From the Home Place

August 21, 2025

For some reason, yearling cattle seem to be their own critter – kind of like teen age people. Each group is gaining on adulthood, yet a considerable distance from reaching it. They can be mature and yet very immature, independent and needy, steady and wild, all in the same day! Working with both teens and yearlings requires patience and knowing when to hurry them along.

I have watched a herd of yearlings walk along calmly, headed for the gate, when all of a sudden one will beller, jump sideways and take off running. Yep, and the rest of the herd will follow the runaway, just like teenagers.

I can’t tell you how many times I have gathered a herd of yearlings and have walked them quietly to the gate, only to have one or two of them spook at the site of the open gate. It’s like teenagers who want to move on in life, only to panic at the next step of life.

All of this is to say that it’s not always easy to be a young person. I agree, it never has been easy to be a young person getting ready to leave high school and step through the gate that has always provided security. The seniors of this school year are excited and fearful at the same time! Their familiar pasture has helped them to be brave and decided. While their new pasture looks green and lush, it also looks like a vast desert full of pits and wild animals.

So, today, please stop and pray for the students within your local school, especially those who are seniors in high school. The opportunities before them are more abundant than ever before. Also, the challenges before them are greater than you and I have likely ever faced. Their world holds blessings and dangers in the same hand, each waiting for our young students.

May I suggest that we “mature” adults commit to praying for the seniors of your local high school each day. If you know one or two of them personally, perhaps an encouraging card on occasion? Or an invitation to stop by your home for some cookies and a visit. Though they will consider us as “really old,” they still need our love, respect and direction.

After all, I guess a senior in high school and a senior citizen are really pretty much alike, aren’t we?

Encouraging the next generation with you, Neal

Proverbs 9:9 “Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser. Teach a righteous man and he will increase his learning.”