From the Home Place

October 20, 2025

Yesterday at church I had a fun visit with a great lady. During our visit she asked that I consider writing about the tin-cup on the windmill tower, so here goes:

If you were blessed to grow up in ranch country, you probably already know where we are headed. Especially on bigger ranches, most of the windmill towers were wooden towers. As such it was easy to run a nail through an old soup can and then drive the nail into a windmill tower a few miles from home and then hang the can on the nail for a drinking cup when you were in that area.

So, imagine with me – A cowboy rides up to the windmill with his trusted steed, on a hot July day, and they are both thirsty. The horse sticks his nose into the tank and begins to enjoy the cool, fresh water. The cowboy grabs the tin-cup nailed in the tower and gets himself a drink of cool, fresh water by placing the cup under the waterspout that is filling the tank.

That is, he gets a good drink if the wind is blowing enough to turn the wheel on the mill that pumps the water out of the ground. But for today, let’s say there is enough breeze to turn the wheel. So our cowboy takes the cup and runs his fingers around the inside of the cup to break lose any dead bugs or a spider web in the cup. He then will let the cup fill half full, empties it out and then he can have his drink.

Here’s the theology: That tin-cup is you, the cowboy is the Lord. The Lord wants to use you to bless Himself or someone else, so He takes ahold of you, and the first thing He has to do is clean out the dead bugs, spiderwebs and rust (sin) so that He can enjoy a refreshing relationship with you.

The cleaning doesn’t hurt the real tin-cup, but when the Lord gives you a good scrub to cleanse the results of past sins, sometimes it can be a bit painful. As such, we usually want to tell the Lord, “I don’t feel qualified for such a use,” or we will tell Him to find a different cup. Either of these responses leave us feeling “empty” and “unfulfilled”(clever use of words, right?).

Anway, allow the Lord to put you where He wants you, even it means being nailed to a windmill tower. When He shows up to use you, willingly and gladly take a good cleansing and then give Him a great, cold drink of fresh water. A drink, that He is known to share with someone else (like the woman at the well).

So be like the tin-cup in the windmill tower.

Waiting to be used with you, Neal