It was rainy most of the morning today. As a result the school kids were in most of the morning. I was pleased that a number of them already know their Bible verse almost perfectly. Almost all of them can recognize their tokples names. For recess they played with lego type things, blocks, and puzzles. They all did much better today in their number formation in math class. I will have to determine how to set time limits, as several of them are very slow. We had our first discipline problems today. Several of the boys would not stop being silly in English class. Discipline is not fun, but necessary now and then.
Late getting to dinner today as I had the teachers stay and help me put all the puzzles back together. Apparently they had not had practice doing puzzles before so it took a while. Consequently it was 2:00 before we got to nap and 3:00 when we got up. Serah arrived about that time. When she left, I gave her some baby things to take to Seron (Epekio’s sister). She had a baby girl early Tuesday morning.
Wan and Tomas worked a bit today. Wan did some more patching up on the roof, as there were more leaks in the laundry room. He also got pieces of ooqdi ready for the schoolroom window frames. Tomas helped Daddy put boxes of books in the living room benches, and helped him make bookshelves in Connie’s room.
There were lots of interruptions this afternoon so it was after 8:00 this evening before I finally got everything ready for tomorrow.
April 2. The Lord gave us a warm, sunny morning. As a matter of fact, it got quite hot by mid-morning. And even after the clouds and rain came up this afternoon, we still sweated. It took quite a while for things to cool off. Must have been quite humid today. The children remembered the food for their teachers.
Three of the children — Sosthenes, Jocelyn, and Manila — said their Bible verse today. They have until Monday to finish memorizing it. The first two said it before the class. The class clapped for them. Manila tried saying it before the class, but forgot it. Sosthenes has a very quick memory and said his word perfect. Mailin, Tania, and Lilian asked the rest of the questions this morning for the children to answer. There was a little time left so we played a little game called “Is It in the Bible?” I had everyone stand, named some common items, asked individuals one at a time if the thing I named is in the Bible. If they got it wrong, they had to sit down. Sosthenes was the last one standing so we clapped for him.
Tokples class went a bit longer than usual. We did a lot of drill, and did another paper, this time having them trace and draw using straight lines.
I was thankful for a nice day for them to go outside for recess. They really love the jump ropes. Daddy went out and showed them how to play with the Frisbees.
We learned the 20 family, and number 2 in math class today. I tried to set time limits for their worksheets so they wouldn’t be laboring over the work.
I made English class a little shorter since we had gone longer with tokples. I was pleasantly surprised at how well they did today, and the boys did control themselves much better today. At the end, I divided them into two teams, laid pictures on the counter of tired children, sick children, happy children, and sad children. I called the kind of child for them to find, and the first person in each line had to find a picture to match and bring it to me. Then that person went to the end of the line, and I called something for the next two to find. They had fun, and team one won with 9 correct pictures. Team two had six correct.
After school, I made lamburgers for dinner. Had made up the patty mix last night. Had also prepared uxai this morning. So we had that for vegetable, plus leftover greens.
It was going on 2:00 again before we got to nap. I didn’t sleep that well as there was apparently a mosquito making a pest of itself. I got bit twice on the arm, several times on the legs, and once on the bottom of the foot.
After nap, Daddy put up some shelves in the bathroom above the toilet. That was a blessing, and we now have a place to store toilet paper and tissues, with room left over. Then I organized books on the shelves that Daddy and Tomas had made in Connie’s room yesterday. So I was thankful to get some cleaning done. Before supper, I worked a bit on grading today’s school work, and did more afterward.
It was raining hard this evening when it was time for the men to come, so there are only five men here working on translation.
"He answered him to never a word." Matthew 27:14
He had never been slow of speech when He could bless the sons of men, but He would not say a single word for Himself. "Never man spake like this Man," and never man was silent like Him. Was this singular silence the index of His perfect self-sacrifice? Did it show that He would not utter a word to stay the slaughter of His sacred person, which He had dedicated as an offering for us? Had He so entirely surrendered Himself that He would not interfere in His own behalf, even in the minutest degree, but be bound and slain an unstruggling, uncomplaining victim? Was this silence a type of the defenselessness of sin? Nothing can be said in palliation or excuse of human guilt; and, therefore, He who bore its whole weight stood speechless before His judge. Is not patient silence the best reply to a gainsaying world? Calm endurance answers some questions infinitely more conclusively than the loftiest eloquence. The best apologists for Christianity in the early days were its martyrs. The anvil breaks a host of hammers by quietly bearing their blows. Did not the silent Lamb of God furnish us with a grand example of wisdom? Where every word was occasion for new blasphemy, it was the line of duty to afford no fuel for the flame of sin. The ambiguous and the false, the unworthy and mean, will ere long overthrow and confute themselves, and therefore the true can afford to be quiet, and finds silence to be its wisdom. Evidently our Lord, by His silence, furnished a remarkable fulfillment of prophecy. A long defence of Himself would have been contrary to Isaiah's prediction. "He is led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth." By His quiet He conclusively proved Himself to be the true Lamb of God. As such we salute Him this morning. Be with us, Jesus, and in the silence of our heart, let us hear the voice of Thy love. —Morning and Evening