The View From My Window Pastor's Weekly Blog

I was watching the news the morning after Christmas when I saw that many of the stores were opening early with expectations of after Christmas shopping crowds. I had several things to return so I jumped in the car and got to three stores before 8 a.m.

There was a little snow on the ground that may have deterred some people but I was virtually alone in each of the stores I visited! There were roped off areas, signs to direct people and many clerks available but almost no shoppers. With stores opening on Thanksgiving, staying open until midnight on Christmas Eve, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday, Free Shipping Friday… maybe what we really need is a few more days without ANY shopping. There was a time we used to do that once a week!

There’s something peaceful about quiet streets and empty shopping centers. I know what you’re thinking: “But you were shopping the day after Christmas, Pastor!” No, I was returning – they lost money on me.

– Pastor Joel Everhart

Happy New Year! A fresh slate; a clean page; it’s time to reflect on the past and set some goals for the future. It could also be a good time for some pork and sauerkraut.

In everyone’s life there should be some time for celebration as well as perspiration. For many of us, we get a little extra time off during the holidays to relax and enjoy ourselves (whether that’s what we do with the time or not is largely up to us).

Others actually have to work overtime during this festive time of year because of the type of business they’re in. Still others make the festivities themselves labor and stress! They snap at others that laze around or think poorly of those that relax. Some of us would rather be busy than sit around; others are quite the opposite.

So why not let everyone enjoy what they do best? And let not the worker think ill of the relaxed ones among us when we’d rather be serving anyway. However, come January 2nd … everyone back to work!

– Pastor Joel Everhart

Merry Christmas to you and yours! Thank you for all your kind remembrances of my wife and me during this wonderful time of the year.

Having a new grandbaby in the family renews our wonder of babies: how beautiful they are and how quickly they grow. Our daughter-in-law tells us how captivated she is by the son in her arms even though we know there have been a number of fussy times (he’s cutting two teeth at 3½ months!). She tells us that Parker doesn’t just roll over he’s a regular gymnast in his sleep. What a great gift for God to give to the world: a baby!

I wonder if the shepherds and wise men got to hold Him? Luke 2:28 says, “Simeon took [baby Jesus] in his arms and praised God”. Not only were children later welcomed into Jesus’ lap; I have to wonder how many laps He had crawled into while He was growing up. Maybe there were grandparents, uncles, aunts, and friends of the family He felt especially close to. From the very beginning people were welcome to “behold Him” and even to hold Him.

When Jesus came He shared His life with us, His whole life, even the joys of touch and warmth – and He still does – Merry Christmas!

– Pastor Joel Everhart

Wow, it was a tough drive home from church last Sunday morning! I have a four wheel drive SUV but drove my car because they said the icy stuff wouldn’t happen till later in the afternoon.

Traffic stopped on 194 just south of Abbottstown and the lady in front of me couldn’t get moving again. Try as I might I just couldn’t push her by myself; I looked up to a line of cars in either direction as far as I could see but no one else got out to help. Only after she backed to the side of the road did three young people from way back in the line come walking up; with their help we were able to get the lady on her way freeing everyone else in line.

Because we were on the knoll of a hill no one could pass safely; our only hope was to get everyone moving yet everyone was waiting for someone else to do something. Working together we all got on our way safely … seems like there’s a lesson in there somewhere.

– Pastor Joel Everhart

We greatly enjoyed having our son Josh, his wife Andrea, and their new baby Parker home for the week of Thanksgiving. There is something surreal about seeing your kids take care of a baby.

I really appreciated my wife’s organizational skills as we prepared for the visit and all our friends that loaned us baby equipment! You basically have to remodel your house when a baby is coming to stay for a while. But what I most appreciate is the fact that those old baby watching skills seem to come back when you need them. I was able to take the early morning shift with Parker which allowed his parents to enjoy some well deserved sleep. Even though the baby had a few fussy times (nothing compared to when our kids had colic) I remained calm and seemed to know what to do.

There’s a relaxedness about being a grandpa that may not have been as pronounced when I was a dad (their having colic probably had something to do with that). Barb noted how very comforting it is to hold a sleeping baby. A new life in a family, even when its sleeping, sure adds new life to a family.

– Pastor Joel Everhart

For a brief instant we had our grandson to hold but now Thanksgiving is past, relatives have dispersed, and for a short time we focus on the major holiday of the season. In the blink of an eye Christmas will have come and gone.

There will be moments when the wind chill causes us to grit our teeth as we recognize that it is indeed wintertime. But just as we think we can’t take the cold any longer, spring will arrive and we will once again dash through summer.

All of life goes by so quickly. Be thankful, give generously, laugh often, love extravagantly for life is short and days like these are precious. Soon each one of us will appear before God to give an account of how we lived. The Bible tells us that God puts more emphasis on how we finish than on any other part of our life. So finish well. Put on your track shoes. Run in such a way as to win the race and finish with a burst.

Not that you need to get busier or become more stressed; certainly not! Deepen your roots into the Lord, become more serious about serving others and never miss an opportunity to express God’s love to another human being. Everybody runs; few run well.

– Pastor Joel Everhart