UPDATE: My friend RJ pointed out I hadn’t mentioned chapter 4 was up! Numbers always are problematic for me. That’s why I teach English and not math. I’ve included chapter 4 here.

Bronchitis eased up enough for me to read 42 minutes at a time before my lungs said, “They really want to hear your barking seal impression–here we go!” Fortunately I could splice these very long chapters together with Wondershare. The first I did before stomach flu/eastern virus struck at the beginning of the month, the second last night.

As I read last night, I was again struck with how much Edge and Idumea resemble America today. The government exists only because we pay for it; without us, they are nothing. And our children aren’t their responsibility, they are ours. The Creator/our God has given them to us parents as a stewardship, not to the government. I’m encouraged to see parents standing up around the country to school boards complaining about questionable teaching practices.

There’s an ancient saying that vaguely sounds like a nicety, but is actually a curse, and we’re definitely living it now: “May you live in interesting times.”

I feel deeply it’s only going to get more interesting. We’ll make it through together!