From the Home Place

March 9, 2026

We are starting this week with 45 degrees at 5:30 a.m. The wind gusts are also at 45. A high of 68 degrees will make for easy calving, but dangerous fire weather. The exciting part is that they are predicting 70 mph winds on Thursday. Oh, how I pray that all of this wind will soon blow in some moisture!

As I sit here and listen to the wind howl outside, I’m sure grateful for good insulation and better methods of sealing a home now days. When both of my brother were still home and I was a short-legged feller, the three of us slept in a full-sized bed, upstairs in a really old ranch house. When we would get winds like this, along with snow, the snow would blow into the old house in such a way that we would wake up with snow on the top of our bed.

Dad would holler at us around 4:30 on such a morning. With no heat upstairs, we kept our chore clothes under the first quilt on our bed, but it was still like putting on ice cubes when we would jump out of bed to get dressed. You have never lived until you have slid into a pair of frozen Levis! No matter how tired a person was, you would be immediately fully awake!

After getting dressed, we would light the lantern, grab an old straw broom and five-gallon buckets and clean up all of the snow that had collected in our room. Then we would charge downstairs and let dad know it was now o.k. to start the wood stove. We had to clean up of the snow that had blown into our room before starting the stove, otherwise it would rain downstairs.

Sitting here in our nice warm, dry home, I can still remember the arguments that were had while we were trying to quit shivering long enough to clean up the snow in our bedroom. Yep, those were the good ‘ol days!

I reckon that most folks wouldn’t even attempt to live under such conditions in today’s world. Yet there are some folks today, who live just like we did because there is no other choice. You see, sometimes folks have to do the best they can do with what they have to do with. But in today’s culture it sure is easy to look down one’s nose at such folks.

We make comments like, “How do they live in such a mess?” “Why don’t they burn it down and start over?” or the extra special comment, “What’s wrong with people that they would live like that?” You see my friends, it sure is easy to find fault in how others live when their standard of living doesn’t measure up to ours.

The same is true in the spiritual realm of life. We condemn others for not living up to our standard of spirituality, instead of having compassion for those folks. Yes, I agree, when it comes to spirituality, we all get to choose what we believe and how we live. Yet as I look back at our family in the late 1950’s, I had absolutely no idea that we were poor spiritually. No one had ever talked with me about the blessings of walking with God.

So, today, maybe instead of grumbling about someone’s spiritual void, perhaps we should pray for an opportunity to share the “good news” with such folks. They can’t live up to what they don’t possess. Let’s be careful to show compassion rather than condemnation.

Let’s be clear, compassion is not the same as feeling sorry for someone, or the same as condemning them for the way they live. Compassion always takes action to help someone less fortunate. Before we grumble about a person’s lack of spiritual understanding, perhaps they need someone who walks with Jesus to help them understand the true gospel message?

As I mentioned last week, I’m sure glad that Jesus was willing to accept me right where I was, but He had no intention of leaving me there. Perhaps it’s time for those who call ourselves Christians to act as Jesus would when it comes to helping others know Him. We need to accept them right where they are and help them fall in love with Jesus.

Cause I can tell you for sure, it is tough to live with an old useless faith.

Showing compassion to others with you, Neal