Pastor's Devotions by Tim Harris

I’m feeling quite disappointed this morning. Since my recovery from my back surgery was going so well, Kim and I had planned to visit our grandsons this weekend—along with their parents! Earlier this week, however, my back muscles went into spasms (which the doctor’s office says can happen as the muscles heal) and I’ve been in pain since. Such being the case, I knew I couldn’t make the four hour drive or function all that well away from home. Thus, we had to cancel our trip.    Thankfully, I’m beginning to feel better. But it has felt like a major step backwards in my healing process. After all, I felt like I was making really good progress. I was able to get in and out of bed normally, go for walks without any pain, and in general feel like my overall mobility was coming back. This week, however, has set me back. Thus, I knew I couldn’t make the trip. Again, I’m feeling quite disappointed; I was so looking forward to seeing “the boys.”  This is not the first time in my l...

Here in the Northeast, we’ve experienced some drastic changes in our weather this week. For a couple of days it was sunny and warm, up to almost 80 degrees, giving us a taste of what is to come. Yesterday however, the temperatures plunged throughout the day by almost 40 degrees, taking us down into the low 30’s. Not only that, but for a couple of hours it was snowing! Thankfully the snow didn’t stick. But this morning, in spite of the sun shining, the temperatures were once again below freezing. I guess, that’s the month of March for you!  I think we would all agree, the weather is not the only thing within our lives that can quickly change.  One day life feels warm and sunny, everything seems to be going so well; the next day the clouds roll in and a chill takes over our bodies and souls. We move through various seasons within our lives that bring about all kinds of change—some that may be expected, some that catches us off guard. And as life changes, we reach for those thing...

After my spinal surgery three weeks ago, I was emphatically told “NO BLT’s!”  I know what you’re thinking: Why can’t you eat a BLT after spinal surgery? Well that’s not what it means. Rather the instruction is, “No bending, lifting, or twisting.” And that is easier said than done.  Think of all the times during your day when you have to bend down or lift something or twist your body.  There’s something on the floor that you need to pick up so you just naturally bend down to get it. You want to move that bag of bird seed or dog food, so you lift it and carry it to where you need it to be. You hear something or someone behind you so you twist your body to see what or whom it is. Probably hundreds of times a day we bend, lift, and twist!  So as you can imagine, it has been quite a challenge for me to follow the doctor’s orders. I need to constantly remind myself to use the “grabber” as I call it, to pick up what I just dropped. I have to tell myself, “Don’t lift that ba...