Pastor's Devotions by Tim Harris

It’s a week after Christmas And all through the house Not a carol is playing By a man or his spouse The cookies are eaten The children are gone The lights are still shining But, not for too long The church pews are empty The stores are less full The gifts are returned There’s a soft gentle lull Some are relieved Others are sad Everyone’s tired Many are glad… Glad it’s all over It’s time to move on Into the New Year The job is now done But, the meaning of Christmas That child in a stall The babe in a manger, He’s still with us all!   His star still shines brightly The angels still sing We join them in chorus   Good news they yet bring! Yes, the holiday’s over But, Jesus still lives He fills us with joy His grace he still gives. His love’s everlasting His salvation is strong So, let’s celebrate Christmas All the year long! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!  Pa

This Christmas is a little different for me than most. With the passing of my mom this past Sunday and her funeral service yesterday, it seems the joy of Christmas has become mixed with the sense of sorrow and grief that I am yet feeling over her death.   Although I will continue to celebrate Christmas—after all, it is still the remembrance of our Savior’s birth—in the back of my mind and recesses of my soul there is a twinge of pain.   I know I’m not the only one who feels this way.   For countless people, the Christmas season is not always a season of joy.   Many, as they gather around their dinner tables, will be struck by the fact that their child, parent, loved one or friend is no longer there to celebrate with them. Others are feeling the pain of loneliness or the emptiness that seems to surface during a holiday season such as this.   Some will find themselves in hospital rooms, some in nursing homes, others in prisons—not exactly places where one plans to celebrate Christma

We all love the movies about miracles that take place at Christmastime.   I can’t wait to once again watch this year the most famous of all, “Miracle on 34 th St.”   But this year as I was decorating the outside of our house with Christmas lights, I felt like I had my own little miracle of Christmas. Last year, just after the Christmas season was over, I took a trip to Nicaragua.   While I was away, Kim took down the outside lights. It wasn’t until one day in August, as I was working on the lawn, I discovered that the little blue spruce at the very front of our lawn still had its strands of lights on it.   Kim hadn’t seen them there.   I decided since we were only a few months away from Christmas, and since they weren’t visible to anyone, I would just leave them and replace them when the time came to put up the lights for the season.   However, as I was putting up our lights a couple of weeks ago, before taking them off the tree, I decided to plug them in to see if they just migh

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at our house. The Christmas tree is up.   The lights are on. The Christmas music is playing.   And, the packages are showing up at the front door! Yes, I’ll admit it: I did a bunch of shopping on Cyber-Monday.   That’s right, Monday night I got on my computer and shopped at Amazon and on a bunch of other websites.   After all, for the diversity of things I bought, it was not just about better prices but about the time it would have taken me to go from store to store, look through the shelves, try to get a salesperson to find an item for me, etc.   It’s true, shopping online can be not only a means of saving money, but also saving time and energy.   Yet I find, there is something missing. For me, Christmas shopping is meant to be an experience. There’s something about getting out with the crowds, talking with a salesperson, chatting with that person behind you while standing on line. There’s something about shopping in person and be