Janet's Blog

As I sit here watching the snow fall--again--I am amazed at this year's winter weather. Normally, January is our driest month, but not this year. In fact, it has been reported that this has been the wettest, snowiest January in the Scottsbluff area in all of recorded history. That’s 130 years! The ground has not been totally snow-free since early December. And the streets! Let's just say that the city appears to have already used up most of its snow removal budget for this winter. Out of town trips have been treacherous, requiring much advance planning and weather watching. Roads have often been closed. Even when the highways are passable, black ice and ground blizzards have made travel a challenge this winter. Last week, when I rode with a friend to an appointment in Cheyenne, we were grateful to have picked the best travel day of the week, with only one sketchy stretch of road. Headed home from Cheyenne, through the Wildcat Hills. Here in the Nebraska Panhandle, it seems like...

Merry Christmas! The trees have been up and decorated since the end of November. The presents are piled high. The lights are shining brightly inside and outside of our house. This week's blizzard brought enough snow to last until January, so our Christmas will surely be white. And, most important of all, we are ready to celebrate the birth of our Savior, who is with us still, through life's ups and downs. This has certainly been a year of ups and downs. Here are a few highlights (and lowlights): I am glad that my vision is good enough for me to drive back and forth across Nebraska. The beginning of the year found me making that trip more and more often, to visit Mom in the nursing home, and to help Dad make the transition from home to assisted living, and then to the the nursing home, where he was able to share a room with Mom for the last days of his life. It was a privilege for me to spend so much time with both of them at such a difficult time, and to be with my brother and ...

Levi and Victoria helped me decorate our house for Christmas last week, as they usually do. Levi carried the tubs of decorations up and down the basement stairs, to and from the storeroom, helped me set up and decorate both of our trees, and handled most of the outdoor decorating himself. Victoria set up both nativity sets. We've done it this way for several years, although this is only the second year Levi has decorated outside without Bill's help.  As we were decorating, I noticed just how much stuff we have accumulated these last 48 years. 48 years!  48 years ago, Bill and I were finishing the semester at our respective colleges, before he graduated and we got married just a few days before Christmas. We chose to forgo a honeymoon, instead opting to spend our first few days of married life getting settled in our new apartment in Lincoln. We had been gathering together the furniture we needed--a neighbor of Bill's folks gave us a gently-used double bed mattress, his grand...

As we were gathered together today with family and extended family, enjoying a few appetizers as we waited for our magnificent Thanksgiving feast to begin, my son, Levi, decided to compose a brief Thanksgiving poem. He did some quick research on his cellphone, and wrote the poem in orange pen, in his usual hard-to-read handwriting, onto the "I'm thankful for..." banner that our hostess, Libby, had prepared for the kids to write on. Levi has a natural affinity for poetry, as well as a genuine love of history, so today's poem seemed to be easy for him to write. Anyway, it didn't take him more than a few minutes. I have become used to deciphering his handwriting, which usually includes very little spacing between words. (That's why much of his written work is completed on his laptop.) So today, with Levi's permission, and in the interest of readability, I have transcribed and slightly edited his poem for you here: 401 years ago was a meal that 3 days lasted. ...

I love summer, but by the beginning of September, I am ready for a change. I always anticipate the end of 100 degree days. I look forward to crisp, sunny mornings, and glorious, golden Cottonwoods, and steaming hot cocoa after a cool hike through the countryside. Since I was a little girl growing up in northeastern Nebraska, I've loved to swish my way through the fallen leaves and breathe in that unmistakable aroma of fall. And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. Genesis 1:29 If all falls were like this one, autumn might have to be my favorite season. But, alas, in recent years, western Nebraska falls have been so fickle. I can certainly do without measurable snowfall and frigid temperatures in September and October. This is the first year in quite a while that early snowfall hasn't pulled down the leaves before they even have a chance to change color. I am so grateful that my...

Every day, since the beginning of this school year, I've been hearing the bells and outdoor speakers at the high school, just a block away, and I've realized something: for the first time in 35 years, I don't have a child in any local school. It is definitely the end of an era! Bill and I have had kids living at home for almost 40 years. We are a little closer to being empty nesters, but Victoria still lives with us, and Levi will be here often, as well, for a while yet. Encouraging our adult children, no matter where they live, and providing the emotional support they need, will always be an important part of our lives. 👍👍👍👍 It's been just three weeks since we moved Levi into his dorm room at Frontier School of the Bible, 39 miles away in LaGrange, Wyoming. He hopes to become a youth pastor, so this is the first big step in his journey. He is enjoying his studies, but the total change in routine has been challenging for him, so I'm sure he would appreciate your...

It was the day after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade, returning abortion regulation to each of the 50 states. Emotions remain strong on both sides of the abortion controversy. In fact, I was surprised to find Facebook posts from two of my friends, one a relative, and the other a former co-worker, each basically stating the same thing: "If your beliefs about abortion don't match mine, you are not worthy to be my friend. Unfriend me on Facebook immediately!"      The interesting thing about this is that these two people, who both claim to be Christian, are on opposite sides of the abortion debate. I did not unfriend either one.  When did people stop trying to truly communicate with each other? When did people stop listening to each others' viewpoints without retaliating viciously? When did things shift in our country, to the point that so many people are unwilling to associate with anyone whose beliefs are different from theirs in any way? In a world where...