Pastor's Devotions by Tim Harris

I know I might sound like a bragging father, but last Friday my son Nathaniel’s tennis team won their division championship.   Not only that, but the win came about in particular by Nathaniel and his doubles partner, Will, winning their match, beating the only team that had thus far defeated them all season.   And not only that, but Nathaniel hit the final winning shot of the game!   Thus, on Saturday morning, after seeing that the high school sports page of the Bergen Record had a big article on Nathaniel and Will, I bought three copies of the paper!   Yeah, I know I sound like an excited dad!   Well, I am!   There is a really good Yiddish word that describes really well how I have been feeling about Nathaniel and his whole team.   It’s a word that my grandmother used to use time an again, especially when she had all of her grandchildren around her or when one of them did something that really made her proud. The word is kvell.   My grandmother would say she was kvel

Last Saturday afternoon, I was at Flushing Meadows Park in Queens, NY having a great day with the people from our churches PIF, CityVine, and La Vina.   That morning we had run a 5K to raise funds for our project in Nicaragua.   The run was followed by a celebration BBQ.   In spite of some drizzly rain, we ran, ate, played Frisbee, etc.   Then it was time for me to leave.   And when I got back to my car, I couldn’t believe what I saw.   Glass was everywhere! The window of one of the rear doors of my car had been smashed in and my briefcase was gone.   Thankfully, I had decided to leave my computer home that morning. I’m sure the thief was greatly disappointed! Nonetheless, I had a smashed window. I thought to myself as I was cleaning out the glass, I should have known better.   I remember leaving my briefcase on the floor of the backseat area, thinking that the black briefcase on the black carpet would go undetected. And besides, I thought, it was the middle of the da

Since early January, my son Jonathan was doing his study abroad in Costa Rica (along with side trips to Nicaragua and Cuba).  During that time we communicated via email and Skype whenever we could.  And, we were thankful for the communication available to us.  But as you probably know, there is nothing like being face to face with the people you love. Well, last Thursday we were reunited in Leon, Nicaragua.  I was in the midst of leading a meeting for the parents of the children who attend our school there.  In the back of my mind I knew that Jonathan, who had taken a bus from San Jose, Costa Rica at 3 a.m. that morning, was now on his way by cab from Managua to Leon.  About halfway through the meeting some of the teachers began to stir and left the room.  Out of the corner of my eye I could see down the walkway to where a white cab had pulled up and I knew that Jonathan had arrived.  A few minutes later, our school’s director led Jonathan into the room.  In front of the staff