From the Home Place

A blog sharing insights, stories, and reflections on life from a Christian perspective.

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  • The day before.

    December 24, 2025

    Good morning friends. I would like to begin today’s post with a THANK YOU! I am amazed, humbled and blessed that so many of you read these daily dribbling’s. I constantly pray that you are receiving some sort of a blessing during our times of fellowship. May our Lord continue to use you for His glory, and for the good of those around you.

    Today is the eve of the birth of the Christ Child. I remember how Miss Deb would behave on the eve of our children’s birth. The day before giving birth, she would clean the whole house, or go for a long walk, or want to have company over. It was as if God was revving her body up to get ready for the amazing event before her.

    I wonder, do you suppose Mary felt the same way? She was able to endure a long ride on a donkey, a journey which I think she may have walked at least half of. I wonder if Mary was overly talkative on the day before giving birth to the King of Kings? I’m sure, like most first-time mothers, she was nervous and somewhat concerned yet filled with anticipation. I have often wondered what the trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem was like for Joseph, Mary and the Lord.

    Yesterday, Miss Deb and I had to travel to Cheyenne. The road was abuzz with constant traffic. I would think that Joseph and Mary had to endure such traffic on their journey as well. They probably even had impatient travelers cut them off too! But just as our Lord allowed us to make our journey safely yesterday, He seemed to be extremely kind to get that young family to their destination.

    We read the Christmas story as if it were somewhat of a tragedy that Jesus had to be born in a stable. However I believe that God introduced His Son to the world exactly as He had planned to do. Lowly, humble Jesus was born in a barn. What an amazing birth! A first-time mom giving birth to the most precious baby this world will ever know, alone, trusting God, right in the middle of a city that was roaring with humanity.

    Our Heavenly Father continues to quietly send us into a very busy world to proclaim the coming of Christ Jesus! Sometimes, that declaration is even somewhat painful for us as well; and is very painful for believers in countries where Christianity is forbidden. Yet, like Mary, those dear saints continue to tell other about the amazing grace of God, even though they are alone and afraid.

    Today, may each of us stop and pray for the persecuted church around this world. Pray for protection, pray for power, and pray for peace as they live their lives to tell the story. While we are celebrating, they are cowering. While we exchange gifts, they will exchange memorized Scripture verses for they do not have a Bible, nor a projection screen, nor a praise team, nor a safe and comfortable building. No, all the persecuted church around the world has is each other and the presence of Almighty God!

    You see, to these dear folks, Jesus is not a baby wrapped in rags. in a manger, surrounded by cattle and sheep. No, their celebration today is that they know the power of the Prince of Peace. That they and perhaps a handful of others have hidden themselves away from those who would try to take their lives, hidden to be heard.

    We American Christians often mention about “the real reason for the season.” I wonder, if we really understand those words, and I especially wonder, how often do we live such a statement? May the eve of the birth of the Christ Child be the eve of a new boldness to proclaim, “the real reason for the season” all year long. May we the American church stop “hiding” and start living with purpose, revealing the power of transformed lives to the glory of God!

    Proclaiming the coming of the King with you, Neal

  • It’s wash day!

    December 23, 2025

    Please allow me to set the record straight, around this outfit, I run things! I run things like the dishwasher, the vacuum cleaner, and the washing machine and dryer. As I was visiting with the Lord around 3 a.m. today, my mind wandered back to helping my mom do laundry for the eight of us. An old ringer machine sat in the porch and each Saturday we would do laundry, starting at daylight with the lighting of mom’s wood burning kitchen stove. That meant lots of extra wood for the stove. When the top of the stove was too hot to touch, we would place three milk pails full of fresh water onto said stove.

    While the water was coming to a boil, we would drag the old wringer machine into the center of the porch. Then we would go outside and carry in the two “rinse” tubs. They were made of galvanized steel and stood on their own legs; one leg was bent and twisted enough that it had to sit up against a wall with a brick underneath the leg, so the tubs were fairly level.

    Those tubs were then filled half full of cold water for rinsing clothes as they came out of the washing machine. By the way, all of the water was carried from the supply tank, out by the corals. I could only carry two half-full pails at a time, so on wash day I would make several trips out to the supply tank, or to the windmill if the wind was blowing. Always watching for rattlesnakes as I walked back and forth through the weeds carrying water.

    Hot water went into the washing machine, two “slivers” of homemade lye soap were added and stirred. The lye soap was made of rendered lard with a bit of lye and some powered soap added to it, making a bar form of laundry soap which would do several loads of laundry. (The soap making process is another story for another day.)

    When the water was ready the machine was started. Underneath the machine was a small gas engine that was used to turn the agitator on the machine. When, and if, the engine was started, then clothes could be slowly added. When the clothes were cleanish’, a wooden broom handle was used to remove them from the machine, allowing the soapy water to return to the machine tub for the next batch of clothes.

    Once the clothes were removed from the wash water, they then went through set of rollers that would remove the excess water. After the clothes were rung out, they had to be shook back into their original form and then added to the rinse tub. Once again the wooden stick was used to agitate the clothes, removing a bit more of the soap from them. Then that batch was wrung by hand and added to the second tub for another rinse. Finally, the clothes were washed, rinsed (twice) and wrung as dry as possible. The next step was to hang the clothes on the clothesline for drying. Hanging was usually blessed by thirsty bees who would be most willing to sting a person if you were not extremely careful.

    A few hours in the sunshine, the clothes were dry and could be gathered, leaving the bees outside, hopefully. (In the summer, we would leave the clothes on the line and take cream and eggs to Lusk.) After getting back from town, changing into chore clothes, I would carry the baskets of clothes into the kitchen, where mom would have the ironing board set up. Three different sizes of irons were heating on the wood stove.

    I would use the ironing board and iron all jeans and work shirts. Mom would use the kitchen table and iron everything else. All together it would take us most of the day to do laundry for our family.

    In the winter, if the sun was shining, mom and I would take the clean clothes to the clothesline and pin them up to dry for a couple of hours. Usually that meant when we went back to retrieve the clothes, they would be frozen stiff. A condition that required great care when removing the clothes pins, so not to break the pins, nor tear the clothes. Then I would carry the frozen clothes into the porch, where the pot-bellied wood stove had heated the room nicely.

    Then mom and I would string pieces of bailer twine onto nails in the walls, rehang the clothes and let them finish drying – hopefully. By the way, while the clothes were drying, there were always dishes to wash, floors to sweep and mop and wood to carry. Oh, I so remember the day we were given a used washing machine with a wringer attached to it. The whole thing ran on electricity and by then we had water in the house too!

    Today, I throw a plastic pod into the washing machine, add clothes, push a couple of buttons and push “start.” In a short time, the clothes are washed and rinsed, ready for me to toss them into the dryer. More buttons pushed, a few minutes later and the clothes are dried, very few of them ever needing ironed. Oh by the way, they all smell nice and fresh because I added softener sheets to the dryer.

    My point, much like doing laundry today, we have become a “soft” people, even in our Christian faith. I marvel when I attend a “Bible Church” how few people carry a Bible in with them. Today, we expect Pastor to project all scriptural references up on the big screen, so we don’t even have to look them up.

    Then we want the pastor to explain said Scripture to us in such a way that it makes sense. In some churches we may scribble a few notes on a sheet of paper, stuff it in the back of our Bible and once a month clean all said note papers out and toss them into the trash.

    How often do we pull those notes out of our Bible on Sunday afternoon and continue to study the passage our pastor worked so hard to share with us on Sunday morning? How often do we dig into our own Bible to find the golden nuggets buried there? In short, how hard do I work at growing “in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Chris?” (2 Pt. 3:18)

    You see my friends, someone still has to put the clothes in the washing machine before they can be cleaned. Likewise, we all need to put the Word of God into our lives so that our lives can be cleansed. Faith is an interesting critter: It is easy to be soft and expect someone else to feed me, or I can do the work and feed myself. The first produces soft Christians, the later produces growing Christians.

    Growing with you, Neal

  • Smiling on the inside!

    December 22, 2025

    And just like that, for the next six months our Lord will add a few minutes of daylight to each day. The “dark days of winter” are beginning to be replaced with the “the sunny days of summer!”

    Recently, Miss Deb and I were visiting about Matthew 17:20 where Jesus is talking about the power of faith: “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.” At first glance, this verse looks like it promises everyone who has “faith” the ability to literally move mountains, yet I believe that is not quite what Jesus is talking about here.

    In the time of Jesus, it was normal for a king from one land to wish to go visit the king of another land. Often such an excursion was planned well in advance. After all, there would need to be provisions, military support and an ample number of servants required to care for the king during his travels to a foreign land.

    If the expected journey was to take place on land, it was normal for the traveling king to send trusted servants to map-out a roadway for the king’s expected journey. These trusted servants would use slave labor to cut-down mountains and to make the roadway as straight and as level as possible. As such, the king’s faithful servants would literally move mountains on behalf of their king.

    Back to today’s verse, I believe that Jesus may well have been indicating that a person who possesses faith in God, could remove mountains (obstacles) for others, through prayer. Thus, it is a great responsibility to pray, asking our King to remove that which is impeding the journey of others.

    During our study, I mentioned to Miss Deb that it always makes me smile on the inside when someone asks me to pray for them concerning their struggle in obeying a command of Scripture. For you see, if a person is struggling with obedience, it means that the Holy Spirit is at work within that life and that causes me smile on the inside.

    One of the primary responsibilities of the Holy Spirt is to constantly remind a Christ-follower of anything that prevents us from fully obeying our Lord, a mountain if you will. Even though such a situation is seldom pleasurable for the Christian, it is imperative for that person’s spiritual growth. For spiritual growth increases faith, which according to Jesus Christ, is required to prayerfully remove obstacles. Thus, making the journey of the one struggling safer and easier as they travel toward their upward destination. Once again, the King has sent His trusted servant to prepare the way!

    If today you should learn of someone who is finding their spiritual journey to be a difficult one, take a moment to pray with that person. Encourage such a person to allow the Holy Spirit (the trusted Servant of the King) to do that which He needs to do to prepare the way for the King to work within that person’s life.

    Much like there being more daylight in the ensuing days before us, praying with and for others makes every day much brighter as well. So, pray, encourage those around you, while watching God do that which only He can do – move mountains!

    Smiling on the inside with you, Neal

  • Get To!

    December 20, 2025

    Today’s weather is a bit of a change from yesterday: Yesterday we had brown ground at 4 a.m., today it’s white. Though today will be 38 degrees cooler, the wind will be moving at 54 mph less speed; I reckon that’s a good trade. Once the “ol girl comes alive,” I will be able to put the Christmas lights back up and see what else yesterday’s wind rearranged.

    The “ol girl coming alive” is a statement my Uncle Clayton used often. He would look out thier kitchen window just before daylight, when there was just aglow to the east, and comment, “She’s coming alive.” We would then start our day.

    When I was at home, there was no such statement, I was told to get my ….. out of bed becasue, “We have work to do!” At my uncle’s, we started to work each morning because we had been given an opportunity, not just a responsibility. Two different views, but they both had an effect upon my daily attitude toward work. One was a have-to, while the other was a get-to.

    The work tended to be the same at both places: fixing fence, haying, moving cattle, pulling wells, putting out salt, fixing that which needed fixin’, but the attitude with which the work was completed made a heap of difference. Oh the difference between a get-to and a have-to.

    This same difference always shows up on a Sunday morning as well, we either get-to go to church, or we have-to go to church. Which attitude is portrayed around your outfit on Sunday morning? One comes with gentle nudging to get ready and to get loaded up in the vehicle. The other comes with commands and demands to get ready or else! It always seemed that the “have-to” attitude put a damper on everyone’s attitude for the rest of the day.

    Perhaps we should look at the example of our Heavenly Father to determine which method He prefers us to use. Out Heavenly Father never shouts and demands that we mature in our faith but instead is always encouraging us to draw closer to Himself, thus maturing in faith. Oh, the difference between encouraging and demanding.

    The apostle Paul challenged us to, “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another.” So, the question before us today is this, “Do I tend to encourage and build up?” or “Do I tend to discourage and tear down?” One is a “get-to” the other is a “have-to.”

    Just for fun, as Mother Nature begins to wake up this morning, may we each look at this day as a “get-to” instead of a “have-to.” I’m thinking that such an attitude will help our attitude and the attitude of those around us.

    In Philippians 2:5, we are told, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself…” If Jesus was willing to lower Himself to help us rise up, perhaps we should do the same for someone else today? The whole process of having a proper attitude seems to begin with humility.

    So as Uncle Clayton daily told me, “I reckon we should get out boots on, she’s comin’ alive,” Today, I say the same to each person reading this article. Will you have a get-to, or a have-to kind of day? It all depends upon your attitude. Just remember, attitude is always contagious.

    Putting on the attitude of Jesus with you, Neal

  • “How big is your God?”

    December 19, 2025

    Another day with the high temperature and the wind gusts matching, both around 60!

    How big is your God? Are there some things that even you god can’t do? – My God is all powerful! Are there some things that your god does not understand? – My God is all knowing! Do you often feel like your god is far away, too busy for you at times? – My God is always near and always caring! You see, the problem could be that you have a little god, while I have a great big GOD! Or could it be that too many people who confess faith in God, don’t really know God, and as such, don’t really experience God?

    If any of the above statements describe you, may I suggest that you read the Bible. For within the Bible we find that God is all powerful, all knowing, and always available to those who come to Him through Jesus Christ. There is a real difference between knowing about God, and knowing God.

    I would like to share a story with you that I first heard nearly forty years ago. “There was once a family who lived in a large city. This family went to church on Easter Sunday, a new church for them. They were so moved by the pastor’s message that the lady of the house suggested that they should invite the pastor to come to their home for lunch the next Sunday. The invitation was made and accepted.

    The following Saturday found the lady of the house cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. The popular magazines were all put in a drawer. The large variety of video games were also stowed away. The television remote was hidden, along with the highlighted directory that revealed their favorite TV programs, most of which she was sure that their new pastor would not watch. After all was shinny clean, she dug around in the library and finally found the family Bible. It too was dusted off and then placed on the coffee table that usually held all of items that were now safely hidden.

    As this lady thought about what she should be wearing when their pastor sat at their dining room table, she thought that she should probably wear a necklace with a cross on it instead of some of her designer jewelry. So, our dear lady got into her car and drove downtown to a very expensive jewelry store. Upon entering the store, she mentioned to the clerk that she was there to purchase a very nice necklace with a cross on it.

    The clerk responded, ‘We have an excellent variety of crosses right over here. Do you prefer silver or gold? Do you want a cross with the little guy on it or not?’ Our dear lady made her purchase and proudly displayed both the cross and the Bible the next day when the pastor came for lunch.” I know, this is just a story. But, perhaps this is a story that is lived our each and every day all across America?

    As long Jesus is the “little guy” on the cross, God will never be “Almighty God!” in your life. He will tend to be more of a lucky rabbit’s foot. You know, the God a person calls upon when said person cannot fix a situation by their own effort and influence. For such a person, they only have a small god.

    Just like the little boy in the story below, God is only GOD if you are walking closely with Him. That means you often read His “love letter to you,” usually called the Bible. It also requires that you have a love relationship with Him through the person of Jesus Christ, not just through baptism, church membership, by being a “good” person, or any of the other methods that humanity has devised. To know God, we have to know Him on His terms. (John 14:6)

    Knowing GOD with you, Neal

  • Opposites!

    December 18, 2025

    With 71 mph wind gusts, I think Miss Deb and I will just hunker down and work on our puzzle!

    On Tuesday one of our dear friends took a great trip. It’s a trip everyone will get to take eventually, though there are two different destinations. Yep, yesterday our friend walked away from this earth, and because of her deep faith in Jesus, she left this ‘ol ball of dirt behind and walked into heaven! I call that day, “Graduation Day.”

    Remember back to the day that you graduated high school? Do you remember the anticipation? It was the day that you left that school behind, to live the life that was before you! Graduation opened the door for the next level of your life! Well, that’s what death is like for the Christian. As we take our last breath here, we begin to live there! A whole new life with no pain, no struggles, no enemy, just abundant life – for eternity, walking with God!

    And for those who prefer to walk away from God, well there is an eternity waiting for those folks as well – that eternity in hell! So, let’s visit about that place for a moment: Hell is a place of complete isolation, no playing poker and drinking beer with friends. That makes hell the perfect place for the introvert because you will never be around another person, for all eternity. Just you, all alone, in constant torment.

    Look at Luke 16:19-31, here we find some statements about the condition of hell: It is “far away” from heaven – indicating in the “opposite direction.” Next, hell is the place where a person will eventually cry out to God, also hell is a place of “agony in this flame.”v.24 Note in verse 25, the person in heaven is “being comforted” while the person in hell is “in agony,” again a mention of opposites. Verse 27 reveals that the rich person who had denied God, soon becomes a beggar. Verse 28 clearly states that hell is a place of “torment.”

    Heaven is portrayed as a place of constant celebration, a place of peace and comfort, a place of being united with friends, family and other saints who are there, but more importantly, a place of walking joyously with Jesus! In heaven there is no torment, nor agony, nor flame of judgment – each of those are reserved for the opposite place.

    Could it be that is why Christians are to live their lives on earth as opposites of those who do not know Jesus. We will spend eternity being opposites. The amazing thing is that God allows every one of us to choose which place we want to spend eternity in. You see, God never sends anyone to hell, people choose to go there by refusing to accept God’s amazing gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

    Remember, opposites attract. As long as professing Christians live their lives just like folks who do not know Jesus, there is only judgment and strife. But when Christ-followers live lives that reveal the amazing grace and power of God, those around us will be drawn to Jesus. For the most part, we humans know when we are walking away from God, we need someone to help us walk toward God. And that someone is supposed to be everyone who knows Jesus Christ as Savior! Let’s do our part so the Holy Spirit can do His part.

    I close with this age-old statement, “This earth is all the heaven the unbeliever will ever know, and all of the hell the believer will ever know.” Sounds pretty much the opposite to me. So, do you want your heaven now or later? Your choice. “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” here and now, so that we can be with Him there, for ever!

    Yep, “Ma” graduated on Tuesday as Jesus welcomed her home!

    Spending eternity with God, and hopefully with you, Neal

  • “Let God be GOD!”

    December 17, 2025

    I know that I have mentioned today’s topic before, but some things bare repeating, especially when those things are the truth of God.

    In Psalm 46:10 we read, “Cease striving and know that I am God;” I know that I, and most likely we often make things more difficult than they need to be. The first time this phrase appears in the Bible is when the nation of Israel had just crossed the Red Sea and Pharoh’s army was closing in on them. Panicked, Moses askes what “he should do,” when God tells Him to “stand by and know that I am God.”

    Most often we want to understand the “cease striving” of Psalm 46:20 as being still, in a prayerful attitude, waiting for God to reveal His truth to us. Although this may be a great practice, it is not at all what this Psalm is teaching. Our Heavenly Father is really telling us something like this, “After you have prayed, after you have waited upon Me, “cease striving!” God is saying, there comes a time for you to quit trying to do something. He wants us to do nothing but to watch Him do what only He can do.

    In spite of our American technology, and even beyond AI, there is GOD! Sometimes we need to stop trying to do that which only He can do. There comes a time in every trying situation when God wants us to just stand by and watch Him do His part. Sound familiar? “Watch and see.” There is a time to pray, there is a time to take action, there is a time to gather the troops to help, but there is also a time to quietly wait for God to be GOD!

    Yep, I know, you are asking, “So when do I know when that time arrives?” Perhaps when you have done all that you can do, quit worrying, quit trying to find something new or different to do, and just let Him work – “watch and see.”

    I often marvel how God used non-Christian parents and friends to begin teaching me His principals and methods. As I often declare, “What an awesome God we serve!”

    Letting God be GOD with you, Neal

  • “Watch and see.”

    December 16, 2025

    Hang onto your Stetson, the wind is going to be screaming for the next four days! With all of the “weird” things going on around our world, this weather is like nothing I’ve ever seen this time of year, here in Wyoming. We should be knee deep in snow by now and instead we are having sixty degree days! Speaking with a good friend last night at the girls’ basketball game, I mentioned that I’m concerned that sooner or later we are going to pay for this beautiful weather. He agreed and added, “Yep it’s either going to completely snow us in, or we are headed into a severe drought.” I figure he is correct. I know our Lord has this whole thing figured out, all we have to do is “watch and see.”

    My dad was never one to do a lot of explaining about most situations. When I was in grade school, I would ask “how,” or “why” about something and his response was always, “watch and see.” In another words, “quit asking questions and just watch, you’ll figure it out.” He taught by example, not words.

    I remember a time when we were helping a neighbor work some cattle. We pushed about 50 head of momma cows and their babies into a fence corner, ’cause this ‘ol feller wanted to sort off a hand-full of pairs. Dad and I sat on the perimeter with our horses, loosely holding the bunch in the corner. The neighbor tied up his horse about thirty yards down the fenceline and commenced to sorting, on foot.

    I suggested to my dad that the ‘ol boy was going about this project all wrong, to which my dad commented, “watch and see.” Sure enough, Mr. Rancher got his pairs sorted out and we moved them to a different pasture. Once again, I needed to keep my opinions to myself and just “watch and see.”

    I was in my early teens when I and another older feller went to helping folks with their Fall cattle work. We worked cattle in more places and in more fashions than my compadre had ever seen before, but we always got the job done. One day we were helping a “city raised” neighbor work his cattle, and that which most folks would have called a wreck, turned out just fine when I convinced my friend to just “follow this ‘ol boy’s lead, his cows are plenty familiar with the process.”

    In another words, “watch and see.” It didn’t take too long before we had the cattle work completed and were eating a great lunch his little wife had prepared for us. On the way home, my friend commented, “I do believe that you could work cattle with a School Marm.” That was his way of saying that my “watch and see” method seemed to work, regardless if someone’s methods made sense to us or not.

    Sometimes I have to apply the “watch and see” mind set as I watch our Heavenly Father do things that I don’t completely understand. I’ve learned rather than ask God questions about “how” or “why” He is doing things, usually all I need to do is follow His lead as I “watch and see.” Often, our questions are a challenge to how God is going about a certain situation, yet if we just humbly follow His lead, most things get done just fine.

    After all, God has told us that His way of doing things is better than our way of doing things. In Isaiah 55:8 we read, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways, declares the Lord.” Within this passage God goes on to explain that His ways are much higher(better) than ours and all that He asks is that we walk in His ways so that He can use and bless us.

    For each of us, we have our “way” of doing things, and that is just fine, for around our outfit. But there are times that we get to help someone else, and at those moments we become like the commercial says, we are “young adults becoming like our parents” – we are sure that “the best way to do that is to do it the way I would do it.” However, we often need to just “watch and see” as God uses us to accomplish His much better ways. No questions, just follow His lead and we’ll get the job done.

    Practicing “watch and see” with you, Neal

  • Building upon difficulties.

    December 15, 2025

    At 4:30 a.m. we have 41 degrees, looking forward to 57 for today’s high. With a 9-mph breeze, I hope to get some more things buttoned up outside. Today will mark half-way for this last month of this year. Time sure enough is going by way too quickly.

    O.K., let me make it clear, I never once felt abused when I was a kid. Times and people were just different back then. You had to be tough to make a decent run at this thing called life. At a very young age, I realized that I was responsible for me. The kind of man I would become depended upon what I learned from being around other people. I had several examples of folks I did not want to become like, but on the other hand, I also had several examples of people that I tried really had to become like – they were fantastic folks who did their best to build positive traits into my life.

    I was extremely blessed in that I had several men who set the bar high for my life, and then they invested time into my development as someone who would know who he was. Yes, in a real sense, I was the community foster child to several great families. Each one showing me what unconditional love looked and felt like. They did their best to allow me to be a member of their loving family. Families I still cherish to this day. No, I was never abused nor used, I was greatly blessed and directed.

    In 1982, my Heavenly Father welcomed me into His family. A family of unconditional love, a family with high standards, a family that accepts each other where they are, but also a family that desires to help each person find their created purpose and live it to the max. Christianity really is about family! As a family, we love each other through good times and stand by each other during difficult times. We pray for and with others, always trusting All Mighty God to do His work within the lives of our family members.

    Perhaps the difficult years of my life help me to celebrate where and how I get to live now! I am so blessed to have an absolute soul mate for a wife. She blessed me with three amazing little ones who are now great parents, individuals and people who care for other people in genuine ways. And from the three, we have received a passel of grandchildren, and now we are being blessed with great-grand-children! I LOVE our family!

    And then there are the church families that Miss Deb and I have been blessed to get to be a part of over these last 40+ years. We have been given deep relationships all over this country (we spent yesterday afternoon with one of those groups of dear family members). Man, what a life we have lived, and what a life we look forward to living, until our Lord calls us to come and spend eternity at His house!

    No, I am not abused, I am abundantly blessed! I have experienced the truth that the difficult circumstances of this world are God’s way of giving us two choices: we can either become bitter or better. Please, allow the difficulties of your life to be the hands of God, shaping you into who He wants you to become. After all, if we work with God, it sure makes this journey way more enjoyable.

    Jesus tells us that “each day has enough troubles of its own.” Use those troubles to help you build a solid foundation to stand on, holding onto the hand of Jesus all the way. I join the Apostle Paul in stating, “but not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, … “(Rms.5:3-5) “Tribulation,” difficult times, are intended to help us become who God wants us to be, or they can help us remain who Satan wants us to be. We each have to decide which one we will work with, realizing that we will live with that family for eternity. As Joshua stated, “I choose God.” (paraphrase)

    Choosing to follow God with you, Neal

  • Blessed to be a blessing!

    December 14, 2025

    Eight degrees with heavy frost, headed for 56 for a high, and I can wear my Stetson today!

    From the time I was around seven years old, I got loaned out a lot. That is, I would leave our house at daylight, or sometimes the night before, to ride to a neighbor’s place to work for him for one to three days usually, sometimes for a week. It was always scarry sleeping at someone else’s place, usually in an old building or a barn. Every now and then, I would score sleeping in a basement. The even scarier part though was having to eat at some of the outfits I went to.

    We had one neighbor lady who would place all of the dirty dishes and silverware on a board that stayed on the floor of their kitchen. After placing all of the dirty dishes on that board, she would open the door and let three coyote hounds in, they would lick everything clean. She would then wipe each item with the bottom of her crusty apron and put everything back in the cupboard, ready for the next meal.

    Another ‘ol gal that I had to work for on a regular basis, carried a switch with her all of the time. If I wasn’t working fast enough or doing things the way she wanted, I got the switch. Boy, she could leave my legs and backside looking like a zebra, cussing like a crazy woman all of the time she was laying it on. But I reckon I survived.

    The work done for a neighbor usually involved working cattle in some form, haying, or fixing fence. I enjoyed one of those and dreaded the other two. But I had been raised to do my part, no matter the task. I remember one time, I was handed a shovel, directed to the family out-house and told to dig a hole beside the present structure. It was to be four feet by four feet and six feet deep. Oh ya, it was also out in the open, in July, so it was terrible hot, and the ground was like cement. And to top that, the new hole was to be on the east side of the existing outhouse, of course, the breeze was out of the west. I would have quit if I could of, but that was never an option.

    Every now and then, one of the neighbors would pay my folks for my labor. Those funds were always used by my mom to buy groceries or something needed. I learned at a very young age that we all worked to keep our outfit afloat, not for personal gain. I think I was probably in junior high before I was allowed to keep a paycheck for my own use. I cashed it and took both of my little sisters to the local ice cream shop the next time we were in town. Of course, we brought dad and mom both an ice cream cone back with us!

    By the time I was in high school, I bought all of my own clothes, school supplies, and footwear. A pair of new boots would cost a feller twenty to thirty dollars, a week’s wages, if I got paid at all for helping neighbors. There was no need to grumble or complain about any of it, it was just the way things were.

    Yet now as a Christ-follower, I marvel at how my Heavenly Father took such good care of me and how He always met my needs, and He is still doing the same! When I look back at some of the places I had to work, some of the folks I had to work for, and some of the conditions I had to survive under, I know that God had a plan for my life, or I would have been dust long ago.

    And today, I get to teach the adult Sunday School at our local church! Not because I’m anything special, but because that is what the Holy Spirit has equipped me to do. He gives spiritual gifts and opportunities as He sees fit, and that excites me. I’m constantly amazed at the opportunities the Spirit has given me, to help, to encourage and to bless others. I don’t think my dad had any idea that he was training me to be “other” focused, but I’m sure glad that he did. After all, I get to keep today’s pay checks – no not money, but great hugs, smiles and the blessing of seeing folks fall in love with Jesus!

    You see my friends, most often our Heavenly Father doesn’t put a dollar benefit with helping others, but He sure provides and protects. I constantly marvel that I get to serve the greatest King this world has ever known!

    So, how about your life? Do you serve the King of Heaven, or the king of cash? When everything we do has to have a dollar amount tied to it, we miss the blessing of being a blessing. For you see, according to God’s promise to Abraham, we are blessed to be a blessing, not to get rich. After all, how was it that Jesus said it, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” A person’s soul is that part of you that makes you, you. Our soul contains several elements of who we really are, including our emotions and desires. Chasing money has a way of negatively impacting both of those.

    Being a blessing with you, Neal