Eighty is Great

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

Proverbs 31:30

Eight decades ago, a remarkable woman came into this world. Of course she was just a baby then, born of humble beginnings to a sharecropper and his wife in rural Loiusiana just months before the start of the Great Depression. She grew up poor, walking miles to school, helping in the fields. She excelled in school and went on to nursing school, leaving her rural life behind. She not only gained a nursing degree, but she also gained a husband and began her adult life as a working mom to the six children born to her over the next 17 years.

I am incredibly blessed to be one of the children (#5) born to this woman, my mother, Doris Lewis, aka Granny.

My mom has taught me more about serving others and giving sacrificially than any other woman I know. She also has taught me how to work hard, how to create things, like meals and clothing, with my hands, and how to be there when others need help and support. She has taught me to be thrifty and sensible, faithful to God, and loyal to my family - even when they let me down.

Her children arise and call her blessed.

Proverbs 31:28

I am only one of many, many people positively impacted by my mother. At her surprise 80th birthday party, we listed the things we love about her. The list was long and heart-felt, and even the newest members to the family (by marriage) had incredible things to say about her. Nineteen of the 27 people at the gathering would not exist if it weren't for my mother, and my husband insists that although he is not her descendant, he wouldn't exist without her either.

I thank God for a godly mother and the direct impact she has on my life and the indirect impact she has on everyone that her children and grandchildren meet because of her influence on us. The wisdom of her life well-lived inspires me to humble myself before God and be used for His glory, not for mine, to find joy in the simple things, and to be content with what I have.

Many women do noble things,

but you surpass them all.

Proverbs 31:29

Kitchen Repairs

Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones,

ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;

worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.

The voice of the LORD is over the waters;

the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters.

The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;

the LORD is enthroned as King forever.

The LORD gives strength to his people;

the LORD blesses his people with peace.

Psalm 29:1-3, 10-11

I just love the way God is in control of our circumstances and our lives. We returned from a trip over the July 4th weekend to find that our downstairs was flooded from a leaking water filter at the kitchen sink. We came home on Monday instead of Tuesday because I remembered the girls had orthodontist appointments Tuesday morning. Since we cut our trip short, the waters were confined to the tiled areas and the garage. We used a wet-vac to get the water up. It was about an inch deep in some parts of the kitchen. Even though the water traveled down the hallway and into the library/school room, it was confined to the half of the room where we do not have any books stored. It stopped short of the stairs leading down to the living room where we have a laminate floor, although we later noticed the floor buckling from moisture that traveled down the wall. As Chuck and I were cleaning up the water, we felt so blessed to have come home and found the flood when we did. We were able to stop the leak by simply turning off the cold water valve under the sink until we could get a plumber out to change the fitting.

When the insurance adjuster came, she quickly but thoroughly assessed the damage, wrote an estimate, and got us on our way to getting the cabinets and drywall repaired. The cabinet guy came yesterday and removed the all-wood faces from the cabinets and took measurements so he can build new cabinets to match the uppers. My kitchen is in disarray, as the before and after pictures above show, I have family coming to visit in one week, and my living room floor is scheduled to be removed tomorrow so the slab can dry out, but I know that God is in control; He sits enthroned over the flood, He gives strength to His people, and He blesses us with peace - no matter what the circumstance.

The Tiniest Peach

He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Psalm 1:3

When we bought our home in San Antonio 5 years ago, there was a peach tree in the front side yard. It takes effort to care for this tree in our drought-prone climate, as it is not close to the house or to a frequently-used water faucet. In fact, the tree has died, twice. On its third incarnation, our daughter Erin claimed it as her own and began to take personal responsibility for its care. At times, she needed to be reminded to water it, and at times she left the water running as she got distracted with other things. But her individualized care for this fragile tree finally yielded fruit - one, lone, tiny peach (pictured above in Erin's hand). She picked the peach yesterday and proudly brought the fruit of her labor inside, asking who wanted to eat it. I quickly volunteered. I took one small bite and my mouth was FILLED with the sweetest, best-tasting peach I had ever eaten! My reaction was so great that each of the girls wanted to try it, and we took turns sharing the tiniest bites from the tiniest peach. We all agreed that there had never been a finer peach. Its taste stayed with me for a long time.

How like this peach is the fruit of the Holy Spirit! When we regularly water the tree God planted within us, it yields sweet fruit - fruit that others want to taste, fruit that we cannot keep from sharing, fruit that brings lasting results. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control spill out, enriching and enhancing the lives around us. Let's wash our lives with the water of the Word of God today and fill our homes with the sweetness of the fruit of the Holy Spirit!

Today's Adventure: Grocery Shopping

I do most of my grocery shopping at the commissary, taking advantage of one of our many military benefits. It's a 20-minute drive to the store, so I only go every other week or so. In order to maximize my effort, I have created a shopping list that includes the items we purchase, arranged by aisle. I go through the list and check off the items we need. I also have my coupons organized by aisle. Usually I look through the coupons before I go and pull out the ones I am most likely to use that day. When I check an item on the list for which I have a coupon, I place a "C" beside it to remind me that I have a coupon for it.

I also have on the checklist items I typically buy at HEB - tortillas, soy milk, some store brand or generic items that are cheaper there. We pass by HEB on our way home from anywhere, so it makes sense to go there for the items we need in between trips to the commissary.

Some might say Wal-Mart is cheaper than HEB, but I have found that any trip to Wal-Mart encourages buying unnecessary non-grocery items because they are so cheap. Well, those inexpensive, unnecessary items add up to a lot of money needlessly spent.

Others like shopping at wholesale clubs, buying items in bulk. Whereas this might make sense if you have a large family, I believe buying in bulk really just encourages consuming in bulk, whether it's food, paper goods, or whatever. Also, the wholesale clubs sell lots of unnecessary items that people buy up because they are "such good deals".

Smart shoppers only spend money they already have, buy just what's necessary, splurge when they've saved money for it, and use cash so they can feel the impact of their purchases. let's be smart shoppers today!

Adventures in the White Mountains

I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 121:1-2

In June we sought refuge from the Texas heat in the White Mountain Wilderness near Ruidoso, NM. After dropping Will off at camp, we drove most of the night, arriving to the very chilly mountain air and quickly donning our fleece. We slept in our car until 7 a.m. or so and after a great camp breakfast, we drove to the trail head and started our hike. Our girls had never backpacked, so we went at a nice slow pace and Chuck and I carried more of the weight to give them easier loads.

A couple of hours into our hike (mostly uphill), we started to feel raindrops. Before we could get our rain gear secured on our bodies and our packs, it was raining fairly steadily. We continued on the trail, hoping for a break in the rain and looking for a good spot to set up camp. Every spot we saw was both too close to the trail and too close to the water. After another hour or so with no flat ground away from the trail, we settled on a spot too close to the water and too close to the trail, and we pitched our tents. It had stopped raining, thankfully, and the girls were happy playing at the stream. (It's okay to get wet when you decide how wet you want to get, I guess.) Their laughter and joy created a harmony with the babbling stream that made the uphill journey in the rain worthwhile.

We had rice & beans for dinner, and then Chuck and I put all the food in bear bags - bags hung high enough that bears cannot get to them. We weren't so much worried about bears, but we have had other little critters (mice, squirrels) get to our food. We had seen a little mouse at the campsite and just did not want to chance losing any of our eats.

We sat around and told stories until dark and then settled in to sleep. I have a very hard time sleeping well on the ground so I woke up frequently. I saw lots of stars in the narrow slice of sky that could be observed from our spot in the ravine. I was thankful that it did not rain again in the night. I was the first one up in the morning so I decided to walk a bit further down the path to see what the trail would be like. Not thirty feet from our tents I saw a pile of FRESH bear scat. I wasn't sure it was bear scat but I knew it wasn't from an animal in the deer family and it was much too big to have come from a dog-sized animal. As I went along, I noticed rocks the size of melons that had been overturned. This continued for quite a way up the path. Since bears are known to overturn rocks to hunt for bugs and since bears have large scat, I had to conclude that a bear had passed VERY close to our tents while we slept. Nothing was disturbed in the campsite and the food was untouched.

He will not let your foot slip—

he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

Psalm 121:3-4

We had a leisurely breakfast and the girls went back to the stream while our clothes and gear dried out in the sun that had peeked over the mountain ridge. We loaded up our packs and headed back out on the trail. Our goal was to make it to the ridge and join with the Crest Trail, but about half an hour into our hike, we felt raindrops. This time we donned our rain gear before we got too wet, but it was to no avail. The rain was so heavy and steady that we eventually were soaked to the skin. We couldn't even find sufficient shelter under the giant trees. We dropped our packs near a potential campsite and ate lunch in the rain.

We huddled together until the rain let up a bit and then we headed, packless, up the trail to see how far we could get. We passed through an old growth forest and saw more evidence of bear - claw marks on trees. We climbed over, under, and around numerous trees that had fallen across the trail. We pressed on. Chuck knew my heart's desire to get to the top and he was committed to helping me reach my goal. But alas, the trail became too difficult to travel or to find and by 3 pm the rain had started again so we returned to our soggy packs to set up a soggy campsite.

Chuck managed to prepare dinner while Erin held out her rain pancho over the camp stove. Then he persisted until he got a campfire going, using the camp stove to ignite kindling and blowing like crazy until the pile finally caught fire. We warmed ourselves and tried to dry out our clothes, jackets, socks, and boots. We stoked the fire and enjoyed its heat until the sun went down and we turned in. Hannah said she heard a bear in the night. The next morning the sun teased us, but by 9:00 it was raining again. We were so besodden that we decided to hike out a day early.

The hike downhill was much quicker, and we made one last stop at the stream the girls had enjoyed so much. Chuck and I reclined on a giant boulder and listened to the sounds of the stream, the girls, the birds, and then we watched the sunny sky become foreboding. We strapped our packs back on and practically ran the last 10 minutes to the car, arriving just in time to load up our gear and ourselves before the downpour began. This time we had the luxury of watching it from the shelter of our trusty van.

The LORD watches over you—

the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon by night.

Psalm 121:5-6

Chuck was still committed to getting me to the top, so he drove us about 20 miles to a spot just 5 geographical miles from where we had been. From the Monjeau Lookout, we could see the mountains shrouded in clouds. The Park Service Ranger told us the rains, which usually come around July 4th, had come early this year. Great for them, but not so great for us. It was 55 degrees and spitting rain when Chuck and I set foot on the Crest Trail, only walking a hundred yards or so, but dreaming of the day we could return and really enjoy these mountains.

We left the rain and elevation behind and drove to Carlsbad. Despite the girls' protests about sleeping in the tents again, we camped at Brantley Lake State Park. Within minutes of setting up the tents, they were dry in Carlsbad's hot desert climate. We draped the rest of the gear over a rock wall and it was soon dry as well. Whereas we had only seen evidence of wildlife in the mountains, here we saw an abundance of actual wildlife - jackrabbits, roadrunners, skunks, lizards, tarantulas, but nothing as big as a bear! We enjoyed a sunset dinner and took a night hike under the expansive sky. The millions of stars felt near enough to touch. We saw shooting stars and satellites moving across the sky. Despite the threat of skunks that had been sniffing around our tent and of creepy crawlies that we'd seen scurrying about, we slept in tents wide open under the stars.

The LORD will keep you from all harm—

he will watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore.

Psalm 121:7-8

Blogging - A New Adventure

Every day holds a new adventure if we are willing to find it. Today my new adventure is blogging. After years of being encouraged by my sweetie to blog, I have finally taken the leap into the cyberworld of sharing my thoughts, views, inspirations, joys, and pains in my very own blogspot. My prayer is that you will be encouraged and God will be glorified through this blog.