Year of Dates: September

Since September is Larry's birthday month, this month, the date night was his choice.  It was up to him to pick a place to go eat & a movie to watch.  (Because honestly, we can never agree on a movie so I told him this time he could totally pick whatever he wanted & I would go see it with him.)
 
We never had a night to do both things in one night, so we had to split it up.

About 2 weeks ago, we used a gift card and visited a new restaurant.  (Not new to town, but new to us--we had never been before!)

All we knew was that the food was sort of a 'fancy' version of mexican food.  And yep...that was right.  I selected veggie enchiladas & this (bottom picture) was my plate.  There is nothing at all wrong with the food, but for a girl from East Texas who is used to Tex-Mex, this was way different than what I was expecting.  It wasn't bad tasting, just different.

Tonight we were finally able to follow up with the 2nd half of our September date.  When we went to the restaurant a couple weeks ago, Larry told me that there was a movie coming out later in the month that he'd really like to see.  So since we didn't really have time to go to the theater then, we decided to wait until this movie made its way to the theater before we went.  And wow.  What a movie!

Larry chose the movie "Prisoners".  I will not give away the whole story, but I will tell you that it was definitely not one I would've picked out to see.  But, dang, it was good.  Essentially, Hugh Jackman's character's daughter is abducted with a neighborhood friend and he goes on the hunt to find her and will stop at nothing to get the story out of her abducter.  In the very end, the whole story comes together & you learn the history of each character---which is way deeper than you would EVER guess.  It's very intense!  (And by the way, if you go see it, the end of the movie STINKS....just fair warning--and it's not what you may think!)  Here's the trailer for the movie.



And do you want to hear something fun?  Tomorrow we are going to have October's date night!!!!!!

Judges 3:7

Our pastor has been doing a series of sermons on the book of Judges recently entitled "Fallen People, Faithful God".  It's been a great series.  (the picture above was swiped from the church website....hope they won't mind me 'borrowing it)

This morning, as we began chapter 3, Ross read a verse that leapt off the page at me.  I was reminded of the time not so long ago that I spent trudging through the book of Judges.  It's a hard book to read, y'all.  The Israelites made me mad when I read it.  Or rather they just exhausted me.  Friends, it will wear you out to read about their behavior and how they do the same crap over & over again, never learning their lesson.  I read it looking at them through the eyes of a parent who has taught & retaught her children again and again.  But this morning, Judges 3:7 jumped up & slapped me.

In Judges 3:7, our pastor read "The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot their God and served the Baals and Asherahs."

It reminded me of these verses, all found in Judges:

Judges 1:19:  "But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways."

Judges 4:1:  "Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, now that Ehud was dead."

Judges 6:1: " The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites"

Judges 8:33-35: " No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. They also failed to show any loyalty to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) in spite of all the good things he had done for them."  

Judges 10:6: "Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites and the gods of the Philistines."

You get the idea.  On and on, from chapter to chapter, this pattern continues.  The people forget God & begin to worship something else.  God gives them over to their enemies.  Eventually the people realize how far they've moved from God and are reminded of His great mercy, His grace and His blessings.  They run back to Him, seek His redemption and forgiveness and are reconciled to Him.  And then it starts all over again.

Oh. My. Word.

Ouch.
 
Sound familiar?  It does to me.

I find myself, over the years, falling into the same patterns again and again.   The same doubts, the same sin areas, the same battles.  It's exhausting.

Lord, break the cycle.  Break me. 

40 Reasons Why I Love You, Larry

1.  You married me.
2.  You have stuck with me through the really hard stuff.
3.  You gave me three amazing kids.
4.  You're hot.
5.  You make me laugh.  Until I snort.  And pee.
6.  You love our '2 minute snuggle' as much as I do.
7.  You are a great example to our kids of how a man should treat his wife.
8.  You hunt to fill our freezer.
9.  You take Sam hunting & teach him how to clean the deer/hog/squirrel.  Teaching him to become a man who takes care of his family is a priority.
10.  You would take the girls & do the same if they wanted to go.  Nothing is too boyish for your girls to learn!
11.  You are willing to embarrass yourself to make me feel better or to entertain the kids.
12.  You laugh at my jokes before you tell me that they're dumb.
13.  You are not afraid to cry in my arms -- and you don't freak out if I cry in yours.
14.  We have the same sense of humor - warped, crude, obnoxious, goofy. (and sometimes dirty!)
15.  You love our kids with great passion.
16.  You love me even more passionately.
17.  You tease & flirt with me after all these years.
18.  You appreciate me & remember to tell me often.
19.  You write silly love songs for me.
20.  You are easy to please.
21.  You let me be me & indulge my crazy ideas.
22.  You allow me to be a part of your toughest struggles.
23.  You explain news stories to me when I ask you for the 3rd grade, 5 minute version.
24.  You cuddle -- then leave me alone! -- when we doze off at night.
25.  You love the Lord and don't care who knows it.
26.  When you teach, people listen.  You make the Word make sense to them & make it feel applicable to their life.  You are an amazing teacher!
27.  You have a knack for flirting with old ladies and making them feel special.
28.  You have a knack for flirting with ladies our age & making them feel special, too.  (And it doesn't bother me a bit because I know who you're coming home to!)
29.  There isn't a baby alive that you won't try to entertain.
30.  You have a special talent for ruining perfectly wonderful songs with your crazy lyrics.
31.  Did I mention that you're hot?
32.  You protect me -- physically, spiritually, emotionally.
33.  Your musical tastes make me grin.
34.  You snore like a freight train running through my bedroom, but I don't think I could doze off without it anymore.
35.  You refuse to let anyone treat me with less than the respect you feel I deserve.
36.  You compliment me from the pulpit.
37.  Our girls know their daddy loves them and would walk across hot coals to save them from harm.
38.  Our son knows his daddy loves him and would dodge bullets to keep him safe.
39.  Your soft, smooshy lips.
40.  And yes, that.  (oh hush folks....he's my husband.)

Today is Larry's 40th birthday.  I love this man more than I can even put into words....but I hope this got close.

I have to ask........

If you are the person who is visiting my blog from Colombes, Ile-de-France, email me please!  I'm just so curious to know who you are & how you found my blog.  I find it amazing that there are people visiting this site from the other side of the globe!

Goodbye Summer 2013!

For many years, I did a days of summer count here on the ol' blog.  Somewhere in the craziness that is the internet blogosphere, a sweet lady named Rachel Teixeira found my blog & started reading.  And of course, in turn, I read hers.  Now and then I'd post a "roll call" sort of thing to see who was still reading.  After all, sometimes I write just for me--I love to write--but sometimes I write because I love the interaction between myself and my readers. Rachel would always email me & declare that she was still reading & would name off her favorite things I have posted about.  One of those was the summer count.  She got a big kick out of seeing how the silly Reeves fam spent our summers, day by day.  I adored Rachel, but we only talked now and then.  In April, when her birthday rolled around, Facebook reminded me to wish her a happy birthday.  Thinking how it had been a while since we talked, I went to her FB page to read her wall & see what she had been up to.  To my shock, I found out that she had passed away.  Others were posting "I miss you" messages.  I was able to contact her sister and mom who told me of her passing.  As sort of a 'tribute' to Rachel, I chose to skip the summer day count this year.  It just wouldn't be the same without her sweet comments on my posts and her cheering for the 40th or 65th or 80th days of summer along the way.  Rachel, I miss your encouragement in my life!  God bless your sweet family who misses you so much!  This post is for you, honey!


The kids got out of school for the summer in late May.  I had to work another few days before I was done for the summer, but we hit the ground running!

During the first week of June, Savannah traveled to Washington D.C. with the school band.  They visited all the big tourist sights and placed a patriotic tribute at the World War II memorial.  To their surprise, a busload of WWII veterans were visiting that day and watched them play.  It chokes me up just watching this video from our local news station that was filmed there.  (The man who did the report has kids in the band & he made the trip with them.)  I realize that you can only see about 2/3 of the screen for this video, but you'll get the idea!

KLTV.com-Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville, Texas | ETX News

While Savannah was in Washington DC, the other two went on a trip to San Antonio with their grandparents to visit some of our state's coolest sights---the Alamo, the River Walk and Sea World!  They had a ball!  (Sorry.  I can't find any of the pictures from that trip at the moment, so these will have to suffice.  Thank you google images!)

When the kids returned from Sea World, they begin joining me every Tuesday & Thursday in working at the preschool.  Samuel helped in the baby room while Sarah helped me in my classroom.  (Savannah was busy with other things this summer, so she didn't work at the preschool this year.)

Early in the summer, Savannah took her senior pictures for the school yearbook at the photography studio the publishing company suggested.  While they took the pictures there for her yearbook picture, one of my BFFs is a local photographer & she will take Savannah's REAL senior pics later in the Fall.

Late June and much of July was spent doing things from this list.

We went to the movies, ate ice cream for dinner, visited the library, watched 4th of July fireworks, camped out in the living room, read books, (Samuel) camped & fished.  We tried new fruits & veggies, and did a thousand other things on this list.

Savannah visited her out of town girlfriends for a week in July.

Samuel, Sarah & I worked at an in-town mission trip of sorts---leading VBS at a local park.

We swam.  We pet/house-sat.

We visited a couple colleges with Savannah.

And we all sweat like pigs.  'Cuz after all, we live in Texas where it's hotter than the surface of the sun from mid-May til late October.

And somehow, through what I can only attribute to the grace of my sweet Lord, the kids have (mostly) gotten along.

It's been a glorious, wonderful summer.  But in about 36 hours, it comes grinding to a screeching halt.

Savannah officially becomes a 12th grader, walking through the final year of high school while I wipe my tears and try to remember that graduating from HS doesn't mean I will never see her again and she's all grown up.  It's just the end of this season of her life.  Samuel officially becomes an 8th grader, which means this is his last year of well... not being a high schooler.  Somehow, the kids' "lasts" are as hard as their "firsts" for this sappy mama.  And Sarah officially becomes a 7th grader, her first year of junior high.  You know, the land of hormonal, bratty, clique-ish, drama-filled teenagers.  Good grief.  Protect her, Jesus!

The end of summer brings a new world for me in a new job in a new school system 20 minutes from home.  And in just a couple of weeks, it brings a new season to Larry's job---he will begin working from home rather than in an office.  That is, on the days he doesn't have to drive all over creation for his work, which is more often than not....so he'll be here at home maybe once a week.

We've slept a lot, we've had time in the sunshine and water, we've eaten lots of ice cream & watermelon and drank far more Sonic half-price-after-8-p.m.-milkshakes then I care to count.  But whether we're ready or not, summer is over and it's time to plunge head-first into Fall.  Gotta be honest y'all....I'm so ready!

Routines and schedules and football season and pumpkin scented candles, here I come!!!!!!!

New Job: Week 1

This week, I've been going to inservice at my new job.  It's been challenging, but not because the job duties were hard, just because it's such a huge change from where I've been.  You know how it is.  Any time you change jobs, schools, churches, move to a new town (etc, etc, etc) you can't help but compare everything at the new place to what you knew & loved in the old place.  Not that anything is WRONG with the new place, it's just new & different and takes some adjustment time. 

On day one, I noticed a weird phenomenon about all the toilets in the building.  This is what they look like BEFORE you go potty.  This one I flushed (thinking someone forgot to flush) and it filled back up this way.  It's so weird.  I guess the city's water supply is just umm....yellow.

After a trying couple of days, I found THIS!  Oh sweet Jesus.  These are my people.  This is a shelf of books for teachers to read/swap/trade.  Free!  It's like they knew I was coming!

Throughout the week, the other teachers' aides and I worked on some creative, cute, fun bulletin boards.  For one of them, we posed all the teachers & staff in front of a polka dot background, had them select fun props & took pictures.  The bulletin board says "Welcome Back" and is covered in these fun pictures.  I know the kids will enjoy getting to see their teachers, principal, counselor and office staff in pictures like this.

While the environment is very, very different from what I am used to, I am looking forward to Monday.  I'm ready to get started with kids on the campus!  Here's to a new school year!

Jesus Paid it All

A wise friend of mine once told me that you can't control your circumstances or the way other people act, but you can control the way you respond to them.

That has stuck with me for many, many years.  And each time I find myself traipsing down the rabbit hole of sins that I struggle with, I hear that again in my head.  I can make the choice to follow the trail of destruction or turn around and go the other way.

I want to say that I'm a good person and don't have too many struggles in life.  After all, I was raised in church and married a Godly man.  We are still in church regularly & I serve the children and women of our church every week.  I don't cuss, don't drink, don't smoke, haven't ever done drugs.  I was a virgin on my wedding night.  Heck, I can't even watch movies with a lot of yuck in them without blushing or feeling 'dirty'.  I work in the school system and our kids are 'good kids'.  My husband has been in law enforcement & ministry.  We are the picture of sweet, honest, "good" people, right?

But being a "good person" doesn't make me righteous or clean or pure.  Being a "good person" really does nothing for me other than give me a standard to attempt to live up to---and presents a front that other people see.  Deep down, I am just as filthy and dirty and disgusting as a thief, murderer, liar or cheater.

Isaiah 64:6  All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

This past week I have battled one of the areas of life where I struggle.  I don't intend to get into the details of that here.  It doesn't matter what my sin area is.  We all battle something in life, whether it is addiction or lust or lying or whatever! I've been reminded again that while my circumstances might be out of my control, only I can make the choice of how I respond to it.  Tonight I can not get this old hymn out of my head.  I pray it blesses you as well.