From the Home Place

December 1, 2025

Good morning! It’s 1 degree at 3:30 a.m., headed for 34 with a fresh coat of snow. It looks like December is ready to snort in a feller’s flank!

I have a little sister who is five years younger than I am. Sis was sure enough a cute little varmint when she was first handed to our crew. By the time she was three, Sis started going with dad and I to do the morning feeding. We always fed our cows cotton cake to help them keep their flesh during the extremely cold Wyoming winter.

For whatever reason, Sis took a real liking to listening to the cows chew their cake. On a cold December morning like this one, we had a good foot of snow on the level and plenty of big drifts in the pastures, so a feller had to kind of pick his track while feeding. On this particular morning we had to drive back and forth a couple of times to make a track to scatter the cow cake in.

But before we scattered the cake to the cows, I had to wrap Sis in an old blanket and sit her on the tailgate of the pickup. There, I dumped a half dozen pieces of cake in her lap, she picked up one chunk of it in her tiny little hand and waited with anticipation. There were two ‘ol cows who would walk up to her as she held out the prize of a piece of cotton cake, wrap their long tongue around her hand and gently take the offering from her without ever biting her tiny little fingers. Then as the ‘ol gal would stand there and eat her special treat, Sis would look at me and whisper, “Hear dem crunch!” Then she would hand the other cow a piece of cake and we would have to listen to her “crunch” as well. This was our morning ritual that would take several minutes before I could carry Sis back to the front of the pickup where she would warm-up once again while dad and I finished feeding.

Yesterday in Sunday School it struck me that as the teacher I was the one holding out the cotton cake treats to the folks in the room. What a blessing it is to help others see the amazing treats in God’s word! I felt so small and insignificant in that room, kind of like a little girl setting on the tailgate handing out nuggets to her friends.

It’s so fun to see those dear folks get excited about some of the treats the Holy Spirit was revealing to us. I was blessed to get to be in that room and listen to them “crunch” their spiritual food! May I ask, “Did you get your spiritual treat yesterday? How about today?” I’m of the opinion that each time we prayerfully open the Holy Scriptures, the Spirit of the Living God wants to hand us a special treat. I don’t know, maybe He too is thrilled to hear us “crunch?”

Enjoying the treats of Scripture with you, Neal