April 27

A room with a view

Yes, it’s been awhile. We had a pleasant break for Easter. Because we are teachers and can’t help ourselves, we did spend some time in our classrooms, but it wasn’t as frantic as usual. We journeyed down Hwy 40 to spend a day in Winslow. If you have a chance to tour La Posada Inn, take it. We were given an informative tour by a Harvey Girl and had a fine dining experience at the Turquoise Room.

Our Easter Sunday was capped off by the baptism of four believers at our church. I always celebrate every Palm Sunday as the commemoration day of my rebirth. How wonderful it is for these people to have each Easter Sunday as a reminder of their public commitment to Christ! And another delightful tidbit: one of the dorm dads, who is a committed Christian but had not ever been baptized, was baptized in the Pacific Ocean over the break! Since we have (unofficially) adopted the young people here, we are happy ‘parents.’

Sweet girls.

Coming back after a week at home, the students reported all kinds of violence, murder, and mayhem that had occurred. This past week carried its own stresses. One of R’s boys spent time with the principal for fighting. And one of my girls was sent home for bringing contraband. The unfortunate thing was that other students’ actions precipitated the misbehavior that culminated in the reaction that received the consequence. (I’m not sure that all made sense.) Needless to say, things have been tense in both of our classrooms due to student conflicts.

We had four Spiritual Emphasis Days too—Tuesday:hand-washing, Wednesday: cross carrying, Thursday: nailing burdens to the cross, and Friday: the coming of the Holy Spirit. They didn’t understand the metaphor of carrying a cross, and my girls declared that they wouldn’t give up things (such as family, friends, or possessions) for Christ. But they seemed to take the nailing the burdens to the cross session very seriously. That is where they are. They carry so many burdens in their young lives. In fact, V* in R’s class declares he can’t trust God because he doesn’t see God helping his family. And S*, a fatherless child, has been calling him ‘Daddy.’

Dressing up like a fireman.

As we near the last weeks of school, we are somewhat discouraged that the children haven’t made the hoped-for academic or spiritual progress. Thank you for praying for them and for their ability to learn and retain information. Most in R’s class and two in particular in mine are in academic trouble and don’t have any motivation to turn things around. Thank you also for caring about their spiritual lives. If they are drawn even one step closer to making a commitment to Jesus, the struggle has been worth it.

New books from a librarian friend.