Pastor's Devotions by Tim Harris

As some of you may know, a couple of weeks ago was my 60 th birthday.   I know…you don’t need to say it… I don’t look a day over 59!   Well, to celebrate, just about my whole family got together for dinner, birthday cake, and time around the fire pit in our backyard.   And, there were gifts to help make turning 60 a little bit easier; after all, who doesn’t like to get a birthday present? My “kids” all chipped in and bought me a really cool gift: a Garmin GPS watch to help me keep track of my running, cycling, swimming, etc. It connects to GPS, Bluetooth, and WIFI. It keeps track of distance, location, and speed while playing music through one’s headphones. It also keeps track of one’s heart rate, calories burned, oxygen levels, and steps taken during the day.   Oh, by the way, it also tells time and gives the day and date!   My first recorded run on my new watch! So here I am at 60 years old not only keeping track of time that just s...

--> As Kim and I arrived at the small cabin by the lake in the Adirondacks that her parents have owned since 1986, immediately things felt very different. Since 1986, we’ve not missed a summer at “the cabin.” Our kids have not missed a summer there.   When they were younger, they sometimes spent up to three weeks with grandma and grandpa swimming, boating, hiking, etc. Each time we arrived, there was always lots of excitement as we drove down the long driveway towards the lake. Usually grandma and grandpa would come out to meet us; they were as excited as the kids were that, for at least a time, we would all be together at “the cabin.”   And welcoming us from the flower boxes under the window, there were always red geraniums. This year was different.   When Kim and I arrived at the cabin, it was quiet. It had not yet been opened for the summer. For the first time in over 30 years, mom and dad (grandma and grandpa) were not there. They had not been we...

The other day as I was sitting at my desk, an alarm on my phone sounded so loudly that it startled me and caused me to jump in my chair. It was a flash flood warning from the National Weather Service. Summer thunder storms were rolling into our area bringing heavy rain and the potential for flash flooding.   Before we knew it, the sky was lit up with lightening, thunder was roaring, and rain was coming down in buckets. And, the church parking lot along with the roads around us became rivers of flowing water. Thankfully, we didn’t experience any major flooding, at least not on the roads I had to take home. And since it was a Wednesday, our night at the church for our kids and youth programs and adult prayer, I was glad the storms passed relatively quickly so that people were able to make it out.   Although I was thankful for the warning, I was more thankful the flooding didn’t actually occur in any major way.   Ironically, one of the scriptures that...