From the Home Place

February 9, 2026

Here we go again! It’s 37 at 4:30 a.m., headed for 61 for today’s high, with wind gusts that match the high temperature. It looks like cooler and windy on Tuesday and Wednesday. The good news is that we will gain 20 minutes of daylight over the next 9 days.

Yesterday was another busy day for us around here. We were both at church by 8 a.m., ready for Sunday School. We had a great class, said some “Hi’s” to folks and headed out the door to go across town to the church where I would preach. A dear friend joined us for that service, so we took her to lunch, and then Miss Deb went to a bridal shower at our home church, while Miss Joice and I attended a funeral. At the completion of those events, Miss Deb and I were both ready to throw up our feet and rest after a very busy weekend.

Up early this morning, prayed for a bit, wrote this note, and then we started getting ready for Miss Deb to host her ladies Bible study today. God has gifted Miss Deb with a great ability to lead the studies here in Lusk and another in Manville. It blesses my heart to see here excited about helping other ladies find joy in studying God’s holy Scriptures!

As Miss Deb and I went two different directions yesterday, it really dawned upon me that most likely, one of these days one of us will go into eternity, while the other one has to stay here and finish their walk on this ‘ol ball of dirt. With a wedding shower and a funeral at the same time, I was really reminded of what we call “the cycle of life.”

As one family wept tears of sadness, the other family wept tears of joy. While one group said “farewell,” another group said “welcome.” While one family was clinging to memories, the other family was clinging to opportunities. While one family was wondering why, the other family was wondering why not. Two families, at two different stages of their life cycle, all within the same small Wyoming town.

Loved ones, if your Heavenly Father allows you to get up and around today, praise Him, and pray for someone who is at the opposite end of their life cycle. Unfortunately, we all know that a life cycle does not require a certain number of years. Though we hope each person will be allowed to grow old, not all are so fortunate. So, for those of us who have seen an adequate number of sunsets, be sure that you stop today and praise God for His kindness to you!

In our Sunday School class, we are studying the life of Abraham. What a grand old gentleman Abraham must have been. Though he didn’t always do things as he should have, Abraham had a great walk with God. The two of them worked together to make a great nation that we know of as Israel.

In the younger years of Abraham’s life, he made some poor choices – sounds very familiar to me; yet each day Abraham desired to walk with God – this also sounds familiar. And through all of Abraham’s years of walking with God, he knew that God was always near him, because God had promised him “I am with you.” As Christ-followers, we too have each received a similar promise from the Lord Jesus. In Matthew 28:20, Jesus stated, “and lo, I am with you always.”

Yesterday I attended the funeral of a person who by all appearances didn’t know Jesus as Savior, while Miss Deb attended the wedding shower of a young couple who both are walking with Jesus. Two different lifestyles, two different faith journeys, one having completed a life cycle, while the other is just getting started with theirs.

So, regardless of where you are in your life cycle, live each day as a special gift from God to you, and to those around you. Do your best to allow someone see the love of Jesus Christ in and through your life. Give more than you get, love because you are loved, and praise God for where you are in your life cycle. And above all, if you know Jesus as Savior, praise Him for allowing you to walk with Him through another day!

May we each come to the end of our life cycle in much the same way as Abraham did, “Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life,” Genesis 25:8. You see my friend, regardless of the years in your cycle of life, you can still die “satisfied with life” if you spend each day walking with Jesus. The reality is that if you walk with Jesus as your Lord, regardless of when your cycle of life ends here on earth, your real life begins when the other ends!

Completing the cycle with you, Neal