Happy Christmas Shopping

I had the privilege of taking part in a "Happy" tradition this week. For decades, George "Happy" Irby, a Columbus Club employee, saved his tips to buy gifts for underprivileged kids and needy families in town. When others caught wind of it, he began to receive donations for his fund, and a community-wide charity effort was born. By the time of his death at age 94, the Happy Christmas Fund was supplying over 400 gifts each Christmas. Members of Happy's family partner with Columbus Air Force Base employees and volunteers each year to purchase, wrap, and deliver clothing items to children in need.


When I heard about the effort, I approached my children with the notion of giving up a couple hours of sleep to get to Wal-Mart in time for the 6 a.m. meeting to kick off the shopping spree. They were in! When the appointed day arrived, we all got up, dressed, and headed out the door. After a brief instructional meeting, we set about the task of shopping for nearly 400 children. We were given slips of paper, each with a child's name, gender, and clothing size(s). We picked out socks and underwear and then used the remaining funds (up to $40 per child) to purchase pants and tops. My girls turned out to be super shoppers, and we quickly lost track of how many girls and boys we shopped for. We estimate that the 4 of us took care of shopping for 60-70 of the children on the list.

Within 3-4 hours, all of the slips of paper representing real children with real needs had been processed. Nearly $15,000 had been spent on clothing items. Our feet were hurting, our tummies were hungry, but our hearts were full of blessing for having been used by God to be just one small part of the blessing that is the Happy Christmas Fund: one man, with one vision, undaunted by circumstances, reaching out for over 5 decades to hundreds and thousands of needy children and families. Happy Irby left a legacy of selflessness and sharing so strong that his vision carries on, even after his death.

The Power of One Day

Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere.
Psalm 84:10a

Our entire 2010 has been shaped and affected by one day; on August 2, at the 14th Medical Operations Squadron Change of Command Ceremony, my husband took charge of a group of 100+ individuals at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi. Before that day we focused on leaving San Antonio, and after that day, we were in the process of adjusting to a new life. As difficult as it was to leave a home we loved, repair and pack up a household after six years and move on to an unknown place, knowing that God was with us made it bearable and even beautiful. There was never any doubt in our minds that God was orchestrating the events surrounding the move, yet we continually had to rely on Him for strength, stamina, perseverance, and perspective. Over and over, we had to lay our concerns at His feet: How can we get the house ready for the market? How will we be able to keep it in "show condition"? Will anyone want to buy it or will we have to rent it out? Should we even be trying to sell it since we might be back in SA in a couple of years? What about the asking price? So many questions, so many concerns. In order to keep from being overburdened, we had to lay them continually at God's feet. We turned to Him daily for strength.

Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
Psalm 84:5

As we set our hearts on the pilgrimmage God laid out for us, we gained strength for the journey. Our house was made ready, our things were sorted, packed, and moved. Then our things were unpacked, sorted, and given new spots in our new home. We said many sad goodbyes to friends and co-laborers in San Antonio, but we've met new friends and co-laborers in Mississippi. There are happy effects of moving as well, and God has provided for us in ways we did not expect or even imagine.

For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.
Psalm 84:11

While we may not be blameless, when we walk the blameless path the Lord lays out for us, He bestows favor and honor, and He does not withhold anything we need. I praise Him for that and I am blessed because of it!

LORD Almighty,
blessed is the one who trusts in you.
Psalm 84:12

Recharging in the Living Waters

Like many American families, we spend weekdays and weekends going from one activity or commitment to another. So like many other families, we recently enjoyed a great, fun getaway at Great Wolf Lodge. The lodge has an indoor waterpark, complete with giant slides, fountains, hot tubs, wave pools, lazy river, kiddie play pool, and more. When we arrived, there was a good bit of snow on the ground from the major snowfall that had hit north Texas, but inside the waterpark, the temperature was kept at a steady 84 degrees. It was still a challenge to keep our son Will warm - he tends to turn blue in cool water.
The first day, Will played in the water for 20 or 30 minutes and then went back to the room with Granny to get dressed and warm up. The next day he sat wrapped in towels to stay warm while the rest of us frolicked. Then that evening we discovered the hot tub for kids. Unlike the one for adults, this hot tub was heated to a warm - not hot- temperature and was open to kids. We quickly learned that once Will got chilled (i.e., his lips turned blue), we could take him into the hot tub until his color returned and then go back for more play in the pools. He especially liked the hot tub because he could swim in it (with a life vest on). He also enjoyed visiting with all the other people who were warming up in the hot tub. Once he had a way to get warm, Will did not tire of the waterpark. He went back and forth between the kiddie pool, the wave pool (his favorite) and the hot tub.

His need for recharging in the warm waters reminded me of how we all need to recharge in our Christian walks. Don't we get a bit too cool as followers of Christ sometimes? We get chilled to the point that we just want to sit wrapped in a warm blanket, focused solely on our own comfort. Perhaps our ministries don't seem to be as effective as they should be. Maybe our kind deeds are not warmly received and our fire gets put out. Perhaps there are obstacles in our way, and after running into them time after time, we just decide to give up. Instead of withdrawing, what if we run to the warm living waters of Jesus Christ? We can recharge, refresh, and become vessels pouring out Christ's love to others. Jesus himself is inviting us:

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." John 7:37-38

God is Able

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

How often do you face impossible situations where you see no solution or no way out? Do you turn to God first at those times or do you exhaust your own resources before finally resorting to prayer? We can fully trust that God is fully able to fully resolve impossible situations. Consider these scenarios that attest to God’s ability:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Now the earth was formless and empty… Genesis1:1-2a

God created something out of nothing – not just something, the heavens and the earth – the entire universe!

15 God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her."
17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, "Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?" Genesis 17:15-17
1 Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." 7 And she added, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age." Genesis 21:1-7

God opened the barren womb of an aged woman, bringing laughter where there had been pain for so many years.

9 The Egyptians—all Pharaoh's horses and chariots, horsemen and troops—pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea… 10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD... 15 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground… 21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left…30 That day the LORD saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians…Exodus 14

The Israelites were in an impossible situation: the Red Sea was in front of them and Pharaoh’s mighty army was behind them. There was no way out! Don’t let the familiarity of this story rob you of the impact of the miraculous deliverance of God. There was no way out. Nothing man could have conceived would have saved the Israelites. Nothing nature could have conjured up would have saved the Israelites. It took God – the creator of all things – to cause that which he created to defy its own created properties of gravity, fluidity, and liquidity in order to provide the way out.

Many times I have stood at the figurative shores of the Red Sea with Pharaoh’s army closing in on me. Time after time, as I have given these impossible situations over to God, He has delivered me in ways that I could not have conceived. Time after time I have delighted in His provision of an escape route, which often was a route right through the problem – much like the Israelites’ route was right through the barrier that prevented their escape to safety.
What is your Red Sea today? Do you trust that God is able to provide a way out? Believe, my friend, that He is more than able. Place your trust fully in His full ability to fully deliver you from whatever circumstances are threatening you. And be ready to be pleasantly surprised because His escape route will surprise you, and He will do immeasurably more than all you ever asked or even imagined to ask. To Him be the glory forever and ever! Amen!

House Rules

By wisdom a house is built,
and through understanding it is established;
through knowledge its rooms are filled
with rare and beautiful treasures.
Proverbs 24:3-4

As part of the verification process for foster/adoption of CPS kids, we had to devise house rules to post so that when children come into our home, they will know what is expected of them. We decided to shy away from things like "No jumping on the furniture" and "No singing during meals." Instead, we thought we'd focus on what we should do to create the kind of atmosphere we want in our home. I think we can all benefit from knowing and posting house rules. Then our rare and beautiful treasures are peace and harmony. Here are our rules:


Isler House Rules

Use kind and caring words.

Treat others the way you want to be treated.

Be helpful.

Ask permission.

Clean up what you mess up.

How to Improve Handwriting for Reluctant Writers

I have had friends ask about how to handle reluctant writers, not kids who don't have creative writing abilities, but kids who struggle with the fine motor skills and mechanics of handwriting. I have three such children. With all the technology today and computer correspondence, how important is it to actaully learn handwriting? Typing is an essential skill for our children to learn, and I believe that creative writing assignments can be very effectively done on the computer. However, there is still a lot of value in learning handwriting skills. Think of all the things we do that require handwriting, including filling out forms, writing thank you notes, writing out scriptures for memorization, taking sermon notes, keeping a journal, completing college/job applications, etc.

My advice on how to handle reluctant writers comes from my experience with the Charlotte Mason techniques of copywork and dictation. We devote about 5-10 minutes per school day to copywork. I prepare a sheet in advance using http://www.worksheetworks.com/english/writing/handwriting.html. With this tool, I can choose print or cursive, font size, page orientation, and whether the passage will be copied (above, left) or traced (above, center). I find a Bible verse, a quotation, or a passage from a book using online resources, copy and paste it right onto the worksheet, print it and have the girls spend 5 minutes tracing or copying it to the best of their ability. I use a smaller font size for my older girls who have more experience with cursive writing. The goal is perfect execution, although "perfect" takes on different meanings for each child, according to his or her ability. For my son Will with his extreme motor delays (above, right), perfect is tracing each letter without too much scatter. Because this is a timed lesson, the kids know they only have to spend a very few minutes on it, and they are willing to give their best effort. They usually do not finish an entire passage the first or second day, but they pick up where they left off with the next lesson.

At the end of the week, I dictate the passage and the kids write it, to the best of their ability. Again, perfect execution is the goal, not only for handwriting, but also for spelling and punctuation. Before I dictate, we look at the passage and determine which words might be difficult to spell. I have the girls look these over until they have the correct spelling. Then they look over the punctuation. As I dictate, I say a short phrase only once, and I wait for them to finish writing before introducing hte next phrase. By not repeating phrases, I am cultivating the habit of attention. If a word is misspelled, I erase it and have them try again. Dictation takes only 10-15 minutes from start to finish.

So in just 30 minutes per week, you can improve handwriting and familiarize your kids with scriptures and great quotations and passages from literature. The key is to have short lessons and to strive for perfect execution. It's amazing how this short lesson spills over into other writing. Erin, my oldest reluctant writer, tries very hard to write well when she is copying scripture for memorization, especially because the card goes into a box used by the whole family. She takes her time and tries to form the letters perfectly. But again, the chunks are small enough that she is able to devote the attention and effort necessary to have a good product.

The bottom line is that you can have reluctant writers do as much of their writing assignments as possible on the computer but still improve their handwriting skills with a few short lessons during the week.

Dinner Around the World

Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Psalm 34:8

Our latest adventure was the product of creative thinking and hard work. My daughter’s choir, the Children’s Chorus of San Antonio, had a silent auction last February and when I thought about how I could contribute, I decided I didn’t have lots of money or any particularly valuable items to donate, but I do have time and an ability to cook. So on the auction table went a Dinner Around the World for 8 people, including 5 courses with two dishes at each course and each dish from a different country or region of the world, to be prepared and served by the Isler Academy of Home Learning Adventures. The menu was:

Appetizers: Egyptian Melon Bowl Egypt
Garlic Pita Chips with Hummus Greece

Breads: Honey Wheatberry
Italian Herb

Salads: Bastille Salad France
Bean and Egg Salad Caribbean

Soups: Tortellini Soup Italy
Egg Drop Soup China

Main Dishes: Pork Adobo Philippines
Chicken Curry India

Desserts: German Apple Pie Germany
Cinnamon-Coconut-Swirl Ice Cream Africa

I watched as the bids mounted and topped out at $200, the highest bidder being the owner of a long-established music store in town.

After a few months, we finally coordinated our schedules and arranged to serve the dinner on Nov 7 in the home of the winning bidders, Mr. and Mrs. Flores. My girls and I shopped on Friday and began cooking that night. I spent the entire day Saturday preparing the meal, and there were many great learning experiences along the way.

We learned how to make rose water from our own roses, and we combined it with lemon juice, honey, and crushed mint leaves to pour over the fruit in the melon bowls. The added flavor gave the fruit a zing that was pleasing and refreshing, and so different from anything I’d ever had before!

We used food and herbs we had grown for some of the dishes – watermelon for the melon bowls, basil we had harvested earlier and dried for the Italian Herb bread, mint from the neighbor’s potted herb garden, and rose petals from Erin’s rose bush.

Hannah put her creative touch on the melon bowls, zig-zagging the edges of the melons to create a pleasing pattern.

All of us dressed in clothes from India – borrowed from a friend to add authenticity to our Dinner Around the World.

When we arrived at he Flores’ house, we went to work putting final touches on the dishes we’d been preparing all day. Mrs. Flores had a beautifully set table and fresh flowers were everywhere. I put the loaves in the oven to bake, filling the home with the irresistible smell of fresh-baked bread. I also assembled the German apple pie so it would release its enticing aroma as it baked.

When the guests arrived, they were served the melon bowl and pita chips with hummus on the patio. It was the perfect fall evening in San Antonio for enjoying the outdoors. As they chatted, the girls and I arranged the two salads on the salad plates and invited the guests inside for the remainder of the meal. We finished the Tortellini Soup and starting the Egg Drop Soup. Meanwhile, Pork Adobo was simmering in the Crock pot. Once the salads and then the soups were served, I cooked the Chicken Curry and the rice, and we arranged the main entrée plates with rice down the middle, the tangy reddish-brown adobo on one side, and the sweet and spicy creamy-yellow chicken curry on the other side. As the guests enjoyed the main course, we sliced and plated the still-warm pie and scooped up the cinnamon-coconut-swirl ice cream as its companion. Dessert was served with coffee, of course.

Amazingly, the evening went seamlessly from one course to another. The girls were delightful and charming, and the Dinner Around the world was a big hit around the Flores’ table. The Lord gave me the strength and stamina I needed to spend the entire day cooking and serving, and it was a true pleasure to serve alongside my sweet girls.