A wise man has great power, and a man of knowledge increases in strength.
~ Proverbs 24:5
Hi James and Ellen –
Grandpaa and grandmaa a long time ago were your age. Your dad and ma were also at one time your age. We all went to school – just as James is doing now. A school’s teachers are to help their students learn about things and about life. There is a book in the Bible called Proverbs which teaches – especially to young guys, how to faithfully live their lives for God. This book also tells a dad and a ma how to raise their kids. This book was written by a man whose name was Solomon. Solomon was probably one of the smartest guys to ever live on planet Earth. A proverb is a saying. When you read one of Solomon’s proverbs, you are to completely accept what the proverb tells you. The chapter that is on the slip of paper that grandmaa drew out last night from the empty ice cream tub is Proverbs 24. Verse 5 says “A wise man has great power, and a man of knowledge increases strength.” The word power here does not mean that there will come a time in the life of a guy or of a gal when he or she will get to have the final say-so in everything. The word strength here does not mean that a guy or a gal will in time become strong. The power that Solomon refers to – which is to have accrued astute wisdom, and the strength – which is to have accumulated erudite knowledge, will come about when there is an ongoing, hands-on pursuit by a guy or by a gal throughout his or her life for the kind of knowledge that leads to an ever maturing wisdom.
Grandpaa and grandmaa are glad that James likes to go to school and that he likes to learn. Grandpaa went to first grade in a rural, one room schoolhouse. There was one girl and no other boys in grandpaa’s first grade class. All the students – from first grade to eighth grade, had to study together in the schoolhouse’s one room. This school was located one mile away from the farm where grandpaa’s dad and ma lived. A mile is like walking fifteen times to aunt Lynn’s house. Grandpaa sometimes had to walk to and/or from school. Would you like to have to walk a mile sometimes to or from school? By the time that school was to start again the next year, the church where grandpaa’s dad and ma were members had built their own school. The school was called a Christian School – which is like the school where James is going to now. Grandpaa’s second grade teacher was his aunt Ag. There were five girls in his class during the seven years that he went to the Christian School. Grandpaa was always the only boy. The church where his dad and ma went to had their kids learn something that is called catechism. Catechism helps a kid know why the church that his or her dad and ma go to believes what it believes. Grandpaa would get together regularly with other kids his age to study the catechism. The church where your great-grandparents were members – except for during each summer, had each Sunday a Sunday School. While he was growing up, grandpaa learned a lot about the Bible from studying in a Christian School, from attending catechism classes and from going to Sunday School. Grandpaa had wisdom cultivated in him to give him spiritual power and knowledge embedded in him to give him spiritual strength. It is good for you, too, to have ways to learn what the Bible says.
Because grandpaa and grandmaa moved a lot during the years when your dad went to school, your dad ended up having to go to a lot of different schools. Ask your dad what going to school was like for him. Your dad did not like to do homework. Because your dad would sometimes turn in a homework assignment late, your dad’s teacher would not give him as good of a grade that your dad could have gotten if he had turned in the assignment on time. Your dad was really good though at remembering what his teachers taught in class. Your dad also liked to read. Instead of doing a lot of reading these days, kids now spend a lot of time watching television or playing games on a computer. When grandpaa was your ages, grandpaa’s dad and ma did not have a television. Grandpaa’s dad and ma expected grandpaa to help them with doing the chores on their farm. Because of what he was taught when he was young and because he learned a lot, it is helping grandpaa today to do what he and grandmaa – as missionaries, are doing. Grandpaa and grandmaa are finding ways to help people who are living in Guatemala to have God’s power and strength. There are kids your age living in Guatemala who may only go to school for a couple of years. These kids may learn to read but little else. It is not their fault. There are not that many guys and gals here in Guatemala who have learned how to teach kids. There are even less guys and gals here in Guatemala who have been taught to teach the Bible to kids your age. Grandpaa and grandmaa are helping Guatemalan dads and mas to learn from the Bible. Grandpaa and grandmaa are behind the starting up of a program in Guatemala which has been given the name Programa de Educación Bíblica or PEB. Teachers are found who are willing to stay for twelve days in a town where dads and mas have not at any time in their life had the opportunity to study the Bible. The dads are learning through PEB’s forty modules – each which are taught over thirty hours, how to live their lives and how to teach other guys what the Bible says. While you are growing up, you will learn more and more how you are to live your lives. Your dad and ma will teach you. Your aunt Lynn and uncle Chris will teach you as will your grandpa and grandmaa and your aunt Carrie. You will learn from your friends. You will learn a lot from your school teachers. Your best teacher though for learning from about life is the Bible. Grandpaa and grandmaa hope that you will read and that you will study the Bible a lot – as they know how important the Bible is to them in teaching them to know how to live their lives for God’s sake. The Bible is God’s Words which He gave to you to learn from while you are on planet Earth.
Proverbs 24
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