Lessons Prepared

It was the first day of school in the new year. I had the schedules all printed and lesson plans ready. Calla was still sick and fussy, but I thought I could press through the day. Hollis was awake before Calla and I got up, with her new garden gloves on gathering grass to turn into hay. I don't know why the kids like to "make hay" since we don't have any hay eating creatures, but they've got a few piles of it now. I got a load of laundry started before Simeon awoke, hungry for breakfast. The four of us had breakfast together, and Eris joined us at the end. Meriel was the sleepy-head.

I began the school day with those who were ready. Simeon and I started our new Winnie the Pooh book, The House at Pooh Corner. Then I did lessons with Hollis: Spelling, Math, Reading. By this time, Eris had finished her daily math problems and Meriel was eating her breakfast. I decided to do Eris's math lesson. At the end of her math lesson, the phone rang. "Probably Philip," I thought, "I'll call him back when I finish this lesson."

I finished up, then called for the children to get ready for our "together" subjects which we would do after I got of the phone with Daddy. When Philip answered, he said, "Did you see my Line (text) message?" I had not, so he went on, "There is a tropical storm headed our way, and we need to plan what to do."

So the day changed from the first day of school, to disaster preparation. Now the storm is just a tropical storm, not a typhoon, but the last time one hit our area was sixty years ago and 900 people were killed. I think the government is better prepared this time, but it is still something to be taken seriously. People build shacks right on the beach and do not have enough resources to prepare for a disaster. Our house is solid but is within sight of the sea. Large enough waves with a strong enough storm surge could bring a wave to, and possibly in, our front door.

I called my dad for clarification of terms and advice. Then we began the task of taking all our books, papers, photos, and towels to the second floor. Simeon and Hollis packed books in boxes, Eris carried them upstairs and stacked the books, bringing empty boxes back down. Meriel washed and filled empty milk jugs with drinking water. I scoured the first floor for valuables and important papers to take up. When the first floor was nearly empty, we worked on outside. We gathered spades and nets, buckets and badminton rackets, snorkel vests and floaties to take to the "storage room."

Over a quick lunch of leftover New Year's potato soup (our tradition using the fat and scraps from our Christmas ham), we discussed how this day was not how we thought it was going to be. Meriel had managed to read a chapter of Skylark  which she had been waiting to read since the break started. I had planned for an organized day of lessons; instead all our school books were in piles upstairs.

A friend of Philip's from the university planned to be in Bangkok for the weekend, so she offered us her house on campus. We are now settled in the house with rain drumming on the roof wondering what the next twenty-four hours will hold for us. Will our yard be covered with drift wood? Will our large unbarred upstairs windows be shattered? Will our neighbors houses be blown or floated away? We are thankful to be safe and comfortable with plenty of water and food. How will God use this storm to impact our lives and those around us?

Maybe next week, we will begin school. Or perhaps we will be cleaning our house, helping neighbors rebuild, serving food from our church. Whatever it will be, it will be good. And eventually, we will get to the finish our chapter of The House at Pooh Corner and complete the lessons which have already been planned. Right now, we get to walk the path which God has planned, which is better than any lesson I could prepare.