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Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church |
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A Mid-Week Message from Rev. Dean May 12th - Best Signs
I saw a sign this weekend that put a smile on my face. This sign was not put up by a business but rather by a 6-year-old girl who lives two doors down from us. The sign was not done in letters on a billboard, but in chalk at the end of her driveway. The words were not elaborate but quite simple HAPPY MOTHERS DAY.
Four times a day I would walk by the sign done in chalk at the end of the driveway and smile each time. I envisioned the pride and joy the 6-year-old girl had doing this sign. I thought as well of the smile on the face of her mother each time she saw the sign at the end of her driveway. I thought about moms in our neighbourhood out for a walk seeing this sign and being uplifted. It was a simple sign done in chalk, but with such love. I hope this little girl does the same sign for Fathers Day as she did for her mom this weekend.
There are many signs to be seen around town right now due to the Sign War that is happening. Brantford businesses began this Sign War Challenge as a way to uplift people during the pandemic and to have some fun. Places participating in the Sign Wars come up with catchy phrases about themselves and challenge others on their signs. The Sign War has made its way out to Mount Pleasant. Our church was the first to start this challenge last week when we posted this message on our sign out front:
No Sign War Here: We Are Too Pleasant #signwars
It did not take long for other groups in the village to get in on the Sign Wars. Read more
A Mid-Week Message from Rev. Dean May 5th - All Because of a Mother
A teacher I know posted this message last week: FYI DADS, your children will NOT be bringing home handmade Mothers Day gifts from school. You have 9 days to get something prepared.
This message is a reminder of the times we find ourselves in right now due to COVID-19. Prior to the pandemic, dads could count on their children bringing home gifts from their school to bless their moms with. This year dads, as opposed to teachers, will have to be the creative thinkers when it comes to gifts from the kids to moms. My dad was fortunate that there was no pandemic during his lifetime as I think he would have struggled coming up with an idea for me to make something for my mother.
This message did get me thinking about the only gift I can remember making my mother at school and bringing home for Mothers Day. The gift was a card I made when I was in kindergarten. Naturally my mom kept the card, and she gave it back to me as a reminder twenty years ago this week. It was an appropriate time for her to give it back to me as I used it on that Mothers Day Sunday in 2001 in my childrens story.
The reason why I remember that story is I was preaching for a call at Petrolia and Knox Dawn on Mothers Day Sunday in 2001. As I showed this card and did my story some of the people said to me after it was at that moment in the service when God confirmed to them, I was the minister He was sending them. When I think back, it was very fitting that it was a Mothers Day Sunday that I would preach for a call and use a gift I had given to my mother 32 years earlier as a prop. Read more
A Mid-Week Message from Rev. Dean April 28th - My Time When Time Failed Me
Time is failing me right now. More specifically, my Toronto Maple Leafs watch is failing to keep proper time right now. During the course of each day, it seems to fall 5-10 minutes behind proper time. Frequently I have to check the proper time and reset my watch. My watch obviously needs a new battery. I imagine some of you are thinking it is not the battery but the fact that it is a Toronto Maple Leafs watch which is why it is falling behind. Some of you probably have a few good comments to send to me right now like: - Dean, your watch is just reminding you that the Leafs will fall out in the first round of the play-offs again! - Or Dean, your watch is telling you that you have to fall back to 1967 to the last time they won a Stanley Cup. - Or Dean your watch is telling you that your team never keeps up with expectations.
And if any of you are thinking about getting me a Montreal Canadiens watch right now, do not bother because I am not that desperate to know the proper time! It is the battery, not the fact that it is a Toronto Maple Leafs watch, that is failing to keep proper time. I would go to my favourite jewelry store to get the battery replaced but I cannot due to the current lockdown. I cannot believe that Doug Ford does not deem it essential that a Leafs fan like should be able to get a battery replaced in his favourite team watch!
I am not blaming Doug Ford for these lockdowns, but sadly, many are blaming him and our federal leaders. There is a lot of blaming going on in the newspapers and on TV right now about how our political leaders and medical officers have been handling this pandemic. You have probably read or heard some of the blame and complaints. Read more
A Mid-Week Message from Rev. Dean April 21st - How One Family Coped
Neighbours of ours recently had to put down their dog after 14 years. Daisy would sometimes meet up with their dog for walks and enjoy sniffing around the neighbourhood. I would sometimes refer to this dog as her boyfriend because she was always excited to walk beside him.
There has been an emptiness and void in their family life since the passing of their dog. One thing that impressed me though is the efforts they have gone to in order to cope through their loss. Early into the loss they started going for walks with one of their neighbours whenever she walked her dog. The family found comfort to still being able to go out for walks even though it was not with their own dog.
After doing this a few times the mother and daughter began taking the dog for walks on their own. One day the two of them stopped in front of our house with the dog and you could see the smiles on their faces from being able to do this despite their own loss.
They decided a few weeks ago it was time they got their own dog. The daughter began looking online and found a litter of five puppies. She called the breeder and was first told they were all spoken for, but shortly after, one family backed out. There was one of the puppies that really caught their eye and they hoped this would be the puppy they would get to choose. Their wish came true. After the first three people chose the puppy they wanted, our neighbours got to pick the one they had hoped for which was the runt of the litter. Read more
A Mid-Week Message from Rev. Dean April 14th - Finding Food Around the House
By now many of you have been introduced to our dog Daisy. Last week I shared how she loves to jump on the ottoman strategically placed at our front window to chase squirrels and chipmunks away from our bird feeders. You have also learned that often it is when I am walking Daisy that God gives me inspiration for my mid-week messages. Daisy is my inspiration for this message too.
Our dog has a tendency to take the food from her bowl and eat it at various locations throughout the house. Sometimes she will come into the living room and chomp away at her food on the rug. Other times she will carry it upstairs jumping up on one of our beds to chew away. Other times she will take it out to the pool area and eat away at it while we are in the backyard. It would be great if she would eat the food over her bowl in the kitchen but that is not our Daisy.
Sometimes, however, Daisy will carry her food to different locations in our house and leave it somewhere uneaten. I do not know if she gets distracted or excited by something else, but it results in us finding some of her dog food pellets in the strangest locations. Read more A Mid-Week Message from Rev. Dean April 7th - A Reminder at My Bird Feeder
The weather was so beautiful on Easter Sunday that after the service and my afternoon nap, I took time to refill our bird feeders. I know every time I do this, I am not only feeding the birds but also the many squirrels and chipmunks around our property. It seems that the squirrels and chipmunks at times take more food from the feeders than the birds. Sometimes our dog Daisy puts an end to it by jumping on the ottoman strategically placed in front of our window and barking at the squirrels and chipmunks and scaring them away. She is fine with the birds at the feeder but not with those other two visitors.
On Monday morning I happened to look out my kitchen window to our back yard feeder and noticed a squirrel and chipmunk were there at the same time. What was interesting about this was the much larger squirrel was sitting on top of the pole waiting patiently as the smaller chipmunk was eating from the feeder attached below. Read more A Mid-Week Message from Rev. Dean April 1st - Hymns of Christmas and Easter
Early Monday morning as I was preparing a lunch bag for Coral, I found myself starting to sing a few Christmas hymns. Naturally, one would think with this being Holy Week that I would be singing Good Friday or Easter hymns. As I began thinking about the strangeness of singing Christmas hymns at this time, I realized that this was not a conscious decision on my part but a God choice instead.
I am not musical like some ministers are. Usually when I find myself starting to sing around the house it is a result of God placing some song on my heart rather than me choosing something familiar. Based on this experience, it made me begin to ponder why God would place Christmas Hymns on my heart during Holy Week. Once again, it took me walking our dog Daisy around the block to discover the answer:
BOTH CHRISTMAS AND EASTER DEAL WITH LIFE!
Appearances by angels at both of these times remind us of this connection. It was just over three months ago that we were reading a lot about the angels appearing to the shepherds in the fields that night. Read more More: Mid-Week Messages More: Musical Moments by Amy |
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Website updated: May 14, 2021, 9:30 a.m. Pages updated: Vaccines, Kindness |
