From the Home Place

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  • Healing the blind!

    September 10, 2026

    Good morning to all! We are starting this day at 39 degrees at 5 a.m. and are supposed to hit 87 before the day concludes. With no chance of rain, we sure need to be praying for all of the firefighters who are working extremely hard to put our several different fires in our area. The cool evenings are a blessing, but we need to pray-in some moisture, and soon.

    Speaking of praying, the power of prayer is amazing. I marvel each time I hear the report of another answered prayer! Our loving Heavenly Father is so kind to us. Just think about it, there is no way that I could ever be granted an audience to submit my requests with our President. He is far too busy playing politics, being important and hopefully attempting to get a handle on these fuel prices. Yet, the King of kings, the Lord of the world system, always has time to hear our prayers. Not only does He hear those prayers, but He responds to those prayers in ways that are best for those making the requests.

    Scripture itself tells us that as Christ-followers, we are more important to our Heavenly Father than nature itself. As God cares for the birds of the field, He cares for us even more. Just stop and think about it, not only has our loving Heavenly Father provided a means of salvation though faith in Jesus, but He has also provided His Holy Spirit to help us walk with Jesus on a daily basis. God has given us His inspired Word, His Spirit, His salvation through Jesus and after all of that, He even lovingly responds to our prayer requests.

    Grab your Bible and read Luke 18:35-43, stopping to chew on verses 42 and 43. In verse 42 we read Jesus’ response to Bartimaeus’s request to be healed of his blindness: “Receive your sight, your faith has made you well.” In this case, the healing was based solely upon the faith of the person making the request (prayer), yet so many times Jesus brings healing based upon the faith of those making the request, i.e. the centurion who asks Jesus to heal his slave. (Lk. 7:7)

    Recently, within our church family, we have all been praying for a very kind and gentle young lady to receive a healing from Jesus. By His amazing grace, Jesus has given her a healing that has the doctors stumped; while His followers are responding like the people in Luke 18:43 – “and when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God.” In the same way, we are all praising God because He answered our prayers!!!

    For me, I am constantly reminded that our President is only a servant of our God, whether he wants to be or not. God is still in control, regardless of how powerful any human may think they are. God is still in control, regardless of how talented or intelligent any human may think they are. The bottom line to everything that goes on around us on a daily basis, “God is in control!”

    You see my friends, the simple truth is that we all suffer from spiritual blindness, and as such, we need to cry out to Jesus, “Lord, I want to regain my (spiritual) sight!” A request we must base upon total faith in “Jesus, Son of David.” I have complete faith in the fact that our Lord will open our spiritual eyes when we are ready to obey that which He reveals to us, because then He will rightfully receive the glory and praise.

    Today, I am headed to see the eye-doctor to see if my physical eyes need some healing. But I began this day making my requests to Jesus. One of those requests was that He open my spiritual eyes so that I will better see His amazing grace each and every day for the rest of my journey across this ‘ol ball of dirt. Yes, I want to see Jesus, high and lifted up! “Praise Him! Praise Him! Praise Him!”

    In faith, praying for spiritual sight with you, Neal

  • My life movie!

    September 8, 2026

    Good morning! The temperature this morning is starting at 52 degrees, headed for 83. No moisture, just sunny and breezy. Yet, we should probably enjoy this warm day because the long-range forecast for October is highs in the 50’s to start the month.

    This day started at 2:30 a.m. for me. That’s the time when the Holy Spirit poked me in the ribs and said, “We need to visit.” So, after a time of praising our Lord, we entered into today’s topic, “How will you be remembered at your funeral?” To sense the Lord Himself asking you that question will sure enough get a feller’s attention.

    May I begin this journey with a question of my own, “What makes a movie a really good movie?” For me, the answer is a really good movie is one that keeps my interest all the way through and ends leaving me feeling good about life.

    Then, the Holy Spirit guided my mind to ask the question, “What makes a really good life?” For the most part, I came up with the same answer. A life well lived is one that leaves people feeling good about who God is. A life well lived isn’t about the person we are remembering at the memorial per say but is about how that person and God worked together to leave a positive thumbprint of the lives of others.

    So, then once again I ask, “How will you be remembered at your funeral?” Now come on, be honest. Don’t tell me how you “want” people to remember you, tell me how they “will” remember you. Will they remember your kindness and generosity or will they remember you as a penny-grabbing difficult person?

    The Holy Spirit then reminded me of a statement that Jesus made during His earthly existence, “They will hate you because they hated Me.” You see, no matter how you live your life, if you stand with Jesus, there are going to be some who will not speak kindly of you when you take your last breath. However, the rest of the Bible reveals that when we live our life in a way that resembles how Jesus lived His life, the odds are really, really good that there will be way more folks who comment, “I’m going to miss her, or him.”

    You see my friends, no matter how we live our lives, there will be some whom decide to dislike us; yet there will be a vast number more who are grateful that your life was a picture of Biblical truth. I encourage you to stop here and read the later portion of Ephesians 4. In verses 25 through the end of the chapter, the Spirit gives us a negative, a positive and then a reason why we should live the positive.

    To me, these verses paint the picture of a life well lived. Old habits are done away with, while new habits are established that replace the negative with a positive. Now I can’t say for you, but for me, I’m still in that process, day-by-day my movie is being played out on the big screen; and so is yours.

    You see, I would like to be the director of said movie, painting a picture of who I want you to think I am. However, the real director is God Himself, and He will reveal the real me, that He is still working on. Sure, I get to play the lead part, but unless God is the director of this movie, it probably isn’t going to leave folks feeling “good” at the end of it. (Prayers appreciated.)

    Some of you who have been reading these post for years now, will remember this little ditty, “Yesterday is a canceled check, tomorrow is a promissory note, yet today is the only cash you have on hand, invest it wisely.” You see friends, yesterday is in the books, we will never have another opportunity to live it over again. Tomorrow may come for some of us, but most likely will not come for all of us. But today, today we get to join God in writing the rest of the story! Play your part well, allowing the Holy Spirit to be the supporting actor, and the life of Jesus to be your script. I reckon that script can be found within the pages of your Bible; read it, live it!

    One thing is for sure, today is one more day toward the end of your life movie; how will folks remember you at your funeral?

    Praying with you that this movie ends leaving others feeling good about knowing each of us, Neal.

  • Remember when?

    September 6, 2026

    Good morning. It’s 5 a.m. here and I just finished an amazing prayer time. It is such a blessing to get to praise God with song and to join the Holy Spirit in rejoicing! Wow, we get to serve such an awesome God!!!

    Early this morning I started thanking our Lord for all that He has done within and through our lives as His servants. Quite often, I make comment to Miss Deb, “We have had a great run!” When I think back to so many times when my life, or the life of someone dear to me, could have ended at a much younger stage, I marvel that I’m still here. I never have lived a life of caution, yet my loving Heavenly Father has kept me around thus far. I guess we still have things to accomplish for His kingdom.

    If I might, I would like to walk you down a portion of my memory lane this morning. I think the year must have been 1971. Deb and I were dating. For whatever reason, my folks had agreed to allow me and Deb, along with my two younger sisters to take our old Chevy pickup, dad’s hunting tent and enough groceries for two days on the mountain. We were to travel to the east side of Laramie Peak, pitch our tent on Horseshoe Creek and go dancing that evening!

    As we traveled through Glendo, we ran into a great friend who was the same age as Deb and we invited him to join us for the dance and camping. He thought that sounded like a great idea and would plan to join us there later in the day. We made our journey on up the mountain, sat up camp, and loaded into the pickup to go on up the mountain for a night of great dancing and fun!

    When we arrived at the dance, there was our friend Joe, just like we had planned. The only catch was that he had brought Casey, Rockey and Mark with him. But hey, the more the merrier, right? We danced until early the next morning. If I remember correctly, the eight of us never missed one dance all night! The amazing thing was that we weren’t full of Rocky Mountain Kool-Aid in the process.

    We danced, we laughed, we behaved ourselves, which was rather unusual for Joe and I. Everyone had much fun. The band decided that it was going to be daylight before long and that we should all go home and get some rest. So, we loaded our crew up into two vehicles and headed down the mountain for our camp. Once again, amazingly enough, we all arrived safely.

    Fortunately, the crew had brought extra sleeping bags and most everyone had remembered a pillow. A pair of jeans folded up fixed that problem for those who need a place to lay their head. It wasn’t very long at all, and everyone was sound asleep, scattered across the floor of a hunting tent.

    Way too soon, daylight slid up the side of the mountain, and it was time to rustle up some breakfast for everyone. I got up and started a fire. I found a couple of cast iron frying pans, bacon, eggs and pancake batter. Within a few minutes my youngest sister was up and helped me get some grub ready. When we hollered, “Breakfast!” the walls of the ‘ol tent came alive and blood-shot eyes started to roll out, looking for coffee and food. That is everyone except Mark; he had learned to like his sleep.

    By the time breakfast was over, dishes were done and the coffee was gone, the sun was cooking at full blast, so the swimming suits came out and presto-change-o, we all headed for a nearby swimming hole. That is everyone except Mark, who was still in his sleeping bag. Well, us guys couldn’t allow him to miss out on the fun we were about to have, so we went into the tent and quickly drug his lazy carcass outside. After the last two pieces of bacon and a pull of good creek water, all eight of us headed for the swimming hole.

    Man, was that water COLD! There were a couple of springs that fed the pond, along with the rest of the mountain creek water. The hole was deep enough that it would sure enough swim a horse, so we started jumping of a rock ledge on the North side of the pond. Up and down, up and down we ran like a bunch of monkeys, laughing, challenging; as we continued the fun that we had started the night before. But man, was that water was cold! Did you know that you won’t shiver if you totally relax?

    Well, we finally all played out and decided that we had better break camp and get headed home before our dads formed a search party. As we walked back toward the tent, I noticed that there was something seriously wrong with the tent. Upon further inspection, we found that the ridge pole (a 12″ 2 X 4) had broken. The amazing thing was that the extremely sharp end of that pole had rammed all the way thorough Mark’s sleeping bag right where his heart would have been had we left him there.

    That put a real damper on our party, thinking that one of us had come that close to death. We rather quietly rolled-up camp, loaded up into our vehicles and all of us returned to our homes, thankful that all of us were still alive.

    Today, after church, Miss Deb and I will attend the funeral of our dear friend Mark. He is the first of that crew to pass-on. This day, I remember a group of teens laughing, playing and bonding. Nearly sixty years later, I anticipate seeing several of those folks at Mark’s memorial.

    Friends, one day, life is just a precious memory. Perhaps today, you should reconnect with one of those friends from you past, before someone else leaves this ‘ol ball of dirt behind.

    Remembering days gone by with you, Neal

  • Very predictable!

    September 5, 2026

    Good morning! We begin this day with no wind, 56 degrees, headed for another 90 degree day. Looks like we have a 55% shot at some rain this afternoon, we’ll see if that plays out.

    Every evening when we decide to call it a day, Coffee runs to her bed in our bedroom and lays down. As soon as the Boss Lady lays down in the bed, Coffee charges around to that side of the bed to get her hugs and “good-night” kisses from the Boss Lady. Coffee then comes around to my side of the bed for a good belly scratch and then she goes to bed. Very predictable!

    Each morning when Coffee and I get up, I put her out the door for a potty break. When she comes back in, she has to run into the bedroom and make sure the Boss Lady is doing well, and then she comes and checks on me. If I’m typing a post, she then returns to bed until Miss Deb is up. All is nice and quiet around our outfit. That is until Miss Deb gets up.

    When the Boss Lady makes her morning appearance, Coffee grabs one of her toys and starts running around the house, squeaking the toy as loudly as she can! She never makes a sound, until we are both up and starting the day, then she gets so excited. Very predictable!

    At 6 a.m. and 4 p.m. Coffee will lay at her food dish, waiting for someone to feed her. Very predictable! Whenever anyone grabs a set of keys and opens the back door, Coffee will run out to the Buggy and begin circling it until one of us opens a door and then she is in and on the seat, ready for a ride. During the ride she will sit in the middle, and grumbles until we open the front window, and then she sits quietly. That is unless I am driving too slowly, because then she grumbles until we speed up a notch. Very predictable!

    You get the idea – Coffee has several habits that are very predictable; and so do you. Most likely, you have a regular routine that you follow when you get up in the morning: bathroom, coffee and …. Very predictable!

    The same goes for when you are in a vehicle: radio on, air conditioning on, seat set and then you will usually have the same driving pattern… Very predictable! And then there are your evening habits, supper close to the same time, T.V., same chair and then bed close to the same time every night…Very predictable!

    Most like you and I follow similar routines we have had for years. How about time with the Lord? That one is usually variable; “sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t.” And then there is the prayer life – who is satisfied with their prayer life, not me? Very predictable!

    You see my friends, our daily rhythms are very predictable. And most likely, we could all use some improvement in our devotional life. Well, the experts say it takes 28 days to form a habit, as such, follow the same routine for 28 days and it will become something you do on a regular basis. Very predictable!

    Perhaps you are asking yourself, “Why should I devote time to such a practice each day?” Because you need it, that’s why. We need to set aside a daily time when we visit with the Lord, read a bit of His “Love Letter” to us (Bible) and write down our thoughts. The whole process takes 15-20 minutes of your 24 hours. However, Satan will do his best to persuade you that you are too busy for such an activity. Very predictable!

    But if you will daily set aside a few minutes to read your Bible, jot some notes, and then pray, the Spirit of the Living God will meet you there. He is always there, waiting for us to get up and get to going. Very predictable!

    So, are we going to feed the black dog, or the white dog? Each of us will make a choice one way or the other, Very predictable! I can’t say for you, but in my life, I need to feed the white dog every opportunity I get. Yep, I need my morning routine to be Very predictable!

    Enjoying a good routine with you, Neal

  • Anticipation!

    September 3, 2026

    Good morning. We are starting this day at 55, headed for 89 for a high. With those kinds of temperatures, it doesn’t feel much like elk hunting season, but it is that time of the year.

    On Monday and Tuesday morning I left the house right at 3 a.m., with much anticipation, to go meet a young man so we could attempt to put the sneak on a bugle-cow. Both days, we saw elk. Each day we walked in to where we wanted to hunt while it was still very dark, in an attempt to be where the elk would come off a hay meadow, headed back to their daily retreat in the heavy timber.

    The first day, we delt with a steady drizzle of rain. Now mind you, neither of us minded getting wet because of the severe drought we are dealing with, and besides we were looking for elk, it’s not supposed to be easy. Around here, elk hunting is like any other sport, “no pain, no gain.” So, we marched on, wet and cold but still full of anticipation!

    We were almost at our spot, a good thirty minutes before daylight and guess what? They were already leaving their alfalfa breakfast bar and were headed for the dark timber. We laid there and watched them trail off into the dark.

    The second day we walked twice as far, attempting to catch them further down the trail, and it worked. My hunting friend on one side of a hill, and I on the other side. As a glimpse of light began to appear in the east, here they came. I listened to two bulls fight for superiority of the herd, yet neither of them showed themself to this old hunter. However, they crossed close enough on the other side of the hill that my compadre was able to take a shot, but no reward.

    For me, I laid behind my little soap-weed and my backpack, filled with the anticipation of seeing a really nice set of antlers cross in front of me. No such luck. I had cows and calves and a spike bull within 40-yards of where I lay, but no one worthy of flinging an arrow at. Within a few minutes, the anticipation turned into dissapointment, again!

    When we reconnected, my young friend was sad that he had missed his opportunity, yet we both praised God that we had been allowed to watch such magnificent critters at a close range! As we started our two-mile walk back to the pickup, we both praised our Lord for allowing us such an amazing privilege.

    You see my friends, anticipation often results in disappointment; yet disappointment can even be a time of rejoicing when we focus upon God’s provision and protection. And as I said earlier, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Neither of us filled our freezer over the last two days, but each man better knows and understands the other. Each man continues to rejoice about what we were allowed to do. Each man is immensely grateful that we had the opportunity to be close enough to smell the odder of musky bull elk, and that we are both exhausted!

    So, for today, we both have other things we have to do instead of chase elk. However, we each will live today in anticipation of our Heavenly Father once again revealing His amazing grace to us in some special way this very day. I pray that you too will live this day with great anticipation, perhaps not of that which you have to do, but in anticipation of the God of the universe revealing His love for you in a special way. Walk into this day with the anticipation of seeing God at work within and around you, and you will not be disappointed at the end of the day. Instead, you will end this day with a grateful heart that you were allowed to live and to watch as the King Himself, sends you a special gift!

    Living in anticipation with you, Neal

  • “Give thanks.”

    August 31, 2026

    Starting at 57, headed for 86, August 2026 comes to a close at the end of this day. The weird part is that most of the country around here is greener than it was in May. And all I can say is “Thank You Lord!”

    In Psalm 54:6, David proclaims, “Willingly I will sacrifice to You; I will give thanks to Your name, O Lord, for it is good.” To which we declare, “Amen!” It is “good” to “give thanks” to our amazing God. It is so easy when things are going “good” that we can often forget to “give thanks” to our Heavenly Father who has blessed us with so much.

    Yesterday, Miss Deb and I were both blessed to get to visit with some of God’s amazing children. Even though we worshiped at two different churches, it was so amazing to get to be together with others who were also thanking and praising God!

    And then we were blessed to get to attend a baby shower, where there was much rejoicing for the new, little life that God has blessed a family with. Yet that baby was used by God to bless so many more of us other than just her immediate family. So, today I give Him “thanks” for allowing us to gather with others!

    Then last night, we went to the home of some dear friends for an evening meal. The meal was great, but the part Miss Deb and I most enjoyed was being around a “family.” The four little girls were so fun for us to be around! The older two ran and played and giggled, constantly causing both of us to smile and remember when our crew was that size. Oh, and then the two younger sisters, how precious it was to hold a little one! Their snuggles, their “baby smell” and using our old arms for what they were really intended for!

    Yep, Miss Deb and I both are giving God much thanks this day! I pray that you are able to do the same around your outfit. Stop for a moment and look around at the many blessings He has given you: for the stuff and the people that make your life more enjoyable – give Him “thanks!” If you know Jesus as Savior, give Him thanks! If you are able to get up and get around today, give Him thanks!

    And you know what, I think than our loving heavenly Father has given us so many beautiful blessings so that we will have some to share with those dear to us. Make a phone call, write a text, stop by for a visit; just do something to bless someone else this day! After all, we all know that just like Abraham, we have been blessed to be a blessing. For as King David said, we “willingly sacrifice to You,” though serving such an amazing God seems to be a very small sacrifice after all.

    So, close this time in a prayer of thanksgiving and go be a blessing!

    Thanking you for being such a great blessing in our lives, Miss Deb and Neal.

  • Loving the anticipation!

    August 30, 2026

    Good morning! Starting this day at 62, headed for a high of 82 with a bit of wind. After yesterday’s rain, I won’t complain if we don’t get anymore today. Tomorrow looks like upper 80’s for a high and a possibility of some rain, we will see what the last day of August looks like then.

    At 5 a.m. it looks cloudy and breezy outside. There is a bit of Fall bite in the air, so who knows what September will bring our way? According to the heavy fog we had in early August, we are supposed to get a shot of snow sometime around the middle of September, so the ‘ol wives’ tale goes?

    A week ago, the thirty-day forecast for September showed 60 for highs by the middle of the month, today they have adjusted that to 70’s and 80’s all month. I have no idea what the weather is like, but I’m sure enough expecting to be on a mountain side somewhere looking for a bugle-cow!

    When I was a younger feller, I always loved Spring. New babies everywhere, brandings and starting a batch of new colts. But now that all of that is gone from my life, I really look forward to Fall. I love the cooler weather, the fresh morning air and the possibility of looking for an elk. No don’t worry about the elk, it’s been a long time since one of them has ended up in our freezer, I just enjoy looking and listening, waiting for the possibility of catching one! For me, the anticipation and the recreation is the best part of hunting.

    My, if we only had that same mindset when it comes to serving our Lord. You see, for me, I get to serve Jesus, it is not a “have to.” When the Holy Spirit opens the door for an opportunity to serve the Lord, my excitement level jumps way up; much like when a bull elk walks into a clearing during season.

    I know I’ve mentioned it before, but it seems to fit well here again. When we were planting a church in Custer, South Dakota, there was an ‘ol lumber jack who had a bumper sticker on his beat-up pickup which read, “If it’s tourist season, why can’t we shoot them?” Living in a town that derived 90% of its income from the tourists, his bumper sticker wasn’t really admired by most folks.

    So, whether it’s tourist season, or hunting season, it’s always Kingdom season, and I’m full of anticipation! Every day of the rest of our lives, we get to do something that impacts the advancement of God’s Kingdom in some way or another. It may be verbally telling someone about Jesus, or it may involve doing something in His name for someone else, or it may involve just spending some of your precious time with someone who needs some company. You see, for some folks, this big ol’ world is a lonely place, and if we get the opportunity, I reckon we should be willing to set aside an hour or so just to be around somebody who needs some company.

    When I look back at most days and realize just how much time I wasted, I’m always reminded that I could have, should have, been investing some of that time into the life of someone else. After all, remember our rule: If God gives us something He expects us to pass part of it on to be a blessing to someone else?

    Well, if God blesses you with some time, get up and go to church, be sure that you invest some of that time into being a blessing to someone else. A smile is like peanut butter on toast; it just makes things better. A kind word is like adding jelly or honey to the recipe, and before you know it, you’ve done gone and been a blessing to someone!

    Why settle for just a PB&J hunk of toast, go ahead and invite someone to go eat lunch with you. That will cause a heap of smiles, conversation and probably even some laughter; all ingredients of a great day! Today, let’s all work at being a blessing in the life of someone else! Shoot, it will probably be so enjoyable that we will look forward to trying it again someday this next week.

    I don’t know about your life, but mine is richer when I live today with the anticipation of hunting season and Kingdom season!

    Passing along the blessings with you, Neal

  • “Better late than never!”

    August 29, 2026

    Greetings! Sorry it has taken me most of the day to get this post written, but we had to a speedy trip to Casper this morning and then we raced the rain back to Lusk. We won by about 30 minutes and then the rain, boy did she arrive! Plenty of sharp lightning, but thankfully enough rain to put out any smolders. For about 15 minutes it did dump a heap of water! As the old timers would say, “Better late than never!”

    You know, that’s a statement that could be said about a whole heap of things. “Better late than never,” if you haven’t accepted Jesus as your Savior as of yet. “Better late than never,” if you haven’t determined to be serious about Bible study and prayer. How about finally determining to making a disciple of Jesus Christ, “better late than never.” Oh, and then there is the “better late than never,” to share the message of salvation in Jesus with someone that doesn’t know Him yet!

    Yep, there are a lot of things in this ‘ol world that could be “better late than never,” but then maybe we should all be a tad cautious about throwing a saddle on that pony for none of us ever knows when it will be “too late!” Yep, the Lord could call any one of us home at any moment, so I reckon we would do well to not put off until tomorrow that which we feel Him nudging us to do today.

    And just in case you are wondering, if it’s been a while since you’ve attended church, tomorrow it would sure enough be “better late than never.” Get all spiffed-up in the morning, grab your Bible and your babe, saddle up your ‘ol Ford and head for church. Shucks, there will be plenty of folks there who will be plumb happy to see you and yours! And if one of them gets smarty and says somethings like, “It has been quite a spell since we’ve seen you around here,” just smile and reply, “Better late than never!

    Have a great evening and blessed tomorrow. Oh, and by the way, it might be a really good idea to stop right now and thank Him for the amazing rain He just sent our way!

    Looking forward to a great day of starting new and fresh tomorrow with you, Neal

  • This is the day!

    August 28, 2026

    Starting this day at 3 a.m. with an hour of prayer behind me, I’m excited about that which Almighty God will do with each of us today! With 61 degrees now, headed for 91, and no rain again today, we all need to do that which is good in God’s eyes. I pray that our Lord will use that which follows to wake each of us up with purpose, so that at the end of this day, we can each look toward Heaven and praise our Father for sustaining us though another day. For as Jesus said, “each day has enough trouble of its own,” (Matt. 6:34) so let’s use the majority of our day finding the golden nuggets buried within the word of God and the day before us! May the good outweigh the bad for each of you.

    Good morning to all. I hope you were able to get a good night’s sleep in preparation for today? Most likely when you crawled out of bed this morning, you had little idea of what today will hold for your life, but hopefully you really know the One who holds today?

    As with all of this thing called life, there are so many unknowns ahead of us that it is essential that we are walking closely with the Creator and Sustainer of life. I just watched a video of the massive flood in Nepal! Oh my, how quickly, life can change! Imagine walking across the street in your local town and suddenly a massive wall of water crashes over you! Please continue to pray for those dear folks who might be alive, that they will be rescued today, and pray for their families to find peace and the hand of God through all of this tragedy. And then pray that you and I will realize just how fragile this thing called life really is and that we will determine to live it to the fullest for His glory and for the good of those around us!

    So, now that you are fully awake, grab your Bible and read Colossians 3, allowing the words guided by the heart of your Heavenly Father to grip your spirit. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you clarity of mind and clear direction as to that which He desires to accomplish within and through you today. Please, walk boldly into whatever comes your way today. Be sure to use the many opportunities our Lord gives you to be Jesus in the life of someone else.

    Put on a smile that comes from a joyful heart, get out of your house and into the culture around you and show someone else that which the Holy Spirit is teaching you. Allow the Spirit of Jesus to flood over you in such a way that it changes how you see today. Pray, praise and proceed!

    Remember, “this is the day the Lord has made, I shall rejoice and be glad in it.” Wash your life with the living word of God, not the lying, life killing word of Satan. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:1b-2, “Walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love.”

    Walking in a “worthy” manner with you today, Neal

  • Blessed to bless!

    August 30, 2026

    Good morning all. We are starting this day at 54 degrees here in Lusk. Before this day is complete, the high temperature should be around 84 degrees, with a 55% possibility with a little rain in spots.

    Yesterday, Dolly Parton cashed in her chips due to a fast-growing cancer the way it sounds. Though we all probably have tapped a foot to one of her songs at one time or another, Miss Dolly will best be remembered by me for an interview I watched years ago. In that interview Miss Dolly spoke of her deep faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and that her life dream was to “politely impact as many lives as possible with His kindness.” When I heard her make that statement, I thought she had said more in those few words than most folks say in a lifetime.

    As Miss Dolly went on to share how she wanted the kindness her momma had taught her, to live on in positive ways to bless the lives of others. At that time, I changed my former opinions of this dear lady. No, she did not live a perfect life, only one person that I know of ever did that, and we crucified Him. Yet Miss Dolly did bless all kinds of people through all sorts of avenues.

    A mindset that I could use more of. It is always a blessing to bless others, but I often I miss the opportunity to be a blessing because of my greed. I know that I could, and probably should do something for someone else, but then my wallet cringes as I think of the things I need those funds for.

    Theologically, I know that I cannot out give my Heavenly Father, who has promised to meet all of my needs, but practically, I often think I have to do His job for Him and be sure to take care of me first. In Mark 6 we read the words of Jesus as He sent His first disciples out: “And He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits; and He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff-no bread, no bag, no money in their belt.” They were not to even take an extra shirt.

    These men were to learn what it truly means to live by faith. Remember, Jesus had already called them to leave their jobs and to follow Him. Now He is instructing them to take nothing but a walking stick and to go live as He lived. In verses 12-13 we read, “They went out and preached that men should repent. And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.”

    You see, these men were living the same life that their Leader had been living in front of them. The power of influence! As a Christ-follower, I have to ask myself, “If people are copying my life, will they end up at the foot of the cross, living for the Savior; or will they end up in a nice home, with a bank account, living for self?”

    Let’s be clear, as far as I know, Jesus never said that it is wrong to have stuff, the problem arises when my stuff has me. As our Heavenly Father blesses us, we need to be looking for avenues to be a blessing to others. You know, like Miss Dolly did with her life. After all, just like Dolly, one day we will leavomh every bit of our stuff behind and enter into the presence of All-Mighty God! At that time, I wonder if God might ask me two questions: (1) “What did you do with the sacrifice of My Son?” (2) “What did you do with the blessings I gave you?”

    Learning to let go with you, Neal