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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Welcome to Guest Blogger, Emily Hodge!
Hello, everyone……some of you may be getting this for the third time…..for whatever reason, several people have told me they did not receive this blog posting when it was scheduled to go live (a bit after midnight, this morning). Others received it. I reposted it again around 9:45 this morning. Again, some people received it,… Read more
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Pre-Birthday Thoughts, 2020
I initially posted all but the last three items on my Facebook page shortly before I turned 60 several years ago. I’ll be 63 in a few days, so that’s why I’ve added the last three thoughts, along with a couple of other things. Several weeks before my initial posting, I saw a post on… Read more
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Please Help Stop COVID-19 From Spreading!
I read this editorial in my local newspaper, the Johnson City Press on Friday, November 6. In light of the health challenges COVID-19 is presenting and will likely present for quite some time, I asked permission from Sam Watson, the Content Editor, to use the editorial in my blog post for this week. Sam, thank… Read more
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Fall Break and Random Musings
As I write this, on the last Thursday of October, I am reminded of what I called “Teachers Meeting” growing up. All during my school years, and even into my college years at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, the public schools in East Tennessee were closed the last Thursday and Friday of October for… Read more
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Welcome, Cathy Kononoff, Guest Blogger!
Welcome to Cathy Kononoff, my guest blogger for this week. I met Cathy in the spring of 2019 at a Junior League Sustainer Brunch. We quickly discovered we had two things in common: A love of Newfoundland dogs and a love of reading. I quickly invited Cathy to become a member of my book club.… Read more
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Old and New……Tried and True
In the United States, October is National Cookbook Month. As someone who loves to cook, I collect cookbooks. Some of my favorites are shown above. Growing up, I was fascinated by my mother’s love of cookbooks, and her collection of them. She read cookbooks like I read novels! However, she didn’t like to cook. For … Read more
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It Started Out As One Thing……But Ended Up As Something Else!
With the havoc that COVID-19 has wreaked on our households, cities, and country, I am thinking many, and probably most, people will forego their traditional Thanksgiving plans. Those plans that used to be known as “normal”. Part of many people’s traditional Thanksgiving leftovers include turkey sandwiches, turkey salad, turkey casserole, and turkey soup. My suggestion… Read more
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Allergies? Cold? Flu? Maybe COVID-19?
Much of the information in this blog was posted in March of 2020. We have sure learned a ton about COVID-19 since then; I continue to believe that there is much more that we do not know about the disease than what we do know about it. Over the past several days, more than few… Read more
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Welcome Again to Nancy Williams, Guest Blogger!
I can’t remember exactly how I met Nancy Canestrari Williams, but I believe it was thru my good friend, Michele King. I was honored to be co-chair when Michele was chair of the Washington County Foundation, Ballad Health. Nancy and Michele are both delights and I wish I could spend more time with each of… Read more
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W. Andrew (Andy) Clark, PhD, RD, Guest Blogger
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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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