Janet's Blog

Whenever I walk in my neighborhood, I notice the rabbits. Like most communities, mine has an abundance of bunnies. Some people think they are pests, but I love to search for them as I walk. In fact, seeing a rabbit or two always reminds me of God's presence and his overwhelming goodness. This rabbit sat right next to the path, still as a statue, hoping I wouldn't notice him as I walked by. Forty-odd years ago, Bill and I lived in Michigan where the wind seldom blew, but on those rare occasions when it did, God used the wind to remind me of his presence with me. Here in western Nebraska, it's a rare day when the wind isn't blowing, so I'm not usually reminded of God's presence just because of the wind. But the rabbits, although plentiful, are not constant like Nebraska’s prevailing northwest wind. When I spy a rabbit, with its natural camouflage that makes it blend in with its surroundings, I am often reminded that God is close by, too, waiting for me to notice h...

Last Saturday morning, I went birding with my friend, Vonnie, who is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about all kinds of birds. I've always been excited to watch birds as they flit about from one branch to another, or quibble over a few seeds at a backyard bird feeder, but I can't say that I've ever before gone birding. In the springtime, Vonnie and her parents and kids have been accustomed to taking car trips along Highway 2, between Alliance and Hyannis, just to watch the water birds that frequent the 26 lakes (or ponds, really) that line the road. I wouldn't know how many lakes there are, but Vonnie and her family have counted them. Vonnie's parents aren't healthy enough for birding this year, and her children are grown and scattered across the US and Canada, so she asked if I would like to go with her. Vonnie brought binoculars, and a notebook for recording each type of bird she saw. I brought a telephoto lens for my phone. Vonnie and I had plenty to t...

Victoria was four years old when God brought her into our family. She turned five just one week after she came to live with us permanently. For our youngest daughter, I was Mom #4.   Four-year-old Victoria There is so much I could share about little Victoria. She had a wonderful smile. As far as she was concerned, everyone she met was instantly her friend. She blended into our family extremely well from the very beginning. She loved to sing and dance, and dress up like a princess. She adored her big sisters and their friends, basking in the attention they gave her. She loved our dog, Kirby, and our cat, Libby, and any other animal she ever met. She worked very hard to learn to speak in complete sentences and overcome her developmental delays. Victoria didn't hesitate to call me Mom right away. She was used to bestowing that title on a series of caregivers. Her birth mother, step mother, and most recent foster mom came before me; her new mother-in-law is Mom #5. Her early years had ...

One of the best things about the Internet is the ease of researching anything that comes to mind. The days of pawing through a library's card catalog in search of books and magazines that might pertain to the subject--those days are over. We no longer need to summarize the relevant content and record it on numerous notecards with all of the bibliography information we will need. No longer do we have to spend tedious hours at the library, painstakingly leafing through stacks of written material in search of pertinent quotes. I, for one, am grateful that the Internet has made research simple. These last two weeks have marked the one- and two-year anniversaries of my parents' deaths. I have been told that their last hours were peaceful, because they had entrusted their lives to Jesus. But as I've been mulling over the memories, I've realized that I have no idea what Mom's or Dad's last words were, since I wasn't with them right then, when they took their final ...

  It's tulip time! It's arguably my favorite time of year, when the weather starts to warm up--at least sometimes. The grass turns green and the spring flowers begin to show off their magical colors and alluring aromas. The birds are beginning to sing again. Finally, after months of freezing temperatures and monochrome landscapes, God is showing us again, right on schedule, that he has the power to awaken the slumbering earth and bring forth new life.  I remember the first time I ever noticed the tulips on the farm, when I was about three years old. Mom had planted spring bulbs along the house yard fence. When the flowers began to bloom, she made sure I knew their names. I loved the yellow daffodils, which were the first to bloom, but the red and yellow tulips were absolutely gorgeous! That particular combination of tulips is still my favorite.   I've had some tulips in my front flower bed, right next to the house, for many years. They usually bloom beautifully, although ...

I can hardly believe that this is Blog #500! When I wrote my first blog, more than 13 years ago, I didn't really think about how long I would keep writing blogs, and I certainly never expected to write so many. In fact, I would have never written the first one if I hadn't attended an informative session at our annual winter teachers' in-service training, where the presenter walked us through the process, step by step, so each person in attendance was able to start a blog of their own.  I signed up for that session because I had heard a little about blogs, and I was curious to see if I could use a blog as a communication tool for the parents of my preschoolers. At that time, though, I discovered that our school district would not allow its teachers to use the new technology in that way, so I decided to write a personal blog instead. I was exhausted when I got home after a grueling day of sessions, but I sat down at my computer after supper anyway, and began to write my first...

We don't often stop to think about the light that brightens our days. We take it for granted, expecting it as our right. After all, the sun comes up each morning and gives light even on the cloudiest of days. The moon shines clearly from many nighttime skies, and the stars twinkle brightly even when the moon is absent. And on those dark, cloudy nights, we still have street lights and headlights outside, and plenty of electric lights in our homes and businesses.  I woke up suddenly around 3:00 a.m. yesterday. The stillness was startling; even with the wind rattling the windows, I was aware of the complete absence of normal inside, background murmurings. The darkness was all-encompassing--no night lights glowing, no street lights casting their faint light through our shaded windows. When I picked up my phone to check the time, it lit up immediately, providing the comforting light we've all come to expect. That's when I realized that we were in the midst of a power outage. I r...