have to be able to sit in an undercover car all day on a stakeout, cover a homicide scene that night, canvas the neighborhood for witnesses, and testify in court the next day. They have to be in top physical condition at all times, running on black coffee and half-eaten meals, and they have to have six pairs of hands.”

The angel shook her head slowly and said, “Six pairs of hands…no way!” “It’s not the hands that are causing me problems,” said the Lord, “it’s the three pairs of eyes an officer has to have.”

That’s on the standard model?” asked the angel. The Lord nodded. “One pair that sees through a bulge in a pocket before they ask, ‘May I see what’s in there, sir?’ (When they already know and wish they’d taken that accounting job), another pair here on the side of the head for their partner’s safety, and another pair of eyes here in front so they can look reassuringly at a bleeding victim and say, ‘You’ll be all right, ma’am,’ when they know it isn’t so.”

“Lord,” said the angel, touching His sleeve, “rest and work on this tomorrow.” “I can’t”, said the Lord, “I already have a model that can talk a 250 pound drunk into a patrol car without incident and feed a family of five on a civil service paycheck.”

The angel circled the model of the Police Officer very slowly. “Can it think?” she asked. “You bet”, said the Lord, “it can tell you the elements of a hundred crimes, recite Miranda warnings in its sleep, detain, investigate, search, and arrest a gang member on the street in less time that it takes five learned judges to debate the legality of the stop…and still it keeps its sense of humor.

This officer also has phenomenal personal control. They can deal with crime scenes painted in hell, coax a confession from a child abuser, comfort a murder victim’s family, and then read in the daily paper how law enforcement isn’t sensitive to the rights of criminal suspects.”

Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek of the Police Officer. “There’s a leak,” she pronounced, “I told you that you were trying to put too much into this model.” “That’s not a leak,” said the Lord. “It’s a tear.” “What’s the tear for?” asked the angel. “It’s for bottledup emotions, for fallen comrades, for commitment to that funny piece of cloth called the American flag, for justice.” “You’re a genius,” said the angel.

The Lord looked somber. “I didn’t put it there,” He said.

 

(author unknown)

We are a Police Family

Matt and I got married when we were 21 years old. He started his career as a police officer a couple months before our wedding so I have essentially been a police officer's wife my whole adult life. Because this is all I have ever known as an adult married woman, I tend to forget that our life and schedules can be a little unusual. While it has just been the two of us all these years, it hasn't been such a big deal- I try to be flexible and have generally adapted to it. I am used to the crazy schedules, eating alone, police gear everywhere, lonely nights, dirty work boots, phone calls in the middle of the night, the disturbing, heartbreaking, and frightening stories and a stressed out overworked husband. However, we will eventually be adding a baby to the mix. Thinking about how all that will work out has made me reflect on the last seven years of our marriage.

For the vast majority of the past seven years, Matt has worked night shift. He goes to work at 5 pm and works until at least 3 am, sometimes until 6 am. I have always been a night owl myself and since I have lived with Matt's schedule for so long, I have (unintentionally) adjusted myself to a more moderate night shift schedule as well. I suppose that will have to change somewhat when we get our baby.

During most of our marriage, Matt has worked every Saturday. I can't remember ever going to an event, party, or festival with my husband on a Saturday. On most Sunday mornings he is asleep or on call. For the past couple of years I have gone to church by myself 90% of the time. I really hope Matt will be able to go church more often in the future since I think it is important for children to see their fathers go to church (even if they are spiritual leaders in other areas).

Matt has been on call most years for Christmas and Thanksgiving. This means we have to turn down invitations to other people's homes, don't want to invite people over, and we spend our holiday meal hoping the phone won't ring. For just the two of us, it is not usually a huge deal, but I truly hope not many future holidays will be ruined for our children because of a call-out. Matt has worked and will always work on New Years Eve, July 4th and Labor Day weekend. I have always missed celebrating those holidays with Matt and I wish in the future he could spend them making memories with his children.

Matt works for a very small police department so whenever another officer is sick or out of town, he has to be on call, sometimes for a week or longer. You have to experience being on call 24 hours a day for days on end to truly appreciate how stressful this is. Even on Matt's weekends (and he is not on call) when we are watching t.v. at night, sometimes we receive a call from dispatch- sometimes by mistake and sometimes because there is no other available officer in the area.

When we first moved to this town, people used to come to our house looking for various police services: to report crimes, complain about tickets, etc. We had to put a sign on our door telling people how inappropriate this was. The sign has helped, surprisingly. We always have to use a little extra caution because there is a chance a disgruntled person will come to our home looking to do us harm. This has happened to other officers and Matt has received threats.

Being married to a police officer isn't all gloom and hardships, though. It is a fairly stable job, compared to some. It is a job that will demonstrate the importance of serving others to our children. Plus, we have a family plan for when the zombies attack (you can never be too prepared).

Some things will have to be adjusted for our future children and some things our children will just have to adjust to. Matt is not just a police officer, we are a Police Family-  the job affects all of us and we are all in it together.