Pastor's Devotions by Tim Harris

Over the past few weeks, I’ve spent a lot of time sitting with my dad, first in the hospital and now in the nursing/rehabilitation center.   In fact, I’ve probably never spent so much time with him—at least not in such extended periods of time.   And, what I’ve learned over the past few weeks is, we don’t always have to talk.   Sometimes it’s enough to just sit in silence.   For one, due to his illness, my dad has limited speech capacities. Thus, from his end of it, it is hard and exhausting for him to carry on an extended conversation.   But, secondly, in light of all that is taking place, so many of the things we would normally talk about seem so trivial. Although he still likes to know what is going on with the rest of the family and in the world around, it can seem so trite to talk about where we are going for dinner, the latest sale in the supermarket, and how the Yankees are doing.   Not that we don’t talk about any of that, but after a while it ...

Without getting into too many details, these past couple of weeks have been very, very hard for my family and me.   My 85 year old dad who, up until the beginning of the year was relatively healthy, active, and independent, was suddenly hospitalized and is now facing some very difficult health issues—illness that will gravely affect whatever time he has left in this life.   These past couple of weeks, my siblings and I have spent much of our time with my dad in the hospital and now in a rehabilitation-nursing facility—all while trying to also take care of our mom (and our own families and jobs).   For me, the hardest part of it all is seeing the man who to me was so strong and invincible now so frail and in need.   It is strange for me to have to help him get up out of a wheelchair to get to the bathroom, to help him wash his face or brush his teeth, or have to watch over him as he eats his meals.   He was the one who always took care of us. He was the ...

Back in the month of January, Kim and I arrived home late one Friday evening on one of those very, very cold nights that we have been having throughout this winter.   Of course we couldn’t wait to get into the warmth of the house. But when I put the key in the door lock and turned it, I found that although the key turned, the door would not unlock.   The lock had broken.   We couldn’t get the door open—and we have no other door by which to enter or leave the house. Kim and I were locked out—stuck on the outside! Thankfully our daughter Joanna was home; she was actually locked on the inside. After a bit of discussion through the door and trying to figure things out, Joanna opened a front window, I found a chair, and at 11:45 p.m. on a freezing cold Friday night, Kim and I were climbing into our house through the window!   (We were hoping none of our neighbors would see us and call the cops!)   Once we were inside, like Joanna, we were now locked in. But, bet...

Have you ever had what is called, “writer’s cramp?”   It’s when a writer sits down to work on a book or article—or whatever it might be that he or she is working on—and they are stuck. They have no ideas. They don’t know where to start. They feel as if they have nothing to say.   Their mind is completely blank.   I hate to admit it, but that is how I felt this morning as I sat down to write this Pastor’s Devotion.   I tried to review the events of this past week.   I thought about what I have been doing, what I’ve been reading and hearing in the news, as well as conversations I’ve had. I thought about my kids, the dog, and the weather. And, of course, I looked in the Bible.   But, my mind was blank.   Nothing was connecting.   Nothing inspired me.   I had a bad case of writer’s cramp.   I know this is a terrible thing to admit to those of you who are now reading this, but it is the way I was feeling this morning.   So, wher...

As I was walking our dog the other day, I realized that all around me were hardened mounds of snow, lining the roads, driveways, and sidewalks. They seemed frozen into the landscape, as if they have always been there. Worse than that, right now it feels as if they will always be there! At this point in the season, the hardened mounds of snow that surround us make us feel as if we will forever be stuck in a perpetual winter! (What a dreadful thought!) Thankfully, we all know such will not be the case.   Although it may appear as if those mounds of snow are here to stay, a bit of warm weather, along with some rain and warming sunshine will together work their magic and slowly melt away the snow. Before we know it, the grass will begin to appear, the flowers will burst through, and the leaves will begin to bud.   Soon it will be spring! And, we will look back barely remembering what we once thought were mounds of snow that would last forever . We all have seasons in our ...