From the Home Place

December 29, 2025

Greetings! I trust you and your family enjoyed a great day of worship and fellowship yesterday. Miss Deb and I sure enjoyed the morning with our church family. Then in the afternoon we were blessed to have a great visit with the young couple who are planting a church in Baggs, Wyoming. They could sure use your prayers and support. Planting a new church from scratch is a very difficult task, yet the Taylor’s are attacking it head on.

As I read the poster below, I was challenged in my spirit to visit with parents, grandparents and “adopted” grandparents about the flood. Put your family in biblical times during the flood; would your family members have been on the ark, or not? Can you imagine what it was like for those parents at that time to watch their children disappear under the flood waters? The horror those parents had to feel as they tried to hold their little ones at a higher point than the parents themselves were, yet to no avail, all were swept away by the flood. All of those parents were just trying to make a living, a living they and their children died for.

Now, let’s shift to today. Parents, we probably are all guilty of trying to give our children a “better childhood” than we had. However, perhaps it is time to stop and ask, “Was my childhood really all that bad?” Oh, for sure, every generation has troubles of its own, however that does not make your childhood a bad one. You see my friends, every generation of children grow up in their time. The good and the bad of every generation, all mixed together, to make life what it is, or was, during that time.

So, today’s parents are attempting to give their children “more & better,” just like the parents of past generations did. Yet, we must sooner or later stop and ask the question, “When is enough?” Today’s children are caught in a flood, much like the children of long ago were. Today’s flood consists of information, wealth and availability. Yes, I’m suggesting that many children of today will be swept away with faulty information, while others drown under debt or under having too much, and yet other young people will disappear under the flood by their want for everything that is available. And once again I ask, “When is enough, enough?”

For many parents it is a constant struggle to get their children shuffled from activity to activity, while other parents struggle with trying to get their young person to show an interest in something other than electronics. Let’s admit it, parenting is difficult, and it always has been.

Satan and his crew have forever been quick to tempt children to always want more. More activities, more stuff, more attention, more adventure, more… Yet it seems to me that a major part of parenting is to help children learn contentment, the ability of being grateful for what I do have. Yesterday, at church, I had a great visit with a gentleman who grew up on a ranch much like the one I grew up on. During our visit, he reminded me that we were “very blessed” to get to grow up when, where and how we did, including all of the difficulties we had to deal with. You see my friends, we were two grown men visiting about contentment. Help your young people learn to be grateful for what they do have. That means they learn how to take care of what they do have, satisfied with where and how they live.

Now, let’s back up just a moment. A few paragraphs up the page I mentioned that today’s children are under the flood of information, wealth and availability: much like the generations before them. Yet, from the time of the biblical flood to today’s flood, children naturally want more, and parents feel obligated to provide it – often increasing the flood waters of drowning in debt and business. All of the time, ignoring the one source of salvation for the children and their parents – a genuine relationship with Jesus.

Back to the biblical flood, it appears that most of the folks who were busy trying to give their children everything needed to survive, failed to make sure their children were on the ark provided by God. Are we really any different today? Let’s admit it, the possibility of your child getting to play pro sports is almost nonexistent. But the probability of your child spending eternity in heaven or hell is an absolute 100% guarantee!

Parents, grandparents, adopted grandparents, what will make this generation of children different than all of the generations before them? – A majority of today’s parents making sure that their children will be on the ark of redemption provided through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ!

Working with you to make sure your children will be on the ark, Neal