From the Home Place

January 31, 2026

It’s 18 degrees at 4 a.m. reaching for 52 this afternoon. That should soak a bunch of this snow into the ground, a beautiful gift from God.

With the snow and ice on roads this last week, there have been too many multi-car pile ups. It usually begins with one car going out of control, running into another vehicle and the two into others, and then others into others, until there are many cars piled up in one massive wreck! That’s how time goes by as well.

It is amazing how the seconds turn into minutes, minutes into hours, hours into days, days into weeks, weeks into months, months into years, and years into a life lived. Here we are looking at the end of another month, the first month of another year.

Yesterday morning, Miss Deb and I were visiting about her Bible study concerning the end of time. Though neither of us fully understand every detail, we both understand enough of the biblical information to know that there will be a time when time will end.

We humans are rather strange critters. Each of us tends to live as if the Bible isn’t really true, in that we live as if time is going to march on forever. We even live our earthy existence like it will go on forever, but it won’t. Every one of us has a limited amount of time, which goes by way too quickly. This is what we call the cycle of life.

As I wrote yesterday’s article, I thought of the men, and women, who have had significant impact upon my life. Those people whom I once called friends, yet they are no longer involved in my life on a regular basis. Some have passed, some are still alive, but most live in another place, at another time. We were once very close, but now seldom have contact with one another, yet they have left a positive impact upon my life.

I remember many people from when I was a small child. Their cycle of life has been completed, yet the impact of their life upon my life is being lived out. As I live my life, some of their impact upon my life is now impacting the lives of those I live among, until my cycle of life is completed. It is impossible to know how much of that which those past friends of mine will have impact upon future generations, but there will undoubtably be some lasting impact.

As such, today, I encourage each of us to live our lives for the long-lasting impact they will have upon not only today’s generation, but also upon future generations. You see my friends, we do not have to be alive, walking on this ‘ol ball of dirt to have a positive impact upon several generations still before us.

With all of that being said, today does matter. In fact, if we leave a positive impact upon the life of another this day, we could quite possible “live on” for quite some time through their life. And that my friends, is the impact of a life lived on purpose! God has given us one opportunity to string seconds into years, so every second counts. After all, it usually only takes a few seconds to impact another life; either positively or negatively, our choice.

Let’s take our little analogy a little further: A word becomes words, words become a sentence, a sentence becomes a conversation, conversations become impactful statements upon another life. Perhaps we should choose our words wisely? I know I sure could improve in this department!

So, with all of this, I wish to encourage each of us to be mindful that we each have only a few seconds, and only a few words, to leave a generational impact upon someone else. May we each choose our words carefully, investing our seconds into the future, by leaving a positive thumb print upon the life of those around us.

Living forward with you, Neal

Psalm 100: 5 – “For the Lord is good: His mercy is everlasting. And His truth endures to all generations.”