From the Home Place

December 28, 2025

We have a whopping 6 degrees at 3:30 a.m., headed for a blazing 20 as today’s high reading. Couple that with a stiff 25 mph wind and you get “Man, it’s cold out there!”

On this last Sunday of 2025, I would like for us to visit about the power of positive parenting. In Psalm 127:3 we read, “Children are a gift from the Lord.” Today, I would like to remind parents that those gifts are to be enjoyed for the rest of your life, not just for a little while. You as a parent have been entrusted by your Heavenly Father to invest the rest of your days helping every child in your home realize their purpose in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 127 also reminds that children are “like arrows in the hands of a warrior.” Being someone who enjoys archery, I know that the arrows I release from my compound bow tend to go where I aim them. When one of my arrows misses its target, it isn’t the fault of the arrow. Yet in humanity, godly parents can do their best to accurately launch their arrow, only to discover those human arrows have a free will, often choosing to miss their intended target. God’s first children in the garden, missed their target, or did they?

I do know that the promises of God’s word are always true. I also know that humans have a free will that tends to follow worldly logic, instead of Godly wisdom. God gives us His truth, and then He allows natural means to take place. Because we live in a broken world, bad things are going to happen. Remember, when our children do bad things, it does not make our children bad. Good often falls to the spear of evil.

You see my friends, think of what this world would be like if it were not for the godly parents who do point their arrows in a biblical direction. When one is blessed to attend a church like Miss Deb and I get to attend, and you see all of the amazingly beautiful children walking with Jesus because of the examples of their parents, one has to step back and proclaim, “Thank You God for the parents who are launching Christ-centered arrows into this fallen world!”

Christian parents, continue to aim your arrows well. May I encourage you to train up your child in the way God has made them. Because your child is a “gift” of the Lord, be sure to train your child in the wisdom of the Lord. Help them to recognize the difference between the knowledge of this world and the wisdom of God. Help your children know that they too, will leave their mark upon those around them, making this world a better place to live. Please, train up young men and women of great biblical influence, as those who are different so that they can make a real difference.

Parents, I commend you for your hard work, and for your dedication to God first and foremost. I commend you for pointing your arrows directly at a Christ centered bullseye!

So, as you take your little arrows to church this morning, set a straight track form them to follow. And by the way, thank you for allowing us old people to have a few moments of influence with your little ones. Such a kindness is a special gift to us, and we pray that our love will be a special gift to your children.

Helping you aim your arrows well, Neal