From the Home Place

December 20, 2025

Today’s weather is a bit of a change from yesterday: Yesterday we had brown ground at 4 a.m., today it’s white. Though today will be 38 degrees cooler, the wind will be moving at 54 mph less speed; I reckon that’s a good trade. Once the “ol girl comes alive,” I will be able to put the Christmas lights back up and see what else yesterday’s wind rearranged.

The “ol girl coming alive” is a statement my Uncle Clayton used often. He would look out thier kitchen window just before daylight, when there was just aglow to the east, and comment, “She’s coming alive.” We would then start our day.

When I was at home, there was no such statement, I was told to get my ….. out of bed becasue, “We have work to do!” At my uncle’s, we started to work each morning because we had been given an opportunity, not just a responsibility. Two different views, but they both had an effect upon my daily attitude toward work. One was a have-to, while the other was a get-to.

The work tended to be the same at both places: fixing fence, haying, moving cattle, pulling wells, putting out salt, fixing that which needed fixin’, but the attitude with which the work was completed made a heap of difference. Oh the difference between a get-to and a have-to.

This same difference always shows up on a Sunday morning as well, we either get-to go to church, or we have-to go to church. Which attitude is portrayed around your outfit on Sunday morning? One comes with gentle nudging to get ready and to get loaded up in the vehicle. The other comes with commands and demands to get ready or else! It always seemed that the “have-to” attitude put a damper on everyone’s attitude for the rest of the day.

Perhaps we should look at the example of our Heavenly Father to determine which method He prefers us to use. Out Heavenly Father never shouts and demands that we mature in our faith but instead is always encouraging us to draw closer to Himself, thus maturing in faith. Oh, the difference between encouraging and demanding.

The apostle Paul challenged us to, “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another.” So, the question before us today is this, “Do I tend to encourage and build up?” or “Do I tend to discourage and tear down?” One is a “get-to” the other is a “have-to.”

Just for fun, as Mother Nature begins to wake up this morning, may we each look at this day as a “get-to” instead of a “have-to.” I’m thinking that such an attitude will help our attitude and the attitude of those around us.

In Philippians 2:5, we are told, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself…” If Jesus was willing to lower Himself to help us rise up, perhaps we should do the same for someone else today? The whole process of having a proper attitude seems to begin with humility.

So as Uncle Clayton daily told me, “I reckon we should get out boots on, she’s comin’ alive,” Today, I say the same to each person reading this article. Will you have a get-to, or a have-to kind of day? It all depends upon your attitude. Just remember, attitude is always contagious.

Putting on the attitude of Jesus with you, Neal