Testimony: Tessia Reeves AUTHOR: Tess Reeves. I’ve loved Our Creator for decades and never grow weary of hearing from Him. I was entrusted with Keith, my husband of 28 yrs. As if that wasn’t enough, he helped me to raise 2 magnificent daughters ...
AUTHOR: Tess Reeves. I’ve loved Our Creator for decades and never grow weary of hearing from Him. I was entrusted with Keith, my husband of 28 yrs. As if that wasn’t enough, he helped me to raise 2 magnificent daughters (Jessica, 25yo and Jalyn, 22yo). I love our nondenominational church in Gainesville, VA and can be found regularly volunteering with our Outreach ministry. Nursing and Caregiving encourages my heart and keeps me connected with precious others.
AUTHOR: Tess Reeves. I’ve loved Our Creator for decades and never grow weary of hearing from Him. I was entrusted with Keith, my husband of 28 yrs. As if that wasn’t enough, he helped me to raise 2 magnificent daughters (Jessica, 25yo and Jalyn, 22yo). I love our nondenominational church in Gainesville, VA and can be found regularly volunteering with our Outreach ministry. Nursing and Caregiving encourages my heart and keeps me connected with precious others.
Matt 6:8 “Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (ESV)
Lately I’ve felt convicted to get serious about spiritual disciplines. Desperate to hear from God, I sat in solitude for 10 minutes to begin this journey. I cut out all sensory distractions and stared at the bare branched crape myrtle through my window.
Ok God. Show me my heart. You know my worries, my yearnings for peace in my marital relationship and how much I don’t desire bitterness and resentful seeds to grow in my heart. You know that this is where I have been struggling lately. You know when I sit and when I lie down. I stayed there focused, open and fully surrendered. Nothing happened. Or so I thought.
Excited to practice a day of sabbath the next day, I scurried around the house cleaning and finishing up laundry. I’m the “Martha” continually desiring to be more of a “Mary.” (See Luke 10: 38-42.) Historically, I’ve started and stopped taking the sabbath command seriously. No more! As I’m getting all of my boxes checked while working around the house, I hear this from the Lord: “Go to Keith’s event tomorrow.”
Come again, Holy Spirit? You mean that presentation he’s doing in MD to a classroom of aviation wanna-be high school students? (Keith is an airline pilot and mentor for aviation enthusiasts) He’s asked frequently to do presentations about his flying career. I normally opt out of attending, preferring to have some “me time.”
Once Keith got over the shock of me asking to accompany him, we ironed out the details for the day. I put everything aside. Actually, I had nothing to put aside because it was all done the day before. Remember my prepping to have a day of sabbath? This freed me up to be fully present with my husband, helping him tote in the visual aids, taking pictures, and mentally cheering him on. I was mindful to be patient as he gave advice to the eager young men and women. Honestly, I didn’t find it hard to be fully present and at peace. This was the Lord’s doing.
Honest affection rose up in me for him, peace in my soul, and we enjoyed great conversation on the hour-long drive there and back. Keith’s response was one of utter delight and gratitude for my help and genuine presence in what interested him the most.
In my quiet time later that day, I picked up Lynn’s book “Marching Around Jericho”. My bookmark was on Chapter 8. The Spouse Effect. Pg 85-88.
My jaw dropped.
“Abiding with God reduced conflict, irritation, selfishness in me and, surprisingly, also in my husband. My intimacy with God determined the spiritual temperature in our house. Jesus and I became the thermostat, not my husband’s unbelief or worldly viewpoints” pg 86
This revelation of abiding in and listening to Him is a practice I now want to continue to develop. How grateful I am for a God who knows more than I know myself, what I need. Today I am assured beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is as close as my breath, loving my soul and guiding me as the Perfect Counselor and friend. He knows better than me, exactly what I need! I’m so encouraged that following his statutes leads to heart transformation. Thank you, Lynn, for your book and God’s timing in me soaking it in as a way of revealing his love to me.
How is your faith changing the climate of your home and marriage? I’ll see you in the comments. Tessia
Let me share a real experience that happened between Mike and I today. We were out walking our dogs near the lake. We were discussing the need for a mobile battery pack because the power went out for several hours two nights ago, during a severe lightning and thunderstorm.
I was speaking to him for several minutes about batteries and becoming frustrated and more terse in volume because he wasn’t understanding that the subject I was speaking about was batteries. I said to Mike, “Can we purchase a battery pack for your Cpap?”
He replied, “I could purchase a mobile Cpap.”
I said, “Wait, I am speaking about batteries. You are speaking about the opposite. We are talking to each other about two different things. You are hearing the opposite of what I am saying. I am hearing the opposite of what you are trying to communicate to me.
Immediately I said, “I rebuke the demon that is trying to create confusion and division between us. It must stop RIGHT NOW. In Jesus name.”
This is a real-time example of how confusion is sown in a relationship. I was becoming angry because I wanted to talk about batteries. He was off on a different topic. So frustrating. I know I shared in one of my books the story of a demon standing between us and twisting our words in the air. What I speak is twisted and received differently than my intent.
These are very issues that arise in our homes. If we aren’t aware, we ascribe these issues to a mental or emotional condition, which they can be.
As wise people of God, we must understand how wounding in people, trauma, severe drug use, sexual promiscuity, alcohol, sever physical pain, occult stuff creates an open door for oppression and intrusive thoughts. If you are not deeply connected with Jesus, you ascribe all relationship difficulties to emotional or mental health.
But life isn’t that easy to place in a box. We must prayerfully ask Jesus this question, “Jesus, what is really going on here?” We must listen.
I’ve uncovered many issues that are spiritual, first within me such as anger. I dealt with them. I can see spiritual oppression in others. Yet, also, I’m keenly sensitive and compassionate regarding the trauma people experience that opens them up to narcissism, such a family of origin issues as well as all the other mental conditions we are living with. The list is long that the devil will use to harm and steal the destiny and identity of a person.
If you want to know the truth about what is going on in a relationship, ask the Lord. Now here is the key. Once He revels to you what is happening, research it. Then ask him how to pray.
In my next post, I’ll share how I lacked understanding about my husband which cause me pain. Once I realized what was the underlying issue, peace overwhelmed my heart.
What are some of the struggles that you are facing? How can I pray for you this week? I adore you. Stay in faith. I’m finding my years of faithful praying are now really paying off.
Blessings and hugs, Lynn
Yikes, I asked AI to create an image of my example. Look what rendered…. It feels realistic.
Two weeks ago on Monday I had a really difficult time. Things in my extended family have been difficult for about 18 months – but they rared up again on the day my book was released.
Grr. The timing, huh.
It was so bad that I spent much of the day in bed, trying to hide from the stress, and Bryce watched, upset and wishing he could help me.
My friends, it was actually quite hard to hop on here and write that Monday and tell you about the book. The onslaught of ‘stuff’ I was dealing with behind the scenes was so bad that day.
Anyway, I don’t want to linger on that because there’s a good part to this story! And here it comes. See everything that’s meant for evil, God turns into good:
Later that day, I went for a walk and I suddenly felt PEACE. It was a peace that surrounded me and was inside me, an ‘all is well’ feeling. It was tangible, and I instantly thought, Someone has been praying for me.
I had only told two people about the family stuff raring up, both strong Christians, so I assumed it was one of those people, and I thought ‘Oh that’s nice, they’ve prayed for me!’
I continued to feel peace for the rest of the day.
When Bryce got home that night, he asked how I was, and I said, “I think someone’s prayed for me. I actually had a very strong feeling of peace, as I was walking. I don’t know who it was… lalala….” (I chattered away)
…. “It was me,” he said, quietly.
I turned to him, wrapped my arms around his middle, and buried my face in his chest.
Sumites, many years ago I sat on an armchair in my living room self-pitying about the fact I was the one praying for my husband rather than the other way round. Should I have been self-pitying in those days? If I could have seen that moment ahead, I would have had a different mindset …
I am so grateful for the ongoing work God does in my home.
And for now, I’ll say bye. Have a fantastic week ahead, all of you.
Today, I want to share another video from Dr. Sarah Hensley. In this video, she shares how to coach avoidant personalities to meet some of your emotional needs to connect.
In future posts we will look at more challenging relationships, and we will also cover the spiritual component and how much our faith in Jesus affects our marriage, our spouse and how our faith contributes to our emotional health. Enjoy!
I would be interested in what you think about what she shares. See you in the comments. Hugs, Lynn
My friends, we left off on Monday with my husband sitting on a rocking chair, reading my book manuscript, quietly…
This act alone sent me into a spiral of serious trauma. I basically fell into bed unable to function for that whole Sunday. Every now and again I would enter the living room and see him turn a crisp white page and let it fall softly to the ground on a pile.
Finally, many long hours later, the end of the reading came. He looked up and said in a deadpan tone —
“Hmm. There’s a lot about me in here.”
Yes; um yes, there was.
That night we had already planned to sleep in different rooms as I had an unusually early start and didn’t want to wake Bryce. We rarely do this, but it was just as well we did, as we each would toss and turn that night in our own thoughts.
That night I am sorry to say, I shook my fist at God for the first time in my life, and said, “Why did you make me walk through all these things? I just want to be normal. It’s SO HARD. And I cannot publish this book.” I felt bad the next morning for doing that.
The Pair-Shaped Promise is a glorious story. But in that very moment I was ungrateful for it. I was like one of those rebellious Israelites in the Bible who complained. God forgive me.
Meanwhile, Bryce barely slept a wink that night. In the morning when he told me that, he said, “Can you see why?”
I wasn’t sure which part of the book had caused him lost sleep. Was it the miracles and the supernatural? Or was it the things I had written about our SUM life ten years ago?
If I reflect on it now, in reading the book Bryce was introduced to ten years of my spiritual journey in the space of one afternoon. It was like he was seeing inside the mind of a SUMite for the first time.
My friends, I was panicked by having bared it all. Can you imagine?
Bryce is a reasonable man though. Later he hugged me and said, “I’m really sorry it was that hard for you. I actually feel bad about that. I had no idea.” Then he sat me down and asked me more. He said, “There is a reason I didn’t want to go to church, you know.”
I know …
“But this book is your voice,” he said, “and that’s ok.”
Then he said, “You’re a good writer,”
And —
“It was actually quite nice reading about our life ten years ago. Things with the boys… It was kind of sweet..”
I said, “The book will help anyone else who’s walking through any of this stuff. It will help them feel less alone.”
To this he agreed.
So in the end, after a further three weeks of me feeling complex and reluctant I sent the final manuscript to Lynn, saying, ‘Ok, I’m ready for it to be published’. The book’s epilogue contained these words:
“Bryce … is now growing old with me, his hand still holding mine. He has read this book and given his blessing for me to publish it. The story is in my voice and not his. He would tell a different side to some parts in it; but he and I both look back on the crazy memories and hope that this book will help others.”
He is my beloved. My life love and my life partner.
As for you, dear SUMites, enjoy the book, and thanks for all your support.
The Pair-Shaped Promise is available now, on Kindle and in paperback. Order your copy here!
