December 21. I was really tired last night and slept hard. Woke up to the sound of rain this morning. It was so warm that I did not even put my jacket or extra pair of socks on this morning. Even Daddy didn’t wear his heavy sweater and long-sleeved shirt. That is unusual for him. The day was very hot and humid. We were thankful for wind and clouds this afternoon. The clouds were high and not too black and did not look like they would bring rain. There is a lot of thunder rumbling in the distance this evening.
After breakfast, quiet time, and walking this morning, I finished putting Pidgin and Owena words on a couple music sheets so I can play and help the school students practice. Daddy turned on the generator for just a few minutes so I could print them out. Then it was time for school. In Bible class, we reviewed yesterday’s lesson and then sang the song “Twelpela Disaipel” which I wrote last evening so they can start memorizing the names of the twelve disciples. We did another short section of the lesson and then practiced music.
We finished phonics class early because I did not want to start a new lesson before the holidays. We also finished English class early after I gave them a spelling quiz and they wrote a little story. So school ended about 11:30 today. They will have two weeks’ holiday and resume classes on January 7. Next week, however, they plan to come at 7:00 each morning to practice music for the special meetings. My, how I wish someone with good music knowledge could come and work with these young people! They love to sing and some of them have lovely voices. Bonita has a lovely soprano voice. Steve has a nice, clear voice although it is in transition right now, starting to change to a lower voice. Graham has a nice strong bass voice, and so does Dallas. And Esau has a strong deep bass voice. Sosthenes has a good voice too. I just wish I had more young ladies so we could have a stronger soprano section. Sunny and Phinehas joined the soprano/tenor section, but neither of them have very strong voices.
For dinner, I fixed mashed potatoes for Daddy and veggie patties for myself, and we had leftover pumpkin. I enjoyed a nice long nap today. I was very tired after a super busy week. After I got up, I had a nice chilled drink of apple/blackcurrant juice. Erisapet’s mother came to get some plastic bags to put her peanuts in that she is harvesting. After she left, Neomi’s mother came by with some uxai and stayed to visit a while. I read to her from John - the corrected version of John chapter 3. When she left, I washed and cut up a popo before getting busy correcting papers and recording grades. Some of the students were quite careless today and didn’t finish some parts of their lessons. Maybe they were anxious for the holidays and were in too big of a hurry to get done.
When the grading was done this afternoon and their books put away, Kristina and children came for a visit. Daniela brought me a little handful of spring onions. Betty was with them. She is home from school in town after completing seventh grade. Will be in 8th grade at the beginning of next year. By the time they left, it was time to fix supper.
“Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” Luke 6:26