June 20. I could feel the chill in the air before I went to bed last night, saw that the temperature was already down to 56º, and saw the clear, starry sky so I knew it was going to get pretty cold by morning. Went to bed with my bathrobe on and got out an extra blanket too. The temperature was 50 1/2º when I got up this morning. The first thing I did was light the fire. I was certainly thankful for the fire. The house was chilly all morning and first part of the afternoon too. Kept the fire going most of the morning, whenever I had a chance to put firewood in.
It looks like it is going to be another cold night. The sky is still mostly clear. I didn’t go out this afternoon as there was a strong cold breeze blowing.
Several ladies were here around 7:30 for lotu, waiting outside in the sunshine. There were no men. Finally Matthew showed up at almost 8:00. I guess he has no way to tell the time. He called the ladies in and started lotu. The only other man who came (eventually) was Mike. Amos is still sick, and others are still gone. Matthew taught from I John 2:9-11, how that people who say they know God but don’t love their brother are still living in darkness. He made a cross reference to I Corinthians 13:2-7, showing how, if a person does all kinds of other things in God’s name but doesn’t love his brother, the other things he does are of no profit to him.
Then he took prayer requests and had Mike pray.
We started school about five to nine. Bethuel did much better in his spelling today. I think he is finally getting the short sound of “a.” So at the end of the morning, I gave him some words to study with the short “u” sound. This seems to be the other one that he has the most trouble with.
While I was eating dinner, I corrected papers. It was about 1:30 when I went for nap and 2:30 when I got up. Got everything ready for school tomorrow. Corrected their math lessons. Put away their math books and corrected papers. Before supper, I washed out the freezer because it smelled a little sour. Put a bit of lemon disinfectant in to help it smell fresh. Then I cleaned the laundry room. Have been wanting for some time to get at that. While I was cleaning, I let the small bucket fill with water; and I kept filling and emptying it until the washing machine was filled up. So now it is ready for washing clothes on Saturday. Also got the wood stove ready so I can light the fire first thing in the morning.
“12Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. 13But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” Hebrews 3:12,13
June 21. By bedtime last night, the sky had started clouding over, and it was still 60º out when I went to bed so I wondered if it would get cold after all. It didn’t, and it even rained several times during the night. When I got up this morning, the sky was clear, and their was no fog. That was very unusual after a rain. It was 58º.
I was awakened about 2:00 in the morning by the pitter patter of rat feet racing across the kitchen floor and through the office. It took me quite a while to get back to sleep after that. Was having trouble breathing for some reason so finally propped myself up with a quilt and Daddy’s pillow.
Daddy called this morning on Philemon’s phone. Philemon came down with his phone around 7:00. Daddy has had quite a time in town. The lock on the driver’s side of Randy Smith’s car is broken so he is having to get in and out of the passenger side.
There are still no packages from the girls. I am almost completely out of almost all my vitamins. I have already cut off several of them and am just saving them for emergencies. I am thankful that the Lord has helped me to keep feeling fairly well. The books that we ordered from Rod and Staff did come so we are wondering if it has something to do with the post office there in the states.
Got the fire going, had breakfast and quiet time, and worked on the next Bible lesson for school. The kids all came early to play their games, and they seemed quite wound up all morning today. Amos was back for English class today. Was good to see him feeling better although he is not very strong yet. They learned the letter “z” today. I had to remember to call it “zed.” They seem to be having more trouble saying the sound of “z” than any other letter. They want to say the “j” sound for “z.” So we spent quite a bit of time practicing the sound.
This afternoon, I washed my hair. Then after getting everything ready for school tomorrow, I started on lesson plans for next week. If I can get those done ahead of time, then maybe I can work on some other things this weekend.
“18And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? 19So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.” Hebrews 3:18,19