Listen, O heavens, and I will speak;

hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
Let my teaching fall like rain

and my words descend like dew,

like showers on new grass,

like abundant rain on tender plants.

Deuteronomy 32:1-2

San Antonio is a dry climate, especially compared to Houston where I grew up. And this summer has been especially dry. Twenty-five of the last 30 days have been without rain, and the remaining five days yielded only 1/4 inch of rain. In that same time frame, we've had 23 days of temperatures above 100 degrees, and the lowest high in the other days was 95 degrees. Stage 2 drought restrictions are in place, meaning our use of water for landscaping and car washing is extremely limited. Even our carefully chosen xeriscape plants (high heat tolerant and drought resistant) are struggling.

Day after day we've been starting out in the upper 70s, hitting the 100s by 2 p.m. or so, and gradually cooling back down. The kids and I have modified our schedules so any gardening or outside work or play is done early in the day, then we sit inside where the air conditioning keeps us comfortable - that is until that inevitable time of day when our aging a/c unit can no longer cool and needs a break. We turn it off and let it rest for a while before turning it back on. This is the rhythm of our summer. We also have been swimming more, although we have to wait until 4 in the afternoon so we don't get overexposed to the sun.

It is so hot that yesterday, one of my daughters burned her bare feet as she walked out to the mailbox. This is a child who rarely wears shoes and who endures the ubiquitous stickers in our yard. But her feet were no match for the hot driveway yesterday. Even though she soaked them in a mop bucket filled with water cooled by an ice block, she still had difficulty walking on them. Another daughter checked our indoor/outdoor thermometer and exclaimed, "It's 108 degrees outside and the sky is cloudy!" (Disclaimer here: The thermometer reads high by 5 or 6 degrees in the afternoon because of its placement under the cabana eaves where heat tends to intensify at that time of day. Anyway, it was certainly hot!)

When I heard "cloudy", I felt an excitement and looked up the weather radar online. My excitement grew to great heights when the radar show rain - significant rain - heading our way! We all literally jumped for joy! It was another hour or two before the rain hit, but when it did, there were thousands of happy NW San Antonians! We got about 2 inches of rain in a couple of hours and people did not seem to mind getting soaking wet. In fact, some people purposefully stood out in the rain so they could feel the refreshing rain pouring down.

As I watched the rain falling from the sky and felt it wash over me, I kept singing the Todd Agnew song - "Hallelujah, Grace like rain falls down on me." For me, living in this dry climate has caused me to think of rain as a true blessing from God. I never cease to be amazed at how God's outpouring of rain so far exceeds man's humble attempts to water the landscape. In just a few minutes, God's rain quenches the thirsty ground far more than a day's worth of man's intricate sprinkler systems.

Just as God's showers refresh the ground, so His outpouring of grace and love refresh the thirsty soul. I think sometimes we are like the people in a parched land, hoping for relief, when we don't realize that God is just waiting to refresh us with His goodness. Will we stand ready, with outstretched arms, ready for His downpour?

I will proclaim the name of the LORD.

Oh, praise the greatness of our God!
He is the Rock, his works are perfect,

and all his ways are just.

A faithful God who does no wrong,

upright and just is he.

Deuteronomy 32:3-4

Promotion Day

Her husband is respected at the city gate,

where he takes his seat among the elders of the land. Proverbs 31:23

Some would say it was 13 years in the making, but I believe it was a lifetime. In 1996, my husband began his Air Force career as a Captain, and after serving as a Major for 6 years, he was promoted on July 31, 2009 to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. There were about 70 people in the standing-room only audience as Chuck was not only congratulated but also honored - honored for his service, and, more importantly, honored for the man he is: loyal, dedicated, hard-working, productive, innovative, and caring. What a privilege it was for me to witness the praise given him and to know that it is because of God's favor bestowed on him that he is viewed so favorably by others.

The kind of character that is my husband does not develop overnight. It is shaped and molded from the time of birth, influenced by parents, peers, siblings, circumstances, teachers, and by the Holy Spirit of God. It is tried and tested, tweaked and transformed, bit by bit until we are called home to glory.

I have had the awesome privilege of watching that character develop for the past 19 years. I have the delight of living with this man who is so highly favored. I know him better than any other living person, and I love him dearly and enjoy him immensely. Is he perfect? No, but he is perfect for me.

One of the great things about Chuck is his humility. On February 16, 1991, he got down on one knee and asked,"Will you marry me and be my wife?" He had no idea how prophetic his words were as I accepted his proposal and began to change my identity from "Miss Independent" to "Mrs. Isler". I have found more joy in giving my self away and serving Chuck and our children than I ever would have found trying to please myself. Serving a humble man is a pleasure and a privilege.

In humility and love, Chuck once again bowed his knee - after being commissioned to a higher rank - so that his children could take part in pinning on his new rank. Rather than having them struggle to get to his level, he humbled himself, going down on one knee so he could get to their level and they could thereby share in his glory. Great men do that. They give up their power and position to come down to the level of those around them. Chuck learned this from the greatest man who ever lived.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Philippians 2:5-8

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