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SKIPPING GRADES!--A Grandpa Lesson on Patience, Faith & Going Slow!       DO 2425       12/84

       (To 5-year-old Techi:)

       1. You're going to find out in life that it doesn't always pay to skip grades & skip certain lessons that you need to learn! (Techi: Why?) Because the Lord knows you need to learn those grades & those lessons. So you ought to stick to your drawings, because cutting is very difficult, & it's even dangerous & you can hurt yourself! (Techi: My drawing is like second grade & cut-outs is like third grade!) Yes, & you were trying to skip to third grade cut-outs! (Techi: How long do grades go?) In this life Grade One begins in your Mommy's tummy, Grade Two begins when you're born, & Grade Three begins when you're two years old! Maybe we could say school begins when you're born, but I believe it all begins even before you're born! (Techi: But what about System grades?)
       2. System schools begin in the first grade when you're six years old. If we were in the System, next year when you're six years old you would have to start going to first grade in school. (Techi: I'm five years old & I'm doing first grade workbooks!) You're doing much better than that! You're five years old & you read better now than my Junior High school students did in the seventh & eighth grades! I mean it! You kids are as smart as teenagers are in System schools. That's why we keep you home & we teach you, because the Lord's system, His Family & His plan is much better than the System, where they're pretty ignorant!
       3. But you're already so advanced in your studies & in your learning & in your reading & all of these things. For goodness sake, don't try to skip now into something that is much more difficult & too hard for you. It's far better to do things that are easy for you & you know you can do, & not things that are too hard for you. Now there are times when you have to try something new for the first time, but it should be something that you can be pretty sure that you can learn & you'll be able to do fairly easily.
       4. As a boy, Grandpa didn't really start making cut-outs for years because it is very difficult to do, it was very hard for me in school. And writing, oh, I had such a hard time writing! I didn't write very good. (Techi: I had to do my letter to Jael about two times already & now I have to do it a third time!) Well, Grandpa was clear up in fourth & fifth grades & I was still having a struggle with writing. Fourth grade is like being 10 years old, fifth grade 11 years old. So when I got to be 13 I was in the seventh grade, went to Junior High school & there was a very kind manual training teacher, a nice sweet man, & he saw that I had talent for drawing things, so he put me in what they call mechanical drawing, which is architecture--drawing plans of buildings and plans of houses and things like that.
       5. (Techi: I'm better at drawing just flowers.) Yes, some people are best at drawing one thing & others another kind of thing & they specialise in certain things. (David: And you draw good boats & stuff.) (Techi: You draw good, Grandpa!) Well, I don't draw very well, but I'm in a hurry, just sketching it rough, & I know we can send it to good artists who can really draw it. I just show them the positions & where to put it & how to make it look & things like that. (See "Dad's Own Original Rough Sketches & Ideas!") (Techi: That's good that they taught you to learn architecture, because then in the future you would be doing the Heaven Poster. They didn't know but it was for a good reason in the future!)--Yes! I think that's why the Lord called Buckminster Fuller up to Heaven, because he was such an inspired architect & I'm sure he's helping the Lord build the Holy City right now. And you know what? He was one of the most brilliant architects ever! But now I didn't finish my story.
       6. This man taught me how to print! Of course, when I'm in a hurry I don't print very good, but I printed very neatly then & I could print much better than I could write longhand, you know, script. I could print lots better. That's the first thing you children are learning too. (Techi: Actually Davida & David scriptwrite. I just pretend scriptwriting, I go up & down & just do all these funny things, but it's not real.) Anyhow, it's artistic. You're an innovator, Honey, you're probably going to be a designer & think up new things people never did before. (Techi: I can do designs...) Yes, you do, beautifully. Well, let me finish my story.
       7. When I was young in school they didn't teach you printing first like they do today, they taught you script. You had to learn to write script & it was very difficult & I had a very hard time. (Techi: They were like doing the third grade first.) They finally learned that that was too hard for little kids at my age, but they learned that too late for me because I was still struggling along trying to write script in the fourth grade & I was so happy when I finally got to the fifth grade & we didn't have writing any more. I got my poorest grades in writing. But when I got to the seventh grade, when I was 13...(Techi: You had to write again?) No, my teacher helped me to learn to print & print very neatly & nicely, because on your drawings of buildings & housing plans you had to print the titles & print the names of the rooms. Everything was in print form to make sure everybody could read it!
       8. First they put you in what they call mechanical drawing. In other words, you're drawing plans of buildings & plans of houses, & I drew such good plans I won second prize in a contest! (Techi: What did all the others win?) Well, there was just a first, second & third prize. There was a blue ribbon first prize, red ribbon second prize & I think maybe it was a green ribbon third prize. (Techi: You got a red ribbon?)--Yes, with a big stamped seal on my ribbon! Then they put them up all around the school room & they had open house & all the parents came. They went from room to room to see what we had done.
       9. I won first prize with my anopheles mosquito! It was a notebook with illustrations, & by that time I'd learned how to print & I'd printed all the things about the anopheles mosquito. (Techi: What's the anopheles mosquito?) It's the one with the black & yellow stripes, the one that carries different diseases. Thank God we don't have many of those. I've only seen a very few. Watch out for them because those are the ones that carry diseases like malaria, scarlet fever, smallpox & things like that. But I've only seen one or two of them around. Most of them are only little black ones. (Techi: Do they sting you?) Yes, all mosquitoes sting you except the males. The females sting you.
       10. It seems the females are the most deadly of the species throughout the animal world! (David: Even with lions, the old male's first & he really hunts good, but then after awhile, he rests & lets the female hunt.) Yes, the females are the most dangerous. (Techi: I'm not dangerous!)--Yes, you are, because I love you so much!--That makes you powerful & dangerous because the Lord knew I would love you so much you could wrap me around your little finger. All women have power over us men because you're so beautiful & so sweet & wonderful that we'd want to please you!
       11. Who was the most dangerous?--Adam or Eve? (David: Eve!) See, because he loved her so much, he wanted to please her, so he did something naughty. So you've got to watch out I don't love you so much that to please you I...(Techi: Spoil me!) Honey, you hit the nail right on the head! Maria, she really gets the point before I even get to it! (Maria: Yes, she certainly gets the point!)
       12. (Techi: Grandpa was in second grade & the teacher said he should go in third grade because he did so good!) But what did I say? (Techi: You said, no, I don't want to go to third grade because that might be too hard for me, because I'd skip all the other things I'd have to learn before to make it easier!)--That's right!
       13. Well, this is the way it is all through life! See, by the time I got through second grade, then third grade was easy because I'd learned all the things I needed to know for third grade. But all through life if you keep trying to take shortcuts & skip & you think "Well, I'm going to make it easier by not doing all this work to learn this," then you get to the next grade higher & you're going to find out it's so difficult that it's very hard for you to do. (Techi: But I sort of get bored just colouring all day.) Yes, I know, well, you sort of get bored staying in the same grade all year. (Maria: You can read your books.) Yes, you can read, you don't have to colour all the time. You've got beautiful books already coloured for you!
       14. So I want you to learn this: If you try skipping lessons and grades in life, you'll find the next grades up and the next lessons are going to be very hard for you! Savvy? (Techi: What does "savvy" mean?) It comes from the Spanish word meaning "do you understand?" So it's a lot easier to say "savvy" than "do you understand?" "Do you un-der-stand" is five syllables, but "savvy" is just two! OK, do you understand the lesson I'm trying to teach you? Let's give David a chance to recite this time. (David: You're trying to tell us that we shouldn't skip second grade, or the colouring, that we should learn our lessons really well now. There are so many things in that grade that we need to learn, that if we go on to the next grade or lesson without learning the first one, then it will be much harder for us.) Yes. Now, Techi, be still & listen!
       15. My Mother used to say, "Don't leave school till the bell rings!" (Techi: What does that mean?) In the old-fashioned schools, even modern schools, you stay so many hours a day & then the bell rings & you get out of school. In other words, don't try to rush things up & skip grades & run off from a lesson God is trying to teach you until you learn it! Do you understand? It's not going to make it easier for you if you skip, it'll make it harder for you!
       16. I did skip one grade, half a grade later on. (David: Because you knew it?) No, I was supposed to go into the first half of the ninth grade but they didn't have the first half in the Wheaton Academy. It wasn't so hard for me to catch up in History & things like that, but I had to study on my own a whole half a year of Algebra. That's a very complicated mathematics! I had to study it on my own out of the book till I caught up with the rest of the class, & that was very hard for me to do!
       17. (Maria: See, when Grandpa went into the class they were already halfway through the book & they were going further through the book every day, but he had to go to the very beginning of the book & learn the first half of the book that the others had already learned.) I had about a couple of weeks to catch up with the rest of the class. Dear old Dean Schell handed me the book & said, "Here, Dave, you're a smart boy, you make good grades. I think you can learn it! Study it & catch up!" Well, I did, but it made it so hard for me. I was doing all their lessons & all the stuff in other classes & trying to catch up in that at the same time!
       18. And I did that once again when I got to the 11th grade. I was only in the 11th grade & I was two months late to school. They were two months ahead of me in all the classes & all the books & I had to catch up reading all the books to catch up with the rest of the classes, & then on top of it my brother wanted me to finish school that year, so he wanted me to earn enough credits that I would go through the 11th & 12th grades together, same year. (David: The same year?)--The same year, in fact, in less than a year, in only seven months! (Maria: Two years of school in one!) (Techi: Was that the boy who taught you building?) No, he was a really sweet fellow. He was the one who also taught me woodworking. I was making lamps & chests & things. I think Mama saw a long time ago the lamp that Grandmother still had that I had made when I was a little boy. (Techi: What did you make?) A little wooden lamp. (David: Did it have a light bulb?) Yes, of course. (Techi: It couldn't be a light without a light bulb!)
       19. So don't try to go too fast! You know what happened to the hare when he tried to go too fast! He thought he was so smart & he was getting there so fast he could lie down & take a nap, but what happened, Techi? (Techi bounces around.) Now, Techi, stop that foolishness! Now that's just silliness! What happened to the hare? (Techi: The hare was going so fast he thought the tortoise would never catch up, so he thought he could just get a little rest, & then when the tortoise was plugging along, he could go real fast & finish it. But the hare rested so much, he was so tired after going so fast, & the tortoise was just going along & he was almost to the end, & the hare looked & he ran real fast & the tortoise made it! [EDITED: "Sings:"] "The hare never made it but the tortoise did!")
       20. All right, how did the tortoise make it? (Techi: By going fast.) No, the tortoise didn't make it by going fast. How did he make it, David? (David: By going slow!)--Little by little.--Not by running fast like the hare & then getting sidetracked & having problems. So therefore, what should you do? Techi, this is not acrobatics class, this is a lesson class! You're not supposed to be doing acrobatics in it. I'm trying to teach you a lesson, Honey! All right, Little Miss Smart, what is the lesson I'm trying to teach you? (Techi: To go slow.) That's right! (Techi: And not to skip grades when you already know how to do the first one & you just say, "Oh, this is too boring" & go on to the other one which is way too hard for you because you're skipping all the things you have to learn before & that will make it easier when you're older!)
       21. Now, why didn't God make you a full-grown person when you were first born? (Techi: Because He wanted me to learn!) Because it takes a long time to learn so many things that you'll need to know when you're full-grown, right? Do you know how long it takes you to grow up, till you get as tall as you're going to get? (Techi: Grandpa, you have to wait a thousand years!) No, little Miss Smart! Sometimes when people are too smart, do you know what they call them?--A smart aleck! Now don't be a smart aleck! Don't be too smart, Honey! We're talking about serious things, now don't be silly!
       22. Do you want to know how old you are when you're completely mature & full-grown? (Techi: 12 or 13?) It varies with some people, but usually girls mature a little sooner than boys, at about 16. Boys mature at about 18, completely.--I mean when you're as tall as you're going to get & as broad as you're going to get & almost as smart as you're going to get!--Although you keep learning all the rest of your life!
       23. But you need to take it easy & learn grade-by-grade & lesson-by-lesson & go slow & learn it & you'll find that makes it easier in the end! (Techi: Grandpa, what will be my fourth grade?) Well, I don't know, I think you're past fourth grade already in your reader. You're very good at reading, you're as good as a Junior High School student in reading! (Techi: Oh, reading is easy as pie! That's probably zero grade for me!) (David: She's talking about like first comes colouring, then comes cutting.) (Techi: No, first comes reading, then comes colouring, then comes cutting.) Well, that's about right for you, that's true. But I have known some big full-grown boys who didn't know how to follow the words!
       24. (Maria: It took you awhile to learn to read, Techi!) Yes, it took you awhile & you're still learning, don't act too smart! Techi, don't act too smart, you don't know all the words yet. You've still got lots of words to learn. (Techi: Like encyclopedia. Do you want me to spell encyclopedia?) (Techi spells it.) You only missed one letter. That's terrific, Honey! You're a very smart girl. So to be that smart, you know, that's knowledge. Techi, listen. But the most important thing to learn is wisdom! Do you know what wisdom is?--That's how to use it! Knowledge is what you've got in your head, wisdom is how to use it, & that comes from the Lord! All the wisdom comes from above.--Jam.1:17.
       25. All right now, Techi, I know you're listening, but do you have to do acrobatics at the same time? (Maria: David has the wisdom to behave & be quiet while Grandpa is talking.) He listens & he learns. Techi listens & she learns, but for some reason or another she has to do acrobatics at the same time! That's better now, you're quiet. You'll listen & you'll listen better & learn more. All right, let me see what you learned, Techi. What is knowledge? (Techi: Wisdom.) No, knowledge is not wisdom. Now see, you missed it because you were doing acrobatics. David, what is knowledge? (David: Knowledge is the stuff you learn from school books, like Writing & Math, but wisdom is to know how to use your knowledge.)--Right! To use it in a wise, good way that will help you & other people!
       26. What is knowledge, Techi? (Techi: The things that are in your head.) And what is wisdom? (Techi: How to use it!) That's right! (Techi: I knew that before when I got knowledge wrong.) Oh, is that right? (Maria: You were just fooling around so you couldn't remember, huh?) See, you missed the question. How can you give the answer when you don't even hear the question?
       27. Let's see if David can recite today's lesson! (David: Well, if you go slow, then you get there quicker, & not to skip things in life but to learn every little thing so the next lesson will be easier for you.)--That's right! It will be lots easier if you go slow & learn each thing as you go along & not try to go too fast & skip over things. You don't learn how to be a certain kind of artist overnight, it takes years. Did you see the ballet tonight? Well, it takes hours & hours of practice & years & years! Those girls don't learn that kind of dancing overnight. It takes years to learn how to dance like that! But you girls, because the Lord gives you knowledge & He gives you wisdom & skill, I think some of you are already dancing maybe even more beautifully than the girls who learned all the formal steps & motions, because yours are inspired!
       28. So let's remember, go slow, & it'll be easier if you go slow! But if you go too fast it will be very hard. So don't try to go fast & skip things, Techi. It's better for you to go slow. Just think, it took Grandpa 50 years to find out what I was going to do & learn all I needed to know to do it, because it was going to be a very big job to start a whole new Family, a whole new religion in a way! (Techi: That is wisdom, to know how to use it.) That's right, but it took me 50 years! (Techi: How long is 50 years?) Ten times as long as you are old!
       29. See, at my age you learn that you've got to really go slow; you can't go fast because you're not strong enough. I shouldn't have been doing certain kinds of work like I've done for the last few weeks while we're getting settled, lifting refrigerators & doing all kinds of crazy things. I worked too hard & I strained my heart, & now my heart is very tired. Yesterday it was really hurting so I had to slow down, take it easy, squeeze instead of jerk & try to catch up. Only I'm trying to catch up backwards. I'm trying to slow down & go backwards a little bit to catch up. I'm trying to get the rest now that I should have gotten sooner. So let's pray. I think David is the tiredest so he can pray first so we can get to bed!
       30. (David: Dear Jesus, thank You for this lesson about going slow & taking time & learning all we can, & not to go too fast & skip things in life! That really taught us to go slow & to slow down & do every little thing right & not to skip things. Please bless us all tonight & especially Grandpa, Lord, bless him & bless his heart. Help it not to hurt. Please help him to go to sleep right now, Lord, & wake up early & refreshed or in Your time in the morning. In Jesus' name. Amen. TYJ!) And Techi. (Techi: And help us to have a good night. Thank You for the good lesson & please help us to have a good day tomorrow & to be good kids & also to have a good day, in Jesus' name, amen.) Do you want to pray for Him to help you go slow? (Techi: And please, dear Jesus, help us go slow.) Amen, Lord, please help. Go ahead, Mama.
       31. (Maria: Thank You Jesus for these good lessons that Grandpa sacrificed his strength & time to give to us! Help us to take them seriously & soberly to heart & to do what they say, not just hear with our ears, but also put them into practice, Lord, & do them in our actions too & show that we learned the lesson & we learned some wisdom too about how to apply it, Lord. So help us all, Lord, & reward Grandpa for putting Your children & Your Work first & make him feel lots better & continually stronger each day as he tries to rest more & not overdo. And give us all a good night's sleep, & Thy children & Family everywhere, Lord. Keep us all in Thy care, in Jesus' name. TYL!)
       32. And help the children to learn these lessons of patience & faith, Lord, to go slow & to believe that You're going to teach them eventually & not try to hurry too fast through life, because at least if you go slow, you get there! But if you go too fast you might crash, & if you try things that are too difficult you may not make it! Help them to realise they've got lots of time. If they don't learn it here in this life, they'll learn it in the Next. They've got all Eternity to learn it!
       33. We know that Techi is in a hurry to try to catch up with the older children, but help her to remember that she's not as old as they are & she cannot expect to ever catch up with them, really, because they'll always be a little bit ahead of her. So help her to just be satisfied & content & patient with where she is at & the fact that she is a lot smarter than lots of other kids in the System & far ahead of them at her age, to be thankful for that & not be in such a big hurry to try to learn too much too fast & try to do things that are too difficult for her. Sometimes we do have to try to do things that are a little bit hard, but help her not to try to tackle things that are too hard, even hard for adults, like cut-outs. But we ask Thee to give her wisdom & help her to learn her talents & what's best & what she can do well & easily & enjoy, like reading, Lord, & colouring & many other things, the work she does in the house etc. David, too, Lord, thank You that he's older & getting wiser every day.
       34. Help them to realise that knowledge is not everything! It's better to know how to use what little you have than not know how to use a whole lot, like the System. The System has got so much knowledge but they don't know how to use it. They're just using it to destroy each other. But perfect wisdom comes from above, from the Father of Lights.--Jam.1:17.
       35. So we thank Thee, Lord, for Thy Godly wisdom which comes down from above & teaches us how to use our knowledge to help ourselves & others! Bless & keep us tonight & give us a good night's sleep, in Jesus' name. And help Techi not only to learn to go slow, but to be content & satisfied & patient about going slow & not try to rush fast, because it makes it too hard for her when she comes up against a hard situation & then she gets frustrated because it's so hard for her. She's tackled something that's too hard & then she gets frustrated & cries because she can't do it, when she has tackled something that children her age aren't supposed to be able to do! So help her not to worry about mistakes, but to be very satisfied & thankful & contented with what she is & what she knows & what she has learned & what she can do!--And not to get all upset about all the things she can't do yet. Help her to be patient until she learns!--In Jesus' name, amen!
       36. Amen, Sweetheart, I love you! See, Grandpa had to learn this very same lesson this past week. I tried to rush ahead & do so many things & get so much done till I went too fast even for me, too fast for this old body. I've got a strong motor up here but on kind of a worn-out chassis, kind of a weak body. God bless you, David, good night, sweet boy, I love you!
       37. Now you learned a lesson tonight! And if you'll keep that lesson in mind you won't get so frustrated sometimes because you can't do something. You're not supposed to be able to do those things. Remember the doorknob? It was too high for you, I shouldn't have asked you to do it. (See No. 1141.) But sometimes you tackle things yourself that are too hard for you & you shouldn't try it.
       38. OK, now how about tackling getting in your bed? That's one of the hardest things there is for you to do. But Honey, do you want your Grandpa to live a little longer? Well, then you have to help me go slower, & one way you can help me go slower is by getting in your bed & going to sleep so I can get in my bed & go to sleep!

       
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