From the Home Place

February 22, 2026

Good morning. The thermometer rest at 0 at 3:30 a.m. 37degrees and cloudy with a tad bit of breeze today. But hang on to your hat, temps for this next week are in the high range and so is the wind! The prediction is for 30+ wind speed most days, and 60+ on Wednesday.

Though I’m tired of physical wind, I look forward to the Holy Spirit blowing thorough churches around the world this very day. You know, like the “mighty, rushing wind” on the day of Pentecost. Blow Spirit blow. Fill each of us with Your presence, Your peace and Your power so that those around us will know that You are here, working in and through our lives this very day!

As you prepare to put on your Sunday best and head for church this morning, may I encourage each of us to put on our “Sunday best” attitude as well. May we go to church filled with anticipation of our Heavenly Father speaking His truth into our life this very day. Stop and pray that God will use your pastor’s message as a special message for your life. At the end of the service, be sure to thank both God and pastor for building into your life.

Perhaps we should be going to church with a special excitement about the opportunities the Holy Spirit will give each of us. Opportunities to encourage and assist those around us. It might be a short-legged person, or maybe even an elderly one, that God uses to allow you the opportunity to serve someone else. Someone around you today needs a hug, a smile and/or a word of encouragement. Because each of God’s children possess the joy of the Lord, could it be that He expects us to infect someone else with that same joy this very day?

If someone shares a prayer request with you, push the “pause” button. Step away from the hurry and worry of this world and pray with that person right there. Remember, Jesus said that His Father’s house was to be “a house of prayer.”

I’m willing to bet that no one needs to hear grumblings about the weather, or politics; yet everyone needs to hear of God’s amazing grace. They need to experience God’s arms holding them tight, especially if they feel like their world is unraveling. You see my friend, the amazing thing is that the Spirit of the Living God wants to use you to be a blessing in the life of others, TODAY!

So, put on your go-to-town clothes, grab your Bible and head to church full of the anticipation of being the hands of Jesus. Invite someone new to sit with you, have lunch with you, or to “blow” over to your house this week for coffee and cookies. Do what you can to pass along that which God has blessed you with. The amazing thing is that when we give away a smile and a kind word, we get more than we give. This day, we can each allow someone else to see, hear and feel the love that our Heavenly Father has shared with us!

Living by giving with you, Neal