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Midweek Messages - 2026 |
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In 2020, as the world started to lockdown due to the spread of Covid-19, Rev. Dean started to write a midweek message to help keep people’s spirits up. He’s been at it ever since. Read his most recent messages below or go back and enjoy messages from past years.
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April 1 - Giving Us His Best
Two Saturdays ago, Coral and I went over to Tim Hortons to sip on some coffee while we each did some work. A few tables away from us was someone being interviewed for a position there. After he finished his initial conversation with the manager, he was handed two binders to read through before meeting with her again. I peered over at him a few times and could see the effort he was putting into reading each page in the binders.
The very next Saturday I spotted this same person working behind the counter. I ordered my coffee and sat down to do some work and about 30 minutes later this employee came out to clean the tables and empty the trash containers. What caught me by surprise was that while he was cleaning, whenever he saw a customer entering or leaving, he would run to the door and hold it open for them. He did so each time with a smile and either welcomed or thanked the customer for coming. I am sure this was not included in the training manual he read the week before.
When it came time for me to leave, he stopped his cleaning and held the door open for me. When I thanked him for doing so and commented on how it is rare to see an employee go to such efforts, he responded by saying, "𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐨𝐛, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭." I was impressed by what he said, and how his actions and attitude expressed this.
The very next night Coral and I returned to Tim Hortons to sip coffee and do some work at one of the tables. Sure enough, this same employee was on and came out to do a very thorough cleaning of the seating areas and washrooms while we were working away. Even though it was his fifth day in a row working at his new job, he was still giving it his very best.
We often see this with people when it comes to starting something new. Perhaps we had that same approach and attitude when we started a new job, or something else new in our lives. We often see over time however, that this attitude of maintaining our best begins to dwindle. Read more
March 26 - Seeing a Proud Father
I am writing this message on the day my daughter celebrates her 20th birthday. Twenty years ago, on this day I was at London's Sick Kid's hospital awaiting the arrival of our daughter's birth which came six and a half weeks before we expected. The people I talked to that morning were my wife Nadine and the various nurses who were attending to her. I did talk as well to some of the staff at Tim Hortons at the hospital as I had to have a few coffees to calm my nerves.
Twenty years later I found myself at the bank on the morning of my daughter's birthday. When the bank teller asked me what my plans were for the day, I shared with her how it was my daughter's birthday and that we would be driving to her university in London later to take her out for supper. That led to a conversation with the bank teller asking me about what programs my daughter was studying at university.
When I shared with her how she is planning to take a double major in governance-leadership-ethics and history, the teller smiled and said that her father apparently is quite interested in history. She went on to say how much her dad would love to engage in discussions with a student like my daughter. As the teller continued processing my deposits, we continued the conversation by talking about some of the areas my daughter's degrees might lead her into after graduation. When we came to the end of our conversation, the bank teller said something that caught me by surprise. She said, "I can tell how proud you are of your daughter."
As I walked out of the bank I began reflecting upon the bank teller's comment. Read more
March 19 - Reminded of Three Things
My daughter and I have become big fans of F1 racing these past few years. Rarely do we miss watching a race together even if the start time is as early as 3:00 a.m. like it was in China this past weekend. We have our favorite racers we cheer for, but they did not end up on the winners' podium this past weekend. The top two places were captured by Mercedes' drivers Kimi Antonelli and George Russell with Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton coming in third position.
Lewis Hamilton drove for Mercedes for
twelve years before switching over to Ferrari in 2025. When he was with
Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton won 84 races and 6 world championships. Even though
he switched to Ferrari, Toto Wolff who manages Mercedes still has a soft spot
in his heart for Lewis Hamilton. This was very much evident last weekend
seeing Toto Wolff's expressions watching his two current drivers and his
former one together on the winner's podium. There was a huge smile on Toto
Wolff's face when he was interviewed and he said on camera how he could not
be more pleased by seeing these three drivers together.
March 12 - Seeing the Writing Over Time
On Monday night my daughter Coral forwarded me an essay she had just finished writing so that I could proofread it. I was under a tight timeline because I was in the process of helping Nadine wash down our walls in the living room because we had a painter coming on Tuesday morning. I received the essay around 9:30 p.m. and it had to be submitted to her professor before midnight.
I sat down at the computer with a coffee beside me and began the task of proof reading. I love reading her essays because they are often on topics I do not know much about, so I come away afterward having learned some new things. I do my best when it comes to proofing, and usually will indicate the corrections I have made to her spelling or grammar by highlighting them in “red." After I finish, I usually reach out to her to tell how impressed I was by what she had written, and I take time to discuss some of the things that intrigued me as I proofread. Of course, it does not surprise me to hear from my daughter a few weeks later that she got a high mark and many compliments from her professor on her essay.
After reading my daughter's university essay on Monday night I read something else done by her on Tuesday morning. Before the painter arrived, Nadine and I started moving furniture around so that he would have plenty of access to our walls. When we placed one of our coffee tables upside-down on the couch, we discovered some things Coral had written underneath when she was between the ages of 4-7. Read more
March 5 - My Recent Film Role
I shared with you last June how I had an acting role in a film my daughter and a few of her classmates submitted to the Crosscuts Video competition at BCI. Ever since my acting debut I have been looking to add to my resume. I have been going through a dry spell as some actors do, but recently my services and skills were requested.
One of the assignments my daughter had this past week for one of her courses was to come up with jokes and then film an episode of "Weekend Update" which appears on every episode of Saturday Night Live. When my daughter first told me about this, I thought I would be the perfect cohost. I quickly found out that she could be the only person telling jokes at the news anchor desk.
With this role not being available, I then offered to write some jokes for her. I think I am a funny guy, but my wife often rolls her eyes at some of my humor. I wrote up a couple of pages of jokes that included some about the Toronto Maple Leafs, a few surrounding the Olympics, and even a couple with respect to politics here in Canada and the United States. I thought my jokes were quite funny and submitted them to my daughter. Somehow none of my jokes made the final cut.
On Saturday night, right around the time that Saturday Night Live was on television, my daughter decided it was time to film. Read more
February 26 - Singing the Blues
One would think I would have been excited on Monday morning with the start of Roll Up to Win at Tim Hortons. Don't get me wrong, I am happy at the chance of winning some free coffee. For some reason though I was feeling the blues when I woke up on Monday morning. I don't know if it had to do with Canada losing to the USA the day before in the gold medal game at the Olympics. It might have had to do with having to take my daughter back to university on Monday morning after she had been home for the past ten days for "Reading Week." My feeling the blues might have been how some of us feel at the start of a new week. Whatever was the source for these "blues" I realized I was not myself emotionally.
As I took the garbage to the curb around 6:00 a.m., suddenly, I found myself humming the hymn then singing the words to "Precious Lord, Take My Hand." Precious Lord, take my hand, Lead me on, help me stand; I am tired, I am weak, I am worn; Thru the storm, thru the night, Lead me on to the light, Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.
It is not the first time I have experienced a song being placed on my heart through the Holy Spirit when I have been feeling down. The hymn lifted me up somewhat, but I was still feeling the Monday blahs and blues.
About 30 minutes later it was time for me to take our dog Daisy out. As I waited for Daisy to find her favorite spots to do her morning business, I experienced another hymn being placed on my heart. Read more
February 19 - What My Shoes Are Telling Me
I have been searching for a new pair of running shoes ever since Christmas. I have looked at Costco a couple of times and at Al's Shoe store here in Brantford but could not find anything that I liked in my size or price range. Most of you who read my mid-week message on a regular basis can guess my price range when it comes to shoes.
The last time I purchased running shoes was for tennis back in the summer. I was shocked at that time that I fit into a size 10 when normally I have always been a size 8 or 8.5 when it comes to my shoes. Sometimes I have had to buy shoes that are extra wide in these sizes due to the reality of my feet.
Last week I stopped into the mall to try the shoe store there while I was waiting for my mother to come out of an appointment. I spotted a pair of shoes that I liked the look of and that fell into my cheap price range. They had a great selection of sizes in this particular shoe and what excited me was they were all the wide sizing. I started by pulling a box off the shelf at 8.5 wide. They were too tight. I moved up to 9 wide and found the same thing. I began thinking I possibly might not need another size 10. I found a 9.5 wide and tried it on only to find it was too tight. When I put on the 10 wide, sure enough, it fit perfectly.
When I came home after my shopping experience I shared with my wife and daughter my recent experiences when it has come to shoe shopping. I told them how I expected my waist size, the number of grey hairs on my head, and the number of wrinkles I have to increase as I age, but I never expected my shoe size to do so. I am in my early 60's now. If this trend continues, I might be wearing a size 11 or 12 by the time I reach 70. Read more
February 12 - I Talked Myself Out of It
On Monday morning I drove my daughter back to university. Usually, I carry her suitcase into the main door of her campus, give her a big hug goodbye, and make a quick stop at the bathroom before driving back to Brantford. This past Monday I decided to take her suitcase up to her room and help her quickly unpack because we arrived a bit later than usual. When somebody parks at her university and plans to stay for any considerable time they must pay on the Honk mobile app. I knew I would be only ten to fifteen minutes, so I decided to take a chance and not pay for a parking voucher because the minimum time is an entire hour. In all of my visits to the university I have only encountered a parking attendant once, so I felt the odds were on my side.
When I came down from my daughter's room, I took a quick glance outside and did not see a ticket on my car. Nature called, so I thought it would be safe to visit the bathroom before leaving. When I came outside, I spotted the parking attendant standing by my vehicle about to write me up for an infraction. He must have just started the process when I said to him, "You caught me!" I explained to him that I had just dropped my daughter off from Brantford and went in quickly to use the bathroom before my return trip. Yes, I omitted taking 15 extra minutes to help my daughter unpack. Thankfully the parking attendant showed my bladder some grace in this situation. He told me, "Don't worry about it. You got to do what you got to do." With that he walked off and I realized I had just successfully talked myself out of a parking ticket.
It is funny how this incident got me thinking back to a time 42 years earlier when I talked myself out of a ticket. I was 17 or 18 at the time, and I remember parking the car on Darling Street at a parking meter. I am pretty sure I put in a dime or quarter, but the time ran out before I got back to my car. When I returned to my car, I stumbled upon a by-law enforcement officer writing me up. I tried to talk myself out of that ticket, but I was not successful. I wonder if the difference this past Monday had to do with me being a better talker since becoming a pastor or was it because I failed to blame my bladder back then.
I am sure we have all had experiences of trying to talk ourselves out of situations. Sometimes these situations involve conversations with others like in my case on Monday, but other times we are talking just to ourselves to get out of doing something. Read more
February 5 - Checking Our Thermostat
When I climbed out of bed Saturday morning, I could tell right away the temperature in the house had dropped overnight. Nadine got up to inform me that she noticed the temperature drop and replaced the batteries in the thermostat during the middle of the night thinking that it might fix the problem. We both thought the worst at this moment: that our furnace was not working.
So many negative thoughts began to go through my mind, starting with why did this have to happen on a weekend when the temperatures were as cold as they were? I also began to worry that if the furnace needed a part, would they have it on their service vehicle or would we have to wait until Monday to get it working? I also began contemplating whether we should stay in the house and endure the cold if we could not get the heat back on after the service call or stay at my mom's house. Naturally, the cheap side of me began to worry how much more it would cost having a contractor come in on a weekend.
When I got down to our main level I went over to the thermostat and saw the temperature in the house had already dropped to 15 degrees Celsius. When I looked at the thermostat, I noticed that the setting was not on heat. I switched the setting back to heat, and said a prayer while waiting to hear if the furnace would kick in. Read more
January 29 - Let It Snow
The title alone to my message may already have some people reading this upset. Many people have shared with me how sick and tired they are of all the snow we have experienced to date. We knew a bad snowstorm was coming this past weekend. Last Friday we were already hearing reports to expect flight delays and cancellations over the weekend. Churches and other groups were beginning to send out news that their services and programs might be cancelled on Sunday. Warnings were also issued to stay in on Sunday and avoid being on the roads.
Sometimes these storm warnings do not turn out to be as bad as predicted, but this one delivered as expected. Like most people, I found myself bundling up in warm clothes and shoveling my driveway several times on Sunday. Even though we got a lot of snow, thankfully it was not too heavy to shovel. While I was shoveling, I found myself singing over and over, "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow." I was surprised that I was singing these words to be quite honest. I like the sight of snow, but I do not enjoy the disruptions that storms like we received on Sunday can cause. I do not mind shoveling my driveway, but 3 or 4 times during a day can be much.
After I got back in, I sat down at my table and wrote out the word "snow." As I focused on the word, I began seeing other words that can be derived from its letters. Read more
January 22 - No Worries
I had quite an adventurous drive on Monday morning driving my daughter back to university in London. We left early because she had an appointment at 10:00 a.m. with an academic advisor. We had no sooner got off the 403 and turned onto the 401 westbound when the traffic came to an immediate stop. After almost a half hour without moving more than a few car lengths we decided my daughter should message her academic advisor to reschedule because we had no idea how long we would be caught on the highway. After she sent a message to her advisor, my daughter began to worry if she might miss her first class because she had a test that morning. I told her not to worry that at the first opportunity I would get off the 401 and take Highway 2 into London.
Thankfully, about 15 minutes later, I was able to get to one of the exit ramps in Woodstock and start making our way toward London. When we arrived at my daughter’s residence, I grabbed her suitcase while she got her backpack so I could free up her hands as we entered. It just so happened that another student was coming out the door as we were about to enter. I did a quick jog, without too much heavy breathing on my part, to keep the door open for my daughter because it automatically locks afterward. When I thanked this student for opening the door for us, she responded, “No worries.” This is not the first time I have heard somebody reply this way when I have thanked them for something. More often I will hear them reply with, “You are welcome,” or with “My pleasure.”
I don’t know if it is a generational thing, or just this student’s preference, but I found myself thinking a lot about her response on the drive back home. Wouldn’t it be nice if we had “no worries” to speak of. This is rarely the case for us at times in our lives. Read more
January 15 - Socks and Soles and Other Souls
In the lead up to Christmas my wife often complained that I was borrowing her black socks and stretching them out by wearing them. I wish I could say her complaint was unwarranted, but it was legitimate. The problem was I could no longer find matches to any of my black dress socks. Even though Nadine's black socks were casual in style, they fit the purpose well enough whenever I had to dress up for ministry.
After many legitimate complaints I figured I would be getting some black socks of my own for Christmas. I tried to find my wife some new socks before Christmas too, but where I normally get them was out of stock. Nadine purchased some from Amazon for herself, but when they came in, they were very thin on the bottom, so she sent them back. A few days ago, I happened to notice a pair of my new socks on Nadine's feet. I was about to complain when I realized I could not say they would be stretched out because her feet are much smaller than mine.
We have quite a collection of socks in our house right now. It begins with a pile of socks that we have no matches for. Every time we do a load of laundry and find a sock without a match, we look through the pile to see if we can find its mate. Unfortunately, it seems like the pile keeps growing rather than dwindling. Read more
January 8 - Reminded of a Parable
I shared in my mid-week message last week how my neighbour, who is a Montreal Canadiens fan, provided me with some of his salt so I could put it on my icy driveway. It is interesting how we get along so well as neighbours considering the difference in hockey teams we cheer for. I am wondering if I am coming across in a positive way to other Montreal Canadiens fans as well. The reason why I say this is because on Sunday after the church service was over a Montreal Canadiens fan came up to me with a gift. They wanted me to open the gift with them present and much to my shock they gave me a Toronto Maple Leafs ball cap. It is one thing to receive a bag of salt from a Montreal Canadiens fan, but to be given a Toronto Maple Leafs cap came as a complete surprise. I tried my new hat on for the first time when I got home and even my daughter commented on how good it looked on me. I can't wait for warmer weather to come along again so that I can show off my new Toronto Maple Leafs cap.
These two incidents during this past week reminded me how, despite the differences we may have with others, it should not stand in the way of us showing care and neighbourly love toward one another. While this has been the case with the differences I have with Montreal Canadiens fans, this was not what we saw happen in the parable Jesus shared about the Good Samaritan. Read more
January 1 - Some More Salt Needed
Most winters I can get through with only needing one bag of salt for my driveway and steps. I tend to use it sparingly with having a dog to take out regularly. Like other years, I started off this winter with a bag of salt ready for another Canadian winter. After the freezing rain we received on Boxing Day my driveway became a sheet of ice. It did not take long for my bag of salt to be used up. I went over to my local Home Hardware on Sunday afternoon to purchase some more only to discover they were sold out. The staff said that they were expecting another shipment on Monday morning. I noticed one customer was eyeballing the salt sold for water softeners as a possible alternative.
When I arrived home empty handed, my neighbor happened to pull into his icy driveway after being away for a few days. As soon as he got out of his vehicle, he had to grab his car to avoid sliding all the way down his driveway. An hour or so later I was outside in the rain doing my best to chip away at the ice on my driveway. My neighbor happened to come out to do the same and shared how he had 4 bags of salt. Even though my neighbor is a Montreal Canadiens fan he showed kindness toward his Toronto Maple Leaf-loving one. He offered me one of his four bags of salt to throw down on my driveway. I gratefully accepted and told him I would replace it when Home Hardware got their shipment the next day.
When I stopped into Home Hardware on Monday morning the shipment had not arrived yet. At the same time, I received a message from my neighbour that he would like a few more bags of salt if I found them there. I stopped into Home Hardware again on Monday afternoon and noticed they had some salt. Unfortunately, the brand they got in was three times the price that I normally pay. Of course, many of you know how cheap I am and the dilemma I was finding myself in.
Thankfully at the same moment my neighbor texted again and said he was at No Frills and found 4 bags of salt. It is a short drive for me from Home Hardware to No Frills, so I headed over immediately. Read more
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