Pastor's Devotions by Tim Harris

As you may already know, about three weeks ago Kim and I adopted a new dog, Sadie.   Well, I’m happy to report Sadie is doing very well.   She is eating well, sleeping well, and adjusting well to our schedule.   She still has some things to learn, but we already love her a ton—and, she seems to really love us. When we are home, she follows us all over the house. When we’re walking her, she will turn around, look up, and sometimes give us her dog-grin, letting us know she’s happy.   And, it seems that she waits for that time, when late in the evening, we finally sit down and she can jump up and snuggle next to us, even falling asleep on our laps.   Sadie is definitely enjoying the good things of having a home! Sadie enjoying the good things of home! You see, it wasn’t that long ago that Sadie was in shelter—actually, first in a crowded shelter in South Carolina and then moved up to a shelter here in Monmouth County. I’m sure the workers in the shelters did their best

When I was growing up in Monsey, NY (about 40 miles north of New York City), we had a home with a about ¼ of an acre of property. When we moved there in 1963 there were a number of fruit trees in our backyard: a cherry tree, an Italian plum tree, and a pear tree.   As people who had come out of the city, my parents didn’t really know how to properly take care of fruit trees. Thus, over time a branch would die here and there, and my dad would have to cut it off. Then, another branch would die, and my dad would cut it off.   After a few years, there was really nothing left and the whole tree had to be cut down. Such was the case for the cherry tree and the plum tree.   The pear tree, however, had a bit of a different history.   For quite a number of years our pear tree survived with but one major branch yet alive. Every other year it would produce a bountiful harvest of fruit. Those were great years. During the in-between years, however, it would produce but one or two

Yesterday, Kim and I took the plunge, we got a new dog.   She’s a 3-year old mixed breed with a gentle temperament who likes to be with people, yet who is somewhat active. She, along with her litter of puppies (all of whom have been subsequently adopted), came from an over-crowded shelter in South Carolina. Once having decided to adopt her, we needed to quickly come up with a name for her. When she arrived at the shelter here in Monmouth County, she had the name Rosie. They weren’t quite sure if that was actually her name or if the shelter down south just pinned it on her.   The problem was, this shelter already had a Rosie, so they gave her the name Cherry Blossom for their own advertising purposes.   It was a name, however, to which she had no connection. In fact, when we first met her, she seemed not to respond to any name. So again, our first task was to come up with a name. And, that we did; we named her Sadie—which my Aunt Sally told me is a nickname for Sara (