The Saga of Taken, and the Obligatory Obituary

About a month ago we received a free trial offer from Netflix where we could get 3 movies out at a time for 2 weeks, so naturally we signed up for it. We were enjoying it, although if we lived anywhere close to where there is a Blockbuster, we would probably do that one because you can trade them in at the store for a little more instant gratification, but I digress. One of the first movies that I wanted to get was the Liam Neeson movie "Taken" because I had seen the trailer and it looked good to me, even though Kayla doesn't really like thrillers, I had convinced her to watch it with me. You can imagine my excitement when I got the e-mail from Netflix saying that the movie would arrive at my house within a day.

So I go out to the mailbox the next day and sure as a sunrise (not sure that's an actual saying, but I'm using it anyway), there was a DVD in the box and I brought it in without really examining it because it's been over 100 degrees every day for the past week here and I didn't want to stay out for longer than I had to. Now, I must again remind the reader that we were allowed three movies out at a time and the next one on our list was one a DVD that Brenna had picked out to watch (you can probably see where this is heading). For one reason or another, Kayla and I didn't get a chance to watch my thriller that night, and so it came as a little bit of a shock to me to get an e-mail in my inbox the next day from Netflix telling me thank you for returning "Taken." A little confused, I go into the kitchen where we had been keeping all our cinema bounty and took a good look at what I thought was "Taken" only to discover Brenna's Little Einsteins DVD. While Brenna was elated, I was let down to say the least. So seeing that Netflix had received a DVD that we never did, I added it to the list again in hopes that it would arrive before our precious two weeks of free movies was completed.

Fortunately for me, about four days later I got another e-mail from the Netflix people saying that they had shipped "Taken" to our little address here in Karnes City, which made me think that if there was one person assigned to our account, they were probably thinking, "Okay, this movie may be good, but is it really a rent twice in one week good?" To which I would respond in words to unkind to write here, so I'll proceed with my story. We get the DVD in the mail the next day and I examined the envelope in the heat this time to make sure I wasn't going to have to call these people and tell them it's probably a good idea to keep customers by sending what they ordered, but they got it right this time and so I rushed back into the house before the sun could melt off my skin, with plans to watch this movie that night, so that either Kayla didn't have time to lose her nerve, or we had to send the movie back unwatched because our two weeks were running out very quickly.

I put the movie into the DVD player that night, and I should have realized it was not going to be an easy watch when I went to check out the special features and the one trailer listed wouldn't play. (Side note: Why go to the expense of including a special features tab and graphic on a DVD just to have one lousy trailer on it? Seems more cost effective to not put it in there and get my hopes up that there would actually be something interesting there) So we start the movie and everything is good for the first 50 minutes or so, and then the darn thing catches and I can't get it to do anything but stick right on the screen it's on. I can't rewind it, I can't fast forward it, I can't skip to the next chapter, I took it out and tried to clean it off, I did the old NES approach of blowing inside the DVD player, I even tried to go to the main menu and skip ahead two chapters and try to backtrack, and nothing worked. Now, this movie is only about an hour and a half long, so when you get fifty minutes in you're pretty much invested into the story and you want to find out how it's going to end, so the solution Kayla and I came up with was that I would go to our trusty Redbox at the Wal-Mart down the street and get it from there, even though it meant I would have to drive back out to the store the next day to return it.

So I go out there and get the movie (it always amazes me that people take their kids to WM regardless of the time, seven kids under the age of ten at 10:30 at night, moving on...) and get back, get it set to where we were and continue watching. About ten minutes from the end of the film, the same thing starts to happen again; it starts to catch and freeze. So, once I had recovered all the pieces of the remote control that I had chucked across the room I went and took the DVD out of the player, cleaned off a few smudges and finally finished the movie. It was a decent movie to be sure, but after all the hassle I'm not sure that God wanted us to see that movie. Maybe next time, I'll save myself the trouble and listen to Him. One more thing before I let you leave...

While this picture really creeps me out, I can only think how much more creepy it would have been had it been taken in more recent years. At least here, he still looks human. All I really have to say about the passing of the King of Pop is that it disturbs me that so many people in the news coverage have described him as an idol. Makes me kind of think we may be in for a smiting from the Almighty. And while I'm sure that he was totally messed up in the head, he did bring joy to millions of people, and revolutionized pop culture as we know it and not too many other people on the planet can say that. I pray that he knew Jesus before he left, and I pray that his family will find Him through this process.

We're begin the long road back to Georgia today to visit family and friends, so I'm sure I'll write more in the coming days, stay tuned!

Mixed Bag

This post will be just what I've titled it because there have been so many random things going on in our lives these past few weeks that I don't know how to link them all, maybe it will come to

me by the end of the post. Before we get started, can I say that it is pretty upsetting to me that I've only got about 5 weeks left on my vacation on this summer. I guess I have to remember that not everyone gets a summer vacation.

VBS:

So last week, Kayla and I were in charge of VBS music for the second year in a row, and it was really defined by one specific moment, follow this link (if it doesn't work, go to YouTube and type in "vbs 2009 gonna follow you) and imagine my wife doing the opening motions. My lovely wife is known for a lot of things: kindness, a great smile, teaching little ones really well, and taking care of a thousand things all at once and making it look effortless; but one of the things she hasn't quite mastered is the art of "cool dancing." Not that I did too much better, but every time I saw her doing that first move, I couldn't help but crack up. Fortunately for her I didn't take any video of her dancing, so you're left up to your imaginations.

In the end, we had a lot of fun teaching the kids and got our first glimpse of the difficulties that my grandmother must have dealt with teaching my dad in her classes. Brenna was old enough to be in the youngest class this year, but every time she came to us for music she didn't want to sing or do the motions, no matter how much we encouraged her to. We did manage to keep her with her classmates and not attached to us. She seemed to get the idea by the end of the week when the class performed for the parents, because she did all the motions and sang. We have also been singing all the VBS songs this week. It amazes me that she is able to sing on pitch most of the time, especially if she is singing with someone else. I won't call her a musical prodigy, but it is definitely in her blood.

In all at VBS we were told there were 50 commitments made by the kids of one sort or another. Pretty amazing that something begun back in the 1800's can still impact eternity in this day and age.

Facebook:

Or as I call it "summer crack," because I have spent all summer checking that silly website numerous times a day seeing what all my friends are up to and telling them what's been going on with us. I don't visit the website hardly at all during the school year, but with all the time I have where I don't really have any responsibilities to attend to, I have to fill the time somehow. And just like in life, it seems to be my goal to see how many people I can get to think I'm funny through my status updates. Hopefully I'll be able to dial it down some over the next few days, especially since we'll be leaving soon for...

Georgia:

That's right, the annual summer trek of the Jones family back east will be getting underway in about two weeks. We're driving all the way there which may be a little bit more tricky this year than the last time we did it because we won't be able to drive like we did last time with Brenna being a little older. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone, but also really relaxing. It seems like for some reason that you don't relax as well at home as you do somewhere else. We're going to see some fireworks, visit with my family (including my grandparents from Virginia who haven't seen Brenna in person since she was a few months old), go to the zoo, probably go to the lake near my parents, and also go to Athens where we'll see our best friends in the world and go to our home church! That's why I'm packing the PS3! But before that, we have been blessed by Kayla's parents with...

Cousins Camp:

Brenna will be spending an all expenses paid trip in Houston visiting with her cousin from San Antonio, courtesy of her grandparents in Houston. That means that Kayla and I will have a whole week to ourselves free of the responsibilities of a 3-year old, so of course Kayla and I are going to fill our time by running errands and working! Maybe we'll find some time to ourselves to be a couple.

Swimming Lessons:

Won't say too much about this, other than to have you check Kayla's blog for all the misadventures Brenna and she have had trying to see if Brenna can learn how to swim.

KCFBC:

Those initials stand for Karnes City First Baptist Church, where Kayla and I are members. We haven't been terribly thrilled with having to attend a small-town church, mostly because the environment hasn't been what we got at our church in Athens. We have survived and thrived, though working in any capacity that we could to try and feel better about it. We have recently gotten a new pastor, however, and it has really changed the way the church feels to us. He is challenging and innovative and really wants to work to make an impact on the community as much as we can. He and his family are also wonderful in that they are right around the same age as our family and for the first time since we've moved here I feel like I might possibly have a friend that I can relate to and that will help me grow spiritually. So things are rocking along well in that area.

Well, if you have made it all the way down to the bottom of this post, you are to be commended, so here you go:

They'll never take our "FREEDOM!!!"

Make sure you read the fine print

(if you can't read it it says "also the bridge is out ahead.")

I've taught this kid before.

I've done this to kids before.

Or, our best lead just went in the crapper...

One of the (Many) Things They Don't Teach

Sorry for not updating in a month, but the end of the year was more hectic than normal, which I'll get to shortly (see next post).  First I wanted to explain the title for this post.

This past Saturday night at around 3:25 in the morning, I received a text message from one of my students that stated the following: "Did you hear about Sergio?"  Sergio is our percussion instructor who also graduated from the school two years ago and was attending college to be a band director or percussion instructor once he got out, but was having a great time working with our students on the upcoming shows for next fall and winter.

Having just completed the school year, my phone was on vibrate and I didn't hear that I had gotten a message until around 6am when Kayla heard or saw my phone doing something and checked it out.  I had a bad feeling about that message, but decided to wait until around 8 to call about it.  I called my student and he told me that the young man had died in a car crash around the time he sent the text message.  Apparently he was leaving a graduation party and was t-boned by a drunk driver.  It did not help that he was also under the influence of alcohol.  

The reason I titled the post like I did was that I have spent my entire time this week trying to find words to help kids when there are not words to be said.  I attended a rosary service yesterday and his funeral today and at both services I had students who would collapse into my arms sobbing because that's all the pain would allow them to do.  I have done a lot of praying over the last few days and just been seeking out how I can help these kids learn to deal with the tragic loss of this individual that they idolized.  I wish having attended his funeral today and with it being summer I would be saved from some of the tough times these kids may be heading for experiencing feelings they don't know what to do with and me not knowing what to do or say to make it better or help them process it, but we have a percussion camp scheduled in two weeks that this young man was going to lead.  That task has now fallen to the band directors of the two schools involved to not only work on music, but also on the very difficult lessons of life and death and how to use it to maybe let them see God's hand at work in it.

I also got a little frightened when I attended the services for this young man because when the family was allowed to speak to the congregation, they spoke of how music was his life and how it really defined who he was, and I was frightened because I know that someday that could be me.  Not to say that having music define my life is a bad thing in itself, but I want it to be said of me when I leave this earth that my music was only a means of drawing people closer to Jesus, that they might be saved because of something I sang or played or in doing so they would be in more of a mindset to make that decision.  Or in my daily working with these students that they would be able to see that my real boss is nowhere physically on campus with me, but He's in my heart and His eternal light is shining through me.  I'm going to make more of an effort to make sure those I come into contact with see those things in me (which is one of the reasons I wrote it down in this blog).

So, if there is anyone out there who has suggestions on how to make the grieving process easier to understand to teens or has literature on it, I would be greatly interested in it.  I just want to be prepared in case one of my kids wants to talk.  And they really should teach a class on this sort of thing.