Pastor's Devotions by Tim Harris

This past week I’ve been working on re-staining and re-sealing my deck. In the process, I’ve run into one obstacle and challenge after another. Thankfully, one of the men in our church who has a flooring company sent out one of his guys to sand down the whole deck and apply the new stain. Unfortunately, the stain I had bought was not what I thought it was, so now I have a deck with a stain and color I absolutely hate! Ugh!   On the other hand, I need to remind myself, compared to what many people are facing in their lives today (even some of you), the difficulties I’ve had with my deck this week are pretty trivial.  After all, when I think of the loss families in Uvalde, Texas are facing as they bury their little ones, the stain on my deck is of little to no real concern. I may not like the color that it turned out to be, but I’m not standing beside a casket weeping over my 10 year old child. I may have an extra task or two on my hands, but I’m not having to live with the empty seat at

As many of you know, I’m pretty regular in maintaining an exercise routine.  I’m usually in the gym or running—or something—at least five days per week. At times, however, I have found myself trying to figure out the best and most efficient routine for both building muscle and increasing cardio.  That’s where having a training plan has been a big help.  This past winter, I downloaded an app with a weight training plan. And, it seems to be working (I think!). Oh, I’ll never be “jacked,” but following a plan is helping me develop a bit more muscle mass. And most recently, I’ve been looking at training plans for running a half marathon—a goal I’ve set for myself. After all, I know I can’t go from running a 5K to a half marathon overnight. It’s going to take time to prepare my body to run the 13.1 miles required. But that’s where having a training plan comes into play.  The Apostle Paul understood this well. Thus he wrote, “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.” (1

By now we are all aware of the fact that the price for a gallon of gasoline has soared. For reasons too complicated to get into (for they are many and varied), we are all feeling the effect of sticker shock when we go to fill up our tanks. Hopefully, the current prices at the pump won’t last forever.  As I casually talk to people about what’s happening in our economy, and especially the soaring gas prices, it’s pretty easy to tell who is becoming stressed out by it all. As gas prices go up (and the cost of other things as well), there are those who can’t help but go on a rant and point fingers. Their stress level seems to be going through the roof. Often their stress turns into an anger that you can hear in their voice or even see on their face. And, I think to myself I really don’t want to go down that road—i.e., I don’t want my emotional state to be tied to the price at the pump!  Like you, I am not at all happy about what I have to pay at the pump these days. And, sometimes I do fin

On April 25, 2022 our family welcomed its newest addition, Jonathan “Jack” Michael, born to our son Jonathan and his wife Danielle. That means Kim and I are grandparents twice over! We are so excited. And, we were glad to have been able to go down to where they live in Maryland last weekend and spend a few days with them, getting to know little Jack, playing with big brother Jesse, and helping them with some of the chaos that comes along with a newborn coming home.  We are grateful that, ours is a growing family. And in many ways, that’s the way it’s supposed to be. Now I know there are many situations in which that is not possible, some by choice and some by circumstances, often difficult ones, out of one’s control. But the general trajectory of life is for one generation to bring forth another generation—i.e., for families to be growing. Or as God instructed Adam and Eve, for married couples to be “fruitful and multiply.” Families were meant to grow.  I’m reminded, however, that such