40 Days & 40 Nights
July 23, 2007
It sure seems as if it has been raining 40 days and 40 nights! But, we have had breaks here and there, thankfully. It hasn't been constant but it sure has been persistent. With the localized rain that we have been having, it is easy to see how 40 days and 40 nights of constant rain over the entire earth, would bring about a catastrophic worldwide flood! The rain we've been having is minute in comparison to Noah's flood. And yet, it has had a big impact in our local area.
Saturday morning around 1 a.m. it started raining ~ again. It rained hard and it rained into the mid-morning hours. We were very thankful that we are located on high ground and boy, were we thankful for our tent!!! But, high ground is often surrounded by low ground where the creeks will rise when it rains. And, boy did the creeks rise!
We had no way out so we canceled our Saturday plans and had an at-home family day of rainy-day activities. We did some indoor clean up, played Scrabble, shopped on eBay and took naps. Then we watched some flood news which showed our neighboring town of D'Hanis and a portion of Hwy 90 under water. They reported 50 rooftop rescues that Saturday in D'Hanis as the Seco River overtook it's banks as it hasn't done since 1935. Again, we were thankful that we are on high ground. The momentary inconvenience of being flooded in by impassable roads wasn't as big of an inconvenience as being flooded out by water in our house (er ~ trailer and tent) and having to be rooftop rescued! (now THAT would be interesting! A rooftop rescue from a tent. Maybe it would be a treetop rescue : )
Here are some photos of our wet-weather creek.
This is the one, above-ground bridge we travel over to head north towards Bandera. Normally, this is dry. On Saturday, the water was rushing over the bridge carrying with it tree branches, logs and debris, making the bridge impassable.
This is the ground-level water crossing we travel over to head south towards Hondo. This is the same winding creek that the above-ground bridge to the North crosses, just a mile or so downstream. This photo is taken on the north side of the crossing. If you look carefully, you can see a smidgen of the road out on the other side of the water. When this creek runs, you know it has been raining hard in the Hill Country north of us.
This photo and the next are photos of the creek in-between the north and south crossings, our two ways out. This creek bed is usually dry. Wow! The sound of this rushing water is loud.
The waters subsided enough so that we were able to get out and go to church on Sunday. The road north was a mess but we were able to travel it slowly. There were still several roads closed and the rivers were at highs that we've never seen. They are a beautiful gift of God's creation.
And God said: "This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." And God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth."
After experiencing all this rain, we are very thankful for God's promise to us to never flood the entire earth again. The rainbow is a beautiful token of this promise.
Texas Rain Clouds
July 18, 2007
With the rain comes some spectacular clouds! Clouds remind me of the majesty, power and glory of God.
"While He yet spake, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, 'This is my beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him."
And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight."
"For the Lord, Himself, shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." I Thessalonians 4:16-17
"Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen."
"And, then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." Matthew 24:30
Angels
July 18, 2007
On Sunday, Scott Brown preached on Acts 27. Verses 23-24 finds Paul saying, "For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, Saying, fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee." Mr. Brown elaborated on angels and said that sometimes we have angels standing beside us as this verse indicates. Hebrews 13:1-2 says, "Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."
On Tuesday, God sent me an angel, literally. I made a run to the quarry to get a load of limestone. Very mindful that we've had 7 flat tires in the last few weeks, I was going v e r y s l o w and watching my trailer tires very carefully. Then a couple of miles from home, I noticed little rocks flinging to the side of the road coming from the area of the trailer tires. This wasn't normal. As I rounded a curve, I could see the rear trailer tire was low. Sigh. Flat trailer tire #8. I slowed from my already s l o w pace to a couple miles per hour. I was by myself, had no cell phone reception and it was farther than I wanted to walk in the heat of the day to go get help. The trailer has 2 tires on each side so I could still move forward. I just risked ruining the flat tire and popping the last good tire on that side due to overload from a v e r y heavy load of limestone. After assessing the situation, I decided to keep moving forward at a couple miles per hour until I could get cell phone reception and call home for help. But, alas, once I did get cell phone reception I couldn't get anyone at home to pick up the phone. Tempted to get really frustrated, I prayed that God would make the cell phone at home ring, even though, I guessed correctly, that the cell phone was in a portion of the trailer that doesn't get reception. I kept rolling s l o w l y along, trying to call home when I had a fleeting signal.
Our road is a country dirt road that is not traveled by many. After a mile of 2 mph driving, God sent my angel. I spotted a white dually truck heading towards me. As he was driving by he noticed my flat tire and stopped to inform me. I thanked him for stopping and told him I knew it was flat but couldn't get a hold of anyone at home to bring me the air compressor. His truck was a work truck and he had some tools with him. I asked him if he had an air compressor. Would you believe that my angel had an air compressor? You betcha! As he filled my tire with air and we heard the screech of air flowing back out, I knew I'd have to make a beeline down the last mile of road to the driveway where I could unload the limestone.
I asked my angel his name. Would you believe that his name was Angel? You betcha! Angel Modesto and his son David, with air compressor, came to the rescue and aid of a lady in need on a back country road. I asked that God would make our cell phone ring in a no signal location. God didn't answer my prayer as I'd asked or anticipated. He gave me something better than I'd asked for. He sent me Angel and David, and an air compressor. God's arm is never too short. "But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" Acts 4:19.
In a day of few gentlemen, it was a blessing to meet Angel and David; Angel a father who is a gentleman, and David a son who is watching the example of his gentleman father. David, keep watching your father and learn from him and you will grow up to be a mighty man. John 5:19 says, "Then answered Jesus and said unto them, 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do; for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth Him all things that Himself doeth: and He will shew Him greater works than these, that ye may marvel." Thank you for your kindness and wonderful example of a father and son.
I made it home with no air to spare and was able to get the limestone unloaded and trailer unhooked. Thank you God for providing just enough air to make it home.
P.S. It is raining AGAIN!
Texas Rains
July 16, 2007
We heard a saying when we moved here that Texas weather is drought punctuated by flood. We now have first-hand experience that this saying is very, very true.
2006, our first year on the property, was the year of the drought. And, boy, it was a hot summer! We had piles of cut cedars that we couldn't burn due to the burn ban. Ranchers were selling off their cattle as they couldn't feed them. Hay prices skyrocketed. We melted.
2007 came in with a whopper of an unusual ice storm (proof of global warming. I'm sure. Al Gore has some explaining to do with this one : ) And then the rains came a tumblin' down.
We also heard a saying that if you don't like the weather in Texas, then just wait an hour. It changes that fast. We now have first-hand experience that this saying is also very, very true. Texas weather is quite phenomenal! On Thursday, June 28, I took Rick to work at 7 a.m. I ran a couple of errands and left the feed store at 8:20 a.m. and started the 15 mile drive home. It sprinkled on the way, but no biggie. Then about a half mile from home the skies opened up. It went from sprinkles to floods in the blink of an eye. Our trusty van and I sloshed our way home the last half mile. Our driveway was already filling with water but we plowed through anyway. I only had 5 feet to walk to get under the tent entrance, but it was raining so hard that one of the children thoughtfully brought me an umbrella. I was told it had been raining like this for about 20 minutes and the road was already flooded. And, yet, one-half mile a way, it was just sprinkles.
The internet doppler weather has become our friend since getting our internet service and entering this very rainy season. But, it was raining so hard the satellite signal was blocked. No way to check how big this system was. So, I called Rick at work and asked him to check it out for me. It was dry where he was. He had no clue there was big rain out there. His research showed that we had a large cell circling overhead and it was taking it's sweet time moving out of the area. We started having rivers run where we've never seen rivers. Under the trailer, under the tent, down the driveway taking much of our precious limestone with it. Then we discovered the limestone base eroding out from under the trailer tires. As the limestone base made the slope the trailer was sitting on level, this meant a possible several inch drop unleveling the trailer if we didn't take action quick. I yelled at Skylar to get something to divert the water away from the trailer. Callan grabbed a shovel and started shoveling limestone back in under the tires. I called Rick with an SOS.
Rick tried coming home the northerly route as he thought he would have the best chance of getting in that way. But, the creek just off the 173 was 8' deep in water. A nice trouper was sitting there to keep people from trying it. He then tried the southerly route. The water wasn't near so deep, but a large portion of the road was covered 3' in slow water which had deposited a slimy silt on the roadway making traction impossible. He headed back to work and found everyone else had been sent home. He watched the storm via the internet. This amazingly heavy rain kept up for over 3 hours.
Once the rain let up, we went out to survey the damage. Oh, my! The limestone we'd hauled in for the driveway was gone in some areas. The wet-weather creek that runs through the driveway was a rushing river. Cemented in fences were flattened. One foot tall grass was flattened under the rush of the waters. We now had a visual of the amount of water that can run off our hill and through the wet-weather creek areas. We know we have enough runoff to fill a stockpond, or two, or three. We just need to figure out how to build them so they won't break! Thankfully, the trailer is still level and the tent protected us well during this deluge.
We knew it would be awhile before Rick could get home. And he would definitely have to walk through the driveway river to get home. He tried coming home at 4 p.m. He made it as far as the Verde Creek low-water bridge a half mile away. It showed evidence of having been rushing at 6' deep by 80 yards wide. The creek level had come down but was still too high for our little S-10 so he left it by the side of the road and carefully forded the stream on foot, using bushes at the edge to hold onto while he crossed. By 7 p.m. neighbors were able to get their vehicles across. It is amazing how fast the waters rise and then fall.
Our biggest problem due to this rain, other than 7 flat trailer tires in a month due to dirt being washed away from rocks, is the ability to get water transported up our driveway. If the wet-weather creek is running, I don't even try it. But, we were getting low, so the next Tuesday, I decided to head to the Torres' to get a load of water and then park it at the bottom of the driveway. At least we could haul it up in 50 gallon barrels if we had to. So, Galilee and I headed out. While at the Torres' the rain started coming down hard again. I forded flooded streets to get try and get home. The closer to home I got, the bluer the sky. I thought, "No problem! I'll at least make it to the driveway and can then unhook the trailer." Then I came up over the last rise before Verde Creek. Oh, NO! I brought the van and trailer to a halt and sat and looked at the raging white-water creek. The sky above me was blue. The water before me was white. I finally determined that, though I was sooooo very close to home, that I would have to turn back around. I first backed a very heavy, squirrelly trailer up a mile of hill and curves until I could find a place to safely turn around. I then headed back to the Torres' praying that I could get back passed the flooded street I'd just forded 30 minutes before. I met Rick on the road and told him I'd determined it was too dangerous to cross. He sent me on to the Torres' and he went to check it out. We both traversed water-covered roads and ended up at the Torres' who kindly fed us a wonderful dinner as we waited for the creek to subside. We also discovered our 7th flat tire that night. A brand new trailer tire off the rim and full of water. The men were able to get the trailer tire changed quickly and get in out of the elements. Thankfully, we did make it home about 9 p.m. that night.
In our lives, there are seasons of drought and seasons of rain. Seasons of want and seasons of plenty. The Apostle Paul says in Phillippians 4:11-13, "For I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things, I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
The rain has brought us inconvenience, muddy laundry, moldy shoes, flat tires, and flattened fences. But, it has also brought us an unexpected dinner with wonderful friends, beautiful wildflowers, luscious green pastures, and abundant water tables. Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." Do you "love God?" Are you "called according to His purpose?" If so, then you can rest in his sovereign grace that ALL things work together for good, even when we don't understand how or why. If not, then won't you consider your need to be reconciled to Him, love Him and be called according to His purpose, eternally? It is only then that we have the ability to "be content everywhere and in all things" and to be thankful for all His generous mercies, for His mercies endure forever.
