Welcome to “As We Serve with Significance”! I try to serve with significance in my community every day, a community which varies from day to day. Yesterday I took food to a friend recovering from surgery. Today I met with my prayer group. Tomorrow I plan to call four friends to wish them Thanksgiving blessings. And so my life goes, as I serve with significance.
One of the significant things no one can escape from is the history of their surroundings. Johnson City, Tennessee, my hometown, is preparing to celebrate our Sesquicentennial, or 150th birthday, on Sunday, December 1.
On December 1, 1869, Johnson City “received its first charter from the state of Tennessee under the name of Johnson City.” (Source: Greater Johnson City A Pictorial History.) Certainly much significant and lengthy work went into that event, well before the advent of devices that would ease the process today.
This is a picture of Henry Johnson, the founder of Johnson City. Thank you to http://www.stateoffranklin.net/ for providing it. And http://www.stateoffranklin.net/ is a treasure trove of great information!
The December 1, 1887 issue of The Comet, the first Johnson City newspaper, reported that “Boston society has promised to read the Bible this winter. Boston fashionables are always looking for something new.” While it’s not a new practice, I’ve tried to read the Bible through every year for many years. And most years, I’ve accomplished that. Certainly the Bible is significant!
In the December 2, 1915, issue of The Comet, the Frank Taylor Store advertised “big reductions on all our Suits and Coats for the next few days”. The store was located at 212 Main Street.
What’s significant to you?
Copyright, November 21, 2019 by Rebecca Henderson
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Continuing to Celebrate Aunt Alice’s 100th Birthday
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Congratulations on starting your blog! I think what’s significant to me about serving others is remembering that it should be rooted, watered, and covered with REAL LOVE. Just as Paul wrote to the Corinthians, we can give all kinds of efforts and sacrifices and words to others, but if our motive isn’t genuine love for our fellow man, it’s all just smoke and mirrors. Too much of the time we offer “service” that is based on manipulation, self-aggrandizement, or obligation (and I’m guilty as charged) instead of actually caring for other people. I pray that, as we follow your blog, God will use your words to let His love well up inside of us, so that we become His fountains of life-giving service!
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