Education
“I am intensely in earnest that our people shall realize that the only true education lies in walking humbly with God.
The teachings of the Word of God are opposed to the ideas of those who think that our students must receive the mold of an education that is according to human ideas. Some are departing from the faith as a result of receiving from the world what they regard as a “higher education.” The Word of God just as it reads contains the very essence of truth. The highest education is the keeping of the law of God.”
Letter 132, 1909, p. 4.
--------------------
“Sarah Belden is with me and does the cooking for the family. Byron Belden, her husband, died a few months ago. Marian Davis and Eliza Burnham are my chief workers in the editorial line.
Maggie Hare is editing my articles for the papers. She has not been long in this class of work. She is a young woman of good health, and is highly promising, and appreciated by me.
Minnie Hawkins, who has served at the typesetting and proofreading in the Echo Office at Melbourne for several years, is now being educated to edit my articles for the press. She is a young girl full of health and vigor. The two last mentioned are typewriters. [An early term for typist.] Maggie Hare takes dictation in shorthand, so she reports all my discourses and writes them out.
May Israel is my bookkeeper. She is a young woman of good health. She also writes shorthand. She has reported sermons at our camp meetings, but has had so much of this work placed upon her that it was feared that she had injured her nervous system. But she has since learned better what she can bear. She is also a typewriter, so that we have three machines in operation.
Miss Lucas, a young woman whom I should suppose to be about 26 years old, is my seamstress. Edith Ward, I took out of pity. She was 12 years old when she came to live with me, and is now 14. She is Sarah Belden’s maid, and helps her in the kitchen. Edgar, a boy of about 15, does the chores about the place such as cutting wood, attending to the fires, etc. Mr. Connell is my outdoor manager, caring for the horses and farm work. Harry Hawkins, a brother of Minnie, is a member of my family at present. He is a carpenter, and is very handy.
I have four horses and three cows. Willie has two cows. Sara has a saddle horse. May Israel and Minnie Hawkins also have horses.
Willie has brought his family from America, and has given them a mother. May Lacey, the young lady he married, is a daughter of Mr. Lacey, who married the mother of Harry and Minnie Hawkins. May is a woman whom I love and respect. She is about as tall as, or perhaps a little taller than, our beloved Mary White. Her health is robust, her eyes are blue, her skin is fair, her cheeks are as red as roses. She has an excellent disposition. About three months ago she presented Willie with a pair of twin boys. Thus their family has speedily enlarged.
Willie lives in a house which was built for a convent, but the Catholics could not keep it up, and they rent it to W. C. White. It is a very pleasant house, and has two wide verandas, one above and one below, running around three sides of the house. Willie has six in his family, counting the baby boys. His wife’s sister and Ella White manage the cooking. Ella has gained 25 pounds since coming to Cooranbong. Mabel has gained proportionately. She was not weighed before leaving America. Nora Lacey, her brother Herbert Lacey and his wife, and Mr. Tucker, an old gentleman, board with them. With these the family numbers ten.
Two years ago I came to the conclusion that there was danger in using the flesh of dead animals, and since then I have not used meat at all. It is never placed on my table….. I use neither tea nor coffee. As I labor against these things, I cannot but practice that which I know to be best for health, and my family are all in perfect harmony with me. You see, my dear niece, that I am telling you matters just as they are.”
14MR 328-330
“No man should go out to teach the truth unless he has had training and knows how to use the ability and capabilities God has given him. Now, you would not think of such a thing as going to a man who never worked at the carpenter trade and asking him to put you up a fine building; and so it is in God’s work. God wants you to learn, and the angels will be right by you to impress your mind, and if you will go to the Scriptures as Daniel did, you will understand all God would have you understand.
…..Now let every one of us arm ourselves and work intelligently, just as the carpenter works intelligently at his trade. He cannot work intelligently unless he learns his trade; no more can you. We want to be growing in every sense of the word. O, I love the truth, and I mean to triumph with it. Not only the ministers but everyone can do something. Taste and see that the Lord is good. May God bless you as you go to your homes.
1SAT 118