Whiskey River (Take My Mind) December 8, 2009

My awareness of Willie Nelson just won’t quit.  Reminders of him seem to follow me around.

Today I have heard Everett’s rendition of “Whiskey River” so many times it’s about to ”take my mind.”  It’s not an intentional concert.  No, it’s just that he has been singing that dumb song over and over.  Sometimes it’s in his Willie voice, and sometimes it’s in his very own singing voice.  But every time it comes complete with Ev singing the guitar licks.  I tell ya, I’ve had more than enough since I can’t stand Willie in the first place.

Here’s the deal with Ev.  He is one unique kid.  When we get in the car, he always asks (or demands) that the radio be tuned in to Country Legends 97.1 so that he can bask in the musical glory days of decades past.  Those days went by before he ever took his first breath.  Everett has been more adamant about this since Thanksgiving weekend when KSBJ started their all-Christmas programming.  He doesn’t mind telling us that he has already had enough “12 Days of Christmas” and “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” (yes, I know that’s not the proper title) to last him all the way to next Christmas, and we’re not even halfway through December yet.  What can I tell you except that Ev knows what he likes, and it’s a little less Christmas music and a lot more Classic Country.

Here’s another thing about Ev.  We are about to celebrate his 12th birthday, and if there is one characteristic he possesses that has been obvious since birth it is that he is NOISY.  He is not serene, tranquil, calm, gentle, hushed, soothing, peaceful, restrained, subdued, or quiet.  There is always some type of noise coming from this kid.  If he is not making the noise himself, he is making someone or something else make noise if he can possibly figure out a way. 

Looking back, I can attest to the fact that he was a loud baby.  I’m sure he was my most prolific noise-making baby.  I dreaded taking him to any public place that required quiet.  He quickly grew into a noisy toddler and then a noisy young boy.  The older he got, the more he knew to say and the more instruments he could figure out to use to make noise. 

Lately Everett’s love for noise is bringing me much frustration.  The boy wakes up talking, talks or sings all day, and goes to bed talking to me as I finally just walk out of his room and turn off the light after I’ve put him to bed.  I believe his mouth spews a running commentary of everything that passes through his brain.  If he is looking at a sales paper, he is verbally describing every item he finds interesting, quoting prices and selling points.  I’m serious.  His mouth seems to never stop, and frankly, my ears hurt.  I mentioned this to Russell, but he hadn’t seemed to notice…until he was off Friday when it snowed.  We were all cooped up inside the house, and Russell got a good dose of the noise I’ve been telling him about.  Suddenly, Russell was a little more sympathetic of what I deal with all day every day. 

All this talk about Everett and his noise-making is to underscore how irritating it is to me when he busts out in one of Willie’s greatest hits MULTIPLE TIMES IN ONE DAY!  It is more than enough to drive me to the brink of insanity.  But then again…maybe I stay there!!!  “Whiskey River,” please don’t “take my mind!”

Psalm 51:18-19 December 7, 2009

Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.  Psalm 51: 18-19

As I studied these verses today, I tried to think them through and through.  Since I have no better way to articulate my thoughts, I’ll share the study notes from my ESV study Bible.  I found them to be very helpful.

“The psalm closes by enabling worshipers to see the relationship between their own spiritual health and the well-being of the whole body of God’s people (Zion).  That is, each member is linked to all the others in a web of relationships, and together they share in the life of God as it pulses through the whole body.  Thus each member contributes to (or else detracts from) the health of the whole.  The ideal Israel is a community of forgiven penitents, faithfully embracing God’s covenant and worshiping him according to the rites he appointed; this is the community that can bring light to the whole world.”

I must have a humble, penitent faith and a broken and contrite heart in order to be spiritually healthy and offer pure worship.  If my inner disposition does not come from a broken spirit, my offerings to God are insignificant, and I detract from the spiritual health of the whole body of God’s people. 

Let me neither try to manipulate God with hypocritical offerings, nor dim his light to the world who so desperately needs to see it.

Please DON’T let it snow! December 4, 2009

Anybody who knows Mama A knows I HATE COLD WEATHER!  Let me spell this out for you.  To me…cold = pain.  I don’t know why I feel such a hypersensitivity to things like this, but it seems to bother me worse than most people I know.  Russell can’t understand this.  He says it’s not worse for me than it is for him, he just deals with it better.  He can’t understand that my skin hurts when I’m cold.  When I lay down on cold bed sheets, my body is covered with pain.  When I have to go to the bathroom on a cold potty seat, it causes me great discomfort.  Cold is just very bad for me physically.

With the impending threat of snow, several of the Reids have been extremely hyped about this rare occurrence.  Russell has been sending weather reports via email to the kids at home every day this week.  He is the biggest kid of all.  He is eagerly awaiting the arrival of snow.  Meanwhile, I am Scrooge in his eyes.  I am dreading all the things that snow means to me…cold, wet, mess, disrupted schedules. 

Instead of fussing at me for my lamentations, Russell usually just makes fun of me.  Along with his weather report email yesterday, Russell sent this video to me at home.

 

Now that you’ve heard all of that, you’ll likely get a kick out of this.  I had a really hard time getting out from under my electric blanket this morning to start my day.  After I whined about it for a minute, Russell had a clever response.  “If it’s COLD…SUCK it up!”

Ha.  Ha.  Ha.  Very funny.

Directions for Dealing with Sins December 2, 2009

I’ve now made it through six chapters of the book by Jerry Bridges entitled Respectable Sins:  Confronting the Sins We Tolerate.  I’ve mentioned before that I am trying to digest this book little by little.  It is good for me, I’m sure, but it is difficult to put what I’m learning into practice.  There is little sense in me reading it, though, if I’m not going to take what I learn and apply it to my own sins, so I’m pushing through as I am able.

I would like to share with you a summary of the points outlined in Chapter Six, “Directions for Dealing with Sins.”  This summary won’t completely fill you in on the details of these seven directions.  You will simply get a general idea, which is still helpful.

• Apply the gospel.
• Depend on the Holy Spirit.
• Recognize your responsibility.
• Identify specific respectable sins.
• Memorize and apply appropriate Scriptures.
• Cultivate the practice of prayer.
• Involve one or a few other believers with you.

“As you seek to apply these directions, remember that your heart is a battleground between the flesh and the Spirit (see Galatians 5:17).  In this guerrilla warfare, the flesh will sometimes get the upper hand.  And as you zero in on a particular sin to seek to put it to death, your situation may get worse before it gets better.  Take heart:  This is not unusual.  The Holy Spirit will use these times of disobedience and defeat to help you see how deeply rooted your subtle sins are and how totally dependent you are on His power to help you.”

The next 14 chapters will individually focus on specific sins that we tolerate.  Bridges promises to offer practical suggestions to combat these sins, but these seven directions will apply to all of them.  Here’s a list of the sins outlined in the next 14 chapters:

• Ungodliness
• Anxiety and Frustration
• Discontentment
• Unthankfulness
• Pride
• Selfishness
• Lack of Self-Control
• Impatience and Irritability
• Anger
• The Weeds of Anger
• Judgmentalism
• Envy, Jealousy, and Related Sins
• Sins of the Tongue
• Worldliness

I am ready to continue on this difficult journey.  I hope to be able to share how my life is changing by focusing on defeating sin in my life.  I must fight against it constantly.  It is a battle that must be continually won.

The LORD Will Preserve and Protect November 29, 2009

The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.  Proverbs 29:25

Top this! November 28, 2009

Can you top the list of events that made my day EXCITING?

1. I got a phone bill from AT&T that totaled almost $600 for one month’s charges.
2. Russell discovered that the upright freezer had gone out and all the meat was lost while he was cutting up and packaging a deer to store in this freezer.
3. Allie and I got in the car to go to town, and when I closed my door one of the power windows shattered into a million pieces leaving about half of those million pieces of glass in the interior of the car.

One of the reasons I blog is to make me focus on some good things in life.  I try to make sure I not only post dry, serious stuff, but I also want to look at the good that comes each day and share it so that others can see there’s good mixed in with the bad.  Today there was a whole lot of bad that happened around here, but I have much to be grateful for.  Things can always be worse.

Crazy as it sounds, this is not the first time we have had a window in a Suburban shatter.  It was not the same Suburban or even the same kind of window.  Last time it was a long back window and we paid $250 to replace it if I remember correctly.  This time it was a power window.  You’d think that would be worse, but it wasn’t.  This time Russell called the junk yard, found a replacement window, went to get it, and had the whole thing fixed before dark for less than $100.

I am so grateful for my very own Mr. Goodwrench.  As one of my children used to say, “Daddy sure is a good fixer!”  I’m so glad we don’t have to ride to church in the morning with natural air conditioning!  It really would mess up my hair. 

Although this certainly was not convenient, the pain of it was much more bearable than the last time.  The last time this happened, it took almost every last dime we had to fix it.  I cried.  It was devastating because of where we were in life.  It’s funny how similar events affect us so differently under different circumstances.

I’m not sure what we’re going to do about the freezer, and I’m waiting for a resolution on the phone bill, but those things will have to wait for another day.  The most pressing disaster was taken care of, so I will try to be thankful for that.  Tomorrow’s a new day with new adventures.  I just hope it’s not as exciting as today was!

Say it ain’t so! November 28, 2009

“You’re just like Willie!”

This is not what Mama A wants to hear first thing in the morning from her beloved husband.  Shoot, this is not what I EVER want to hear! 

NOT My Role Model

This was Russell’s response to our conversation about lifestyles of riches and fame while we had our coffee early this morning.  I happened to mention that although it may seem strange to many people, I just never had any ambition for anything other than a plain, simple, regular life.  I suppose with his love for Willie Nelson he thought I would surely take this statement as a compliment.  Check that.  Maybe he thought I should take it as a compliment, but I’m pretty sure he knew I would not find it to be complimentary in light of how I feel about “The Redheaded Stranger.” 

I do not enjoy this entertainer at all.  Maybe it is because of some bad childhood memories, or maybe I just don’t like his style.  Who knows why I have such an aversion to a singer who doesn’t sing on key or with the rhythm of the song? 

Russell was fortunate enough to tune in to a special on Willie already in progress on the Biography Channel the other night.  Supposedly Willie said all he ever wanted to do was play music and make enough money to pay his bills.  (Thus the similarity to me?!?)  Willie was being highly exalted for his musical prowess by every in-law and outlaw imaginable.  I just can’t understand all the hoopla.  My ears can’t hear the goodness.  I did get an explanation of why he doesn’t sing on beat, though.  Apparently it’s called “back phrasing,” and apparently it takes talent to do it well.  I’m sorry.  I’m not sure I can buy that, but I certainly am no musical expert.

It has become a Reid family pastime to irritate Mama A with all things Willie.  For crying out loud, I live with an 11-year-old Willie Nelson impersonator.  The Reid children are exposed to way too much Country Oldies radio.  Next thing you know, they’ll all be planning a family trip to a Willie Nelson concert.  Maybe we could just take a family vacation and plan it around Farm Aid.  I believe this is where I’ll have to draw the line.  Willie live is something I believe they’ll have to do without good ol’ Mama Angela.

The bottom line is this:  If you want to get on my good side, do not point out ANY similarities between Mama A and Willie Nelson!  Russell just dug himself a deeper hole when he added, “I knew y’all had something in common besides long hair!”  Although he brought himself a great deal of laughter with this comment, this was not his greatest effort toward marital bliss.

O Tannenbaum! November 27, 2009

Will wonders never cease!?

I didn’t think I’d ever live to see the day that Russell Reid would allow a fake Christmas tree in his living room, but lo and behold, that day is upon us!  I’m not even sure how this happened because I’ve campaigned for an artificial tree before, but he would have none of it.  I suppose Russell really enjoys the opportunity to bring a little of the great outdoors inside each year.  I, on the other hand, have come to be weary of the mess a real tree makes.  I also think a real tree in the house is bad for my kids who have allergies to trees and grasses because some of them seem to be sick every year for Christmas. 

I haven’t made a big deal out of this until the last few years because we have always made a family day out of traveling to a Christmas tree farm and picking out our own favorite tree.  We cut it down ourselves and then bring it home to decorate it as a family.  The problem over the past couple of Christmases has been that the Christmas tree farm we patronized for so many years is no longer in business due to retirement, and we have searched for a new farm, but have driven and driven only to be disappointed that they were closed, too.  That has left us picking from the left-overs at a local tree lot and spending quite a wad of dough on something we only enjoy for such a short time.

For whatever reason, Russell decided to go with the flow and try to see if he could live with a fake tree.  (Maybe he’s mellowing in his forties.)  He sent me to the store today to find the one he had decided on from the plethora of sales papers he had looked through.  By the time I got there, they were all gone, but I went to a couple of other stores before I found one in my desired price range (cheap) that didn’t look too fake or too cheap.

As I type this post BB is decorating our new fake tree.  Russell and Allie put it together after all six of us spouted off our opinions about where the best place to put it was.  Everyone but BB has now jumped ship and left her to her business.  I believe my little Christmas girl could occupy herself all night digging through the sparse Christmas decorations we own.  I think I’ll let her organize until her heart’s content.  She’s doing a good job!

Only one person is unhappy with our new tree experience.  I won’t mention his name, but he happens to be one of the kids who has to pop Zyrtec and Benadryl every time he is around pine trees.  As usual around Reid Ranch, it’s almost impossible to please everybody, so we try to please as many as possible at one time.  Maybe next time things will go his way.

Author’s note:  As I titled this post I was reminded of a funny, funny family experience we had a few years ago.  I’ll try to do a post on it at a later date, but next time you see Russell, address him as Tan and ask him how his brother Dan and his sister Nan are doing.  He’ll get a hoot out of it!

Language Barrier November 26, 2009

Here’s a quick update for all of you who know about the shenanigan being pulled on me with my car. 

After Russell read my “sad story” about my car speaking Spanish to me, he had mercy on me.  Me blogging about my pitiful state must be the equivalent to saying “calf rope” when I was a kid and Uncle Jim tickled me until I cried.  The crying didn’t make him stop.  Only those specific words would do the trick.  So figuratively I guess I yelled, “Calf rope!”  This caused Russell to put my car back in English mode, but he still refused to admit he had done it or that he had done anything to it in the first place.

Apparently he decided he hadn’t had enough fun in this area yet, because when I got in it to drive home from his parents’ house tonight, my car was speaking in yet another language.  This one is even more foreign to me.  I’m not sure which language it is, but my guess is French.  I confronted him about this change, but once again he is not fessing up. 

Russell is really getting a lot of miles out of this little discovery he has made.  I have a piece of advice for any of my readers who know him personally.  Lock your cars when Russell is around!  You never know what might happen.  On second thought, you’d better protect more than your cars.  We’re just not safe when a prankster like this is on the loose!

A Tweet or Two to be Thankful for November 25, 2009

The words of John Piper:

“No amount of working for Jesus will make him beautiful to you or make him your living, eternal, delicious bread.”  

“You cannot make Jesus beautiful to you.  That is a gift from God, a miracle.”  

 

  I can’t imagine anything more worthy of my thanksgiving.  And so I offer Him my thanks.