From the Home Place

May 10, 2026

Good morning to all. Here in Lusk we have 37 degrees to start with, while looking at 63 for a high. Yesterday’s rain traveled all of the way around us but didn’t hardly sprinkle here. Maybe one of these days we’ll catch a good one???

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you mommas out there. It seems to me that we have Americanized another great holiday, buy using this day to celebrate all of womanhood, and not specifically mothers. Once again, don’t make me say something I’m not saying, I greatly appreciate all women. According to the Bible, you ladies are “equal heirs of the grace of Christ.”

In fact, I’m of the opinion that all of you ladies are God’s special daughters, in that He created womanhood for a specific purpose and through a unique process. Do you realize that Eve, the first woman, was the only part of creation noy created out of dirt? Eve came from the flesh and bone of man, created specifically by the hands of the Creator!

I can only imagine how Adam’s heart must have exploded out of his chest when he opened his eyes after the very first surgery known to mankind. Adam opened His eyes, with a pain in his side, and there before him stood Eve in all of her nakedness and beauty! Finally, Adam had someone to share life with, someone to bring completion to his life, someone to hold his hand and walk in the Garden with him as they both visited with God. Genesis 3 tells us that God the Father looked at Adam and Eve and proclaimed that not only was creation now complete, but that it was “very good.”

And then Genesis 3. Satan comes to Eve and lies to her trying to convince her that God is holding something back from her. You can read the Biblical account, but may I suggest a more modern conversation: Satan, “Eve, Adam and God both think you are totally beautiful, but you know they are both using you. God only wants you for your ability to populate His creation, and Adam only wants you for…well you know. Both of them are using you. But if you listen to me girl, I can tell you how to take control of the whole situation and set things into place so that none of your daughters will ever be ignored again. All you have to do is eat from the tree that God told you not to eat from.” But, oh, Eve I have such a much better plan for you and all of your daughters, if you will just listen to me!”

Well, that’s just my impression of what might have taken place. One thing is for sure, just as Eve left Adam with a physical pain in the side, it wasn’t very long before she became a spiritual pain in the side, and she did that by listening to the wrong guy. Could it be that therein lies the battle that every young lady has had to deal with every since Eve ate the forbidden fruit?

O.K., just so all of you readers are clear, I am not a woman, so I do not personally know the battle that takes place within a young lady’s mind, but I have been greatly impacted by that lie for most of my life. A lie that does not come from God, nor form the men around you, but from the lie of Satan inside of you.

Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” You see dear lady, Satan and his crew are the one telling you that you are not beautiful, that you are not smart, and that you are powerless.

Here is the truth dear female friend, it is totally up to you to whom you decide to listen to. Will you hear from God that He has given you the exact hair, teeth and body that He wanted you to use to bring glory to Him; or will you listen to Satan as he attempts to convince you that you are not beautiful, that you are dumb to allow any man to have influence into your life, and that God is withholding His best from you? Dear lady, only you can decide which voice you are going to listen to.

But may I suggest, that as the Bible states in Ephesians 6:12, this world system is not your friend. The world system that is attempting to convince you that you “must” look like “this” before you can be beautiful. A world system that says you must take “control” of all of your life, making sure that you never “submit” to anyone but yourself. A world system that clearly declares that you shall never know true womanhood until you become more like a man than you are a woman.

1 Peter 3:3-4 give us insight in speaking to women, “Your adornment must not be merely external-braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on a dress; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.”

(Inside note, could it be that the “gentle and quiet spirit” is that which makes a great momma?) Here verse 3 reveals the “worlds” way of trying to make yourself beautiful is external; while verse 4 reveals that God’s way of revealing your true beauty is internal. Now, read Genesis 3:1-7. Note that Satan’s tactic was to get Eve to doubt God and herself. Every since that time, women have been beaten down in the same way. The world’s answer, fix up the outside. God’s answer is to reveal the inside.

But you see dear women of today, the world not only wants to get you to focus upon the outside, it also wants to convince you that the inside is wrong also. The Bible says that a “gentle and quiet spirit” is “precious in the sight of God,” and in the sight of men I might add, while the world screams “you are woman, let them hear you ROAR!”

Once again, I admit I am not a woman, and as such I have never truly experienced the battle between good and evil over whom will get to control your life as a woman. Yet, I will tell you that every man has suffered from Adam’s shame of not standing up for his beautiful lady by standing against Satan and his lies.

So, I close with this; As a female, you were created in the image of God. He wishes to reveal your true inner beauty, His special gift to you from Him. A beauty that the world will attempt to get you to cover up with external things (thus the name “Cover Girl), and worldly attitudes. But, the most beautiful women I have ever met, are the ones who are beautiful on the inside! For when a woman knows who she is on the inside, not only is she beautiful on the outside as well, but more importantly, she is “precious in the sight of God” and the rest of humanity!

Enjoying the beauties of God’s creation with you, Neal