Janet's Blog

It's been 50 years since the first Earth Day burst onto the scene. 50 years! I remember the first one, because all of the students at Fairbury High School were allowed to wear jeans to school that day (!) and we were dismissed for the afternoon, assigned in groups of three or four to pick up trash in a particular part of town. I was with two or three other Freshman girls, working along Highway 136, just a couple of blocks from where my folks live now. It was a gorgeous, sunny, spring day, a perfect day to walk and talk to our friends as we worked, interrupted only when a passing motorist stopped to ask for directions to Highway 72. (As I recall, Carla, the most outgoing one of our group, informed him that we had no idea where to find Highway 72, since none of us were old enough to drive.) The trash we picked up that day was a little different from the trash I pick up when I walk in Gering now, five decades later. There were plenty of candy wrappers then, and way too many ciga...

I was seventeen or eighteen when our traveling ministry group sang at a nursing home in Oklahoma or Minnesota, or some other state on one of our three-week-long journeys. I remember seeing a sign that stated "Today is the First Day of the Rest of Your Life." Another popular sign urged the residents, and perhaps the staff, as well, to "Bloom Where You are Planted." Our Traveling Ministry group, Wheels of Faith . Pictures like this make me grateful for recent, digital photography. I don't know why I hated those signs, and their implied meanings. They make perfect sense now. But then, I probably thought they didn't really apply to me, since I was sure I had my whole life ahead of me. Perhaps it seemed like it was asking too much for nursing home residents to do anything meaningful with the remainder of their lives. Or, maybe, the signs just seemed like clichés, even then, when the sayings were new. Now, I know differently. I've had an active ...

I love Easter, and everything it brings. I love dying Easter Eggs with my grandkids. I love to watch them find hidden eggs outdoors on Easter morning, or inside when the weather doesn't cooperate. I love gathering with our extended family to celebrate with an elaborate meal and fancy china. I really love gathering with my church family to worship together, to celebrate Jesus' resurrection. I love to hear the sound of a full congregation, lifting voices together in harmonious praise of our glorious God, who took our punishment, and then rose again on the day we commemorate as Easter Sunday. None of those things will happen this year. Because of our COVID-19 social distancing guidlines, we will be forced to celebrate Easter differently than we ever have before. Levi, Victoria, and I may dye a few eggs, if they want to. We plan to hide some candy-filled eggs in our yard on Friday, before the predicted snow arrives this weekend, and watch from a safe distance while the grandki...