Janet's Blog

As I trudged down to the basement the other day, to wash yet another load of laundry, I glanced at the boxes piled high, and the clutter scattered around, and the cobwebs in the windows, and I nearly shuddered with the thought--this is turning into my Grandma's basement! Not the farmhouse cellar.  That dank hole under the house could hardly be called a basement.  It was just a one-room cellar, lined with shelves of home-canned beans and peaches and jelly.  I suppose the potatoes and onions were kept down there, too.  I seem to remember a sloping, outside cellar door, which opened to reveal a steep, treacherous staircase, without any sort of hand rail, and a dirt floor.  One tiny, cobweb-covered window let in a small amount of light, just enough to find the right jar of vegetables for supper.  I only remember going down into that cellar once or twice, to seek shelter from threatening weather.  It wasn't a place where anyone wanted to linger. Grand...

I remember one church service, when I was a girl, when the congregation was singing "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus," sitting down!   I remember desperately wanting to stand up, hoping against hope that Pastor Bangert would notice his oversight, and stand up.  Then, the congregation would surely follow his lead, and jump to their feet. It didn't happen. Some songs demand that we stand.  However, pastors and worship leaders sometimes become preoccupied with their thoughts, or they become so wrapped up in the act of worship that they forget that they have neglected to instruct the rest of the worshipers to stand with them.  So, the next time you find yourself in a similar situation, when you and the entire congregation are sitting for a song that is best sung standing, I am giving you permission to stand. I know, I know, I don't really have any authority about this.  But, you do.  Just think what might happen if you decided to stand up and keep singing fe...

Why is it that everyone is so anxious to put up the Christmas decorations, but no one wants to help take them down?  Getting ready for the magical Christmas season can be so exciting, especially for little ones.  Putting things away signals the end of the magic and the beginning of a long, cold winter.  It's no wonder no one wants to help. Our Christmas tree is always overloaded with ornaments of every shape and color.  I took the Christmas ornaments off of our tree by myself on New Year's Day.  As I took down each unique ornament, I thought about its origin, where we got it, and who made it or gave it to us. The first ornaments Bill and I ever received were the four hand-painted ceramic ones and three traditional balls that someone gave us as wedding gifts forty years ago. They first hung on the little tree in our apartment just three days after our wedding.  That year, we also started a rather short-lived tradition of buying one ornament a yea...