From the Home Place

July 4, 2026

It will be a warm one today, starting at 53, headed for 90 with NNW winds at 9 to 18 mph.

With this hot and dry morning, I can’t help but think of other fourth-of-July mornings on the ranch where I grew up. I can remember waking up on this date in the 1960’s to snow on the ground. Yep, enough snow that us kids couldn’t shoot any firecrackers until the snow melted, usually around 10 a.m.

A layer of fresh, wet snow would sure enough be a welcome gift this year. As it is, it’s so dry today that country kids won’t be able to shoot firecrackers either. It seems like Wyoming is the land of extremes. Too hot, too cold. Too wet, too dry. Too far away, too close. Too beautiful, too cruel. Yep, this ‘ol gal is the most beautiful, amazing and loved place, that is also one of the most feared, brutal and hated places in the US of A! But, for those of us who call Wyoming home, we can’t imagine living anywhere else.

But then, it has been that way for generations upon generations. I reckon there were plenty of times when the Indians looked at each other and ask, “Why do we live here?” And then they, like us, probably answered, “This is home!”

It has well been said that “Home is where the heart is.” Having lived in several other states, Miss Deb and I have always felt at home in each of those locations. Yet, there was always a yearning to get back to Wyoming. Having been both born and raised here, there was always a pull to move back “home.” And by God’s amazing grace, here we are.

Today, we pause and say, “Thank You Lord that we are getting to live back home in Wyoming.” For you see as much as we enjoy living here among friends and family, we also enjoy living here because of the folks we haven’t met yet. Though we live in the least populated county, in the least populated state in the United States, we are grateful for each.

Forty-years-ago when we left Wyoming to begin our service to His kingdom, we had no idea about all of the amazing people our Heavenly Father would allow us to love and serve. But now that we are back “home” we are truly enjoying our final years of service to the King here in Wyoming!

Though there have been times that serving the local church have been as brutal as a drought summer in Wyoming, we have been totally blessed by His strength, grace and love! It doesn’t matter where a person lives on this ‘ol ball of dirt, our enemy will make certain that it isn’t always easy or fun. Yet, our Heavenly Father consistently draws each of us toward Himself, especially in the difficult times.

You see my friends, today we celebrate a national freedom that has been purchased with the blood of thousands of soldiers throughout the years. Today, we also celebrate a spiritual freedom that was purchased with by the King of kings and the Lord of lords, Jesus Christ. That is why we pause and praise God that we get to live back home in Wyoming. Today we praise God that we get to remember friends and family who no longer share this life with us yet left their thumb print upon our lives. Today we praise God for the opportunity to worship and serve Him as we get to love those who walk with Him and with those who don’t yet know Him as Savior.

Praising God for our personal and spiritual freedoms with you, Neal

P.S. It really is great to be back home as we prepare to go home!!!