Janet's Blog

It was almost like a Norman Rockwell picture, or maybe even a Thomas Kinkade painting of a softly-lit village.  I'm thinking of Bloomfield, Nebraska, on a Saturday night in the late 1950's. The whole community turned out downtown on a Saturday night.  That was the one night the stores were all open for business, with their front windows lit up so everyone could see what each store had to offer.  The street lights were aglow, and a few neon lights glared in the background, beckoning people to come on in. The smells of cows and cigarette smoke mingled faintly with the odor of hamburgers and fries wafting into the evening air from a nearby cafe.  Empty parking places were scarce, with cars angled into every space that lined both sides of the three-block-long main street; another row of neatly parked cars stretched right down the middle of the street.  There were no stoplights or traffic cops to give assistance, but none were needed.  Saturday night was a nig...

We all have them: t-shirts--at least one or two, or maybe a dozen or two.  Some t-shirts come to us as gifts.  Some function as uniforms for sports teams or jobs. A few are simply souvenirs of places we've been.  Many express sentiments that reflect our interests or passions.   And one person's t-shirts, taken collectively, tell a story about their wearer.  When I was a young child, girls didn't wear t-shirts very often.  I guess t-shirts were considered to be boys' clothes. And even boys' t-shirts were pretty mundane, just plain colored or striped.  But by the time I was a teenager, souvenir t-shirts came into fashion and, from there, the whole t-shirt industry just seemed to explode.  Now, on any given day, 95% of my students are wearing t-shirts.  (For boys, the percentage is even higher.)  T-shirts and jeans have become the universal school uniform for kids of all ages, and the clothing of choice for many adults, too. Not too ma...

Have you ever noticed that sometimes, when we stretch our bodies, our muscles seem to breathe a collective sigh of relief, but at other times those same muscles seem to cry "Stop!" because of the agony that results from lack of use?  At times, stretching our bodies feels so good, but sometimes, it just hurts! I think the same can be true when God asks us to stretch spiritually.  We like to stay in our ruts, doing things the same way we've always done them.  But sometimes, God asks us to try new things.  Sometimes, he expects us to do things that are a little uncomfortable or even just plain hard.  So, when we sense that God is leading us to do something we haven't done before, do we jump for joy, shouting "Oh, boy, it's time for a challenge!" or do we moan and procrastinate and complain that our spiritual lives are stagnant? Sometimes, I think we act like one of my children (who shall remain nameless) who, when offered an unfamiliar food, says "...

In church this morning, like on most Sunday mornings, I took out my smart phone and pulled up the Bible app during the sermon so I could follow along with Pastor Gary's Bible references.  The free Bible application on my phone (YouVersion) is wonderful; with just a touch of my index finger, I can choose any one of 605 versions of the Bible in 369 different languages.  I have a choice of 38 different versions in English alone.  I usually use the New International Version or the English Standard Version because they are both direct translations of the original Hebrew and Greek languages that are easy for me to read and understand. It hasn't been too long since I toted my rather large study Bible to church, but I've discovered that I can find Bible references just as easily on my phone, and I can read the large print effortlessly, without any need for the bright light I read with at home.  I still read one of several Bibles at home, because I like to check the footnot...

Here I am, looking for my most recent blog entry, looking for "July" to show up in the archives and, guess what?  No July!  Where did it go?  Oops.  My last post was way back on June 30th.  How time flies! It's been a busy week, a typical week for early July.  I've been rushing to accomplish my summer list before we start back to school again in six short weeks.  But life just seems to get in the way.  You know, things like Fourth of July celebrations, dentist appointments, cooking, laundry, gardening, and transporting kids wherever they need to go--and running that dishwasher over and over.  It's astounding how fast those dirty dishes accumulate when all four of us are home for three meals every day. I treasure my summers.  Even though I love teaching, I look forward to the change in routine that summer brings, for a chance to spend more time with my family and catch up with home projects that were placed on hold during the school y...