Janet's Blog

Have you ever noticed how one event leads to another, and another, all through our lives? For example... Because my Dad was in the Army, I was born at Fort Benning, Georgia. Because my parents grew up in the Bloomfield area, so did I, at least for a little while. Beause my Dad was raised in the Methodist church, so was I, until we moved away from Bloomfield. Because my Dad's parents farmed, Dad did, too, after he left the Army. Because Dad received training to be a company clerk in the Army, he realized he had the skills to do something besides farming. That's why we moved to Norfolk, and Mom and Dad began their venture into the hotel business. Because I grew up in hotels, I lived in a more diverse community than most of my extended family and friends, and learned skills that most kids didn't have. Because we had no backyard, I joined my family in exploring the surrounding parks and countryside nearly every weekend, which inevitably resulted in closer family relationships a...

  D ecember is here at last, this exciting, magical, sometimes overwhelming month we all love. Or do we? December has much to offer, it's true. Even sleepy little towns are busy this time of year with concerts and children's programs, parties and parades. Every main street in the US is decorated. Every store promotes its seasonal sales. Delivery workers are so overburdened that, unfortunately, even enterprising porch pirates have many choices. It's easy to become so wrapped up in the trappings of our modern day Christmas celebrations that we overlook the real meaning of this ubiquitous holiday. Even the word, Christmas , spells out the truth about the season: Christ's Mass was a worship service instituted about a thousand years ago, when Holy Communion was celebrated in commemoration of Jesus' birth. What started as a Christian feast day has somehow morphed into the extravaganza we continue to celebrate as Christmas.  Perhaps you are feeling jaded about life in gene...