Janet's Blog

Bill was sitting in his kitchen chair after supper the other night when, all of a sudden, the chair collapsed, almost in slow motion, sending him to the floor. His pole vaulting instincts kicked in, and I watched him roll away from the disintegrating chair. Except for his bruised dignity, Bill wasn't hurt at all.  It could have been so much worse. Bill could have hit his head on the brick wall right behind him, but his guardian angel must have been watching out for him, yet again.  As for the chair, though, it was pretty much destroyed--unrepairable, for sure. It will never again serve its designated purpose. Bill checked right away to see if his ill-fated chair was fixable. No one ever expects their chair to give way beneath them, especially a chair that is only a few years old. Dining chairs are usually made to last for decades, or at least, that's the way it used to be. Chairs, like most pieces of furniture, are meant to be trustworthy.  I never give much thought about wheth

From the rising of the sun to its setting,  the name of the Lord is to be praised.  Psalm 113:3 Scotts Bluff was spectacular tonight as the haloed, golden sun set in the west, in the midst of a blushing sky. The cloudless sky had been hazy all day, because the prevailing west winds nudged the smoke from the Colorado fires into western Nebraska's atmosphere.  When I'm outside, enjoying God's creation, it's easy to forget that our world is still in the grips of turmoil. In the last few months, we have experienced numerous pandemic restrictions, and some of us have contracted Covid, or even lost a loved one due to this new Corona virus. Small businesses are struggling; a significant number of workers have lost their jobs. Schools have been disrupted, forcing teachers and students to find different ways to teach and learn. Travel has been drastically curtailed. Social distancing has become the new norm. Over 50% of Nebraska is in the grips of a serious drought, threatening

Last Wednesday, Meagan and I took her kids camping at Lake Minatare, a few miles northeast of Scottsbluff. We like to go for a couple of days in the middle of week, when most campsites are empty. Neither Bill nor Andy are great fans of camping overnight, so they don't mind staying home to work while we are gone.  The day will come when we can no longer fit everyone in the RV, but we have all slept there comfortably this summer.  Meagan is very conscientious about home-schooling the kids every day, even at the lake, and the kids were motivated to finish their schoolwork quickly, leaving them plenty of time to hike, swim, explore, and build sand castles. (They were especially pleased when Grandpa Stan and Grandma Deb brought their boat out the first evening, so the kids could go tubing, but that's another story.) The first morning at the lake, everyone enjoyed building sand castles. The younger kids worked on this big castle with Meagan, while Tobin designed a whole village of sm