35 and counting...

So, I turn 35 today.

Pretty interesting stuff.

I thought I'd take a minute to try and write down some of the things I've done in the past 35 years. Obviously I'll miss a bunch of things and the things I'll recall will probably be self-serving to some degree.  I'm really doing this for me but I'm also mindful of the fact that a big point of this blog is to--hopefully--inspire some self-reflection on your part.

I try to evaluate and re-evaluate my life a couple times a day, never mind once every 35 years.

So here goes, stream of consciousness-like...

Born, March 7th, 1974.  Sudbury, Ontario Canada.

1-6 in Newmarket, Ontario Canada.  I remember the backyard--a farmer's field--and endless exploration.  I remember school and my Dad driving me there on his motorcycle and feeling like the coolest kid in the World.  I remember our next door neighbors the Stahli's.  I remember lego in the basement with my brother on weekends and flinstones on TV during lunch.  I remember Monday Night Football with my Dad.  I remember the hard wood pews at my Dad's Church and listening to him preach and thinking he was cool.

7-14 in Jerusalem, Israel.  I remember a new school a new language and new friends.  I remember fitting in within three months.  I remember walking to school down little alleyway-like streets and picking pomegranates off roadside trees on the way home.  I remember school choir and singing for heads of state one 'Yom Ha'Shoah'.  I remember school trips and swimming in the ocean and the Jordan river and the Sea of Galilee.  I remember my teachers and my schools.  I remember many adventures with my brother and Ariel and Richard.  I remember doing sound and seeing my Dad 'transfigured' and realizing in that moment what I needed to do with my life.  I remember seeing 'The Goonies' for the first time and realizing that, in addition to preaching, I needed to make movies.  I remember topless babes on European beaches.  I remember snorkeling in Eilat and flying to South Africa and being so sad that I had to leave Israel to go back to Canada.

14-21 in Mississauga, Ontario Canada.  I remember high school.  I remember loving football and drama and english and girls.  I remember the surprise I felt at starting to become 'popular'.  I remember my 'first love'.  I remember failing my driver's license then finally getting it.  I remember hanging with Jer and Ty and Craig and Marty and Pete and Cole and Jess and Steve and Sam and Kev and Stanley.  I remember my English teacher changing my life.  I remember singing in Choir and acting on stage.  I remember getting my first motorcycle and Pioneer Camp.  I remember starting to preach and starting to do TV.  I remember noticing that people responded to me.  I remember life guarding for hours upon hours upon hours.  I remember dinner around the harvest table that now sits in my house.  I remember our first pool and feeling like my family had finally crawled up out of missionary poverty.  I remember my grandpa dying. I remember starting to do what I do today and being scared shitless and doing it anyway.  I remember heartbreak and then--wonder of wonders--meeting a girl who redefined what 'first love' meant.  

22-34 in Hamilton, Burlington, Vancouver, Burlington, Ontario Canada.  I remember getting married.  I remember Gord and Michelle.  I remember our first youth Church succeeding then another then our planting our first Church.  I'll never forget how hard it was to get that thing off the ground.  I remember my first TV series getting canceled.  I remember deciding to do my own.  I remember that first show and feeling like a million bucks.  I remember pitching to CTV and Global and CH and getting 'no' and 'no' and 'no' from everybody.  I remember CTV stealing my concept and the bitterness at seeing them do my idea better than I ever could 'cause they had more money than money.  I remember near bankruptcy and collection agencies calling 18 times a day.  I remember my wife and I hanging on by the skin of our teeth.  I remember renting our first house so we wouldn't lose it and finding out we were unexpectedly pregnant the day my second TV series died it's last death.  I remember moving into my Grandmother's cottage and feeling like a failure.  I remember almost getting a job stocking shelves and a call out of the blue that saved our bacon.  I remember BC for six months and living in Mom and Dad's condo while Dad slowly descended into the deepest depression of his life.  I remember Hugo.  I remember Aaron and Katie and becoming fast friends.  I remember Whistler in summer and Granville Island and hours of staring at boats.  I remember Taber and heartbreak and feeling like I had nothing to say.  I remember our house given back to us like a miracle and taking my wife home and seeing her so, so happy and I remember her giving birth to my firstborn son.  I remember this guy named Tore calling and asking to go out for lunch.  I remember Freedomize and Gord leaving and everybody thinking I was going to fail and I remember terror and stress as I tried not to.  I remember the Sunday when we first passed 200 in attendance and the year we topped $300,000 in revenue and realizing that we were going to be okay.  I remember getting bored.  I remember God telling me I could leave and I remember that last Sunday with almost 400 there and an ovation after my last sermon and how great it felt to quit on top.  I remember our script getting financed and leaving my job to start another.  I remember directing my first feature film and nearly dying.  I remember running out of money three months in and living for two years with almost no income.  I remember the day I transferred the last $150 from our bank account so we could buy groceries and I remember a couple days later the call coming from my business partner that told us we were going to be alright.  I remember a very busy 2008.

I remember the moment I first laid eyes on Chris and Cate and Sam and Jen and Tam and Derek.  I remember Steve and his advice.  I remember Doug and Sandy and realizing I had a 'mentor' in addition to my Dad.

I remember preaching to 12,000 and to 12.  

I remember drumming for my brother.

I remember moments of glory and shame.

I remember the births of my babies.

I remember the twinkle in my wife's eye.

I remember, that this story is not about me.

It's about He, and thee.

That's why I do what I do.

"Happy Birthday to you."

T