Christian Counselors
Kristin
prayed those prayers,
less the bits that were obviously unbiblical and therefore deleted, but they didn't seem to have any effect,
so I began to look up and contact Christian counselors in town who listed both marriage
counseling and dissociative identity disorder among their areas of expertise.
When I called and asked them if they are taking new clients, those who were sounded positive. By the time I finished explaining what Kristin is dealing with, however, most of the Christian counselors said they are too busy, it didn't sound like a situation that they could help, told me to call another Christian counselor, or made up some other excuse. I finally found a Christian counselor who agreed to see us, but when I shared the news with Kristin, she said she wasn't interested in counseling and again repeated her demand for immediate marriage.
Several times, she came downstairs full of anger and/or tears and loudly demanded that I marry her, and after hearing my answer, ran back upstairs crying. Dialogue was becoming increasingly difficult.
One day, she took our car and just drove off. She left her stuff behind so I didn't think she would go far and would soon return. When she didn't, I borrowed an old jeep from a Christian in the area and drove around the town for hours looking for her but couldn't find her.
She returned the next morning and said that she had driven the car to just another parking lot in our apartment complex and had slept in it, or at least tried to, and then went upstairs to sleep. A few days later, she again disappeared with the car. I again borrowed the old jeep, drove around the area but again could neither find her nor reach her by phone.
She answered my call the next day, said that she is at a camping area about 60 miles away and agreed to meet me at a church near her. A severe storm with tornado warnings was approaching her area, so I again borrowed the old jeep, drove it as fast as I could, blew a tire on the way, kept driving on the rim as the jeep had no spare tire, but eventually had to stop and seek help from a stranger, who drove me in his car to and from a tire repair shop. I then drove the jeep to the church, met and followed her to the camp ground where she was staying, slept in the jeep while she slept in our car, and then led her back to our apartment the next morning.
As the summer neared its end, the decision over our next destination loomed. The university that had flown me in to interview hadn't worked out. I didn't have any other job offer but had been invited back to China for a seventh semester, so one option was for me to return to China and teach while Kristin receives counseling from a Christian counselor whom the lady referred and had said was very good. I corresponded with that Christian counselor, who said she would take Kristin as a new client but didn't seem enthusiastic about it. Kristin also seemed unenthusiastic. But still, I could drive Kristin to the Christian counselor's city, rent her an apartment, leave her the car, fly to China, and then send her money that I will earn in China so that until I return at the end of the semester, she can live in USA, breathe clean air and just focus on being counseled by the Christian counselor and healing from dissociative identity disorder.