How I read my Bible...

This is part of my whole 're-focusing' thing.

That shot illustrates how I read my Bible.  I always stay in the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Psalms (the red ribbon marks 'em) and--recently--I've added constant reading of the sermon series I'm currently preaching (Philippians) and the one I'm doing next (Joel).

I've taken to sitting with the wife on the couch after we've gotten the kids to bed and doing my reading, slowly, while she works on her laptop (personal training stuff, FB stuff, random emails) and does her 'late night phone calls' with her Mom and various friends.

(some things never change...)  :)

And I read, while the NBA playoffs play background...

It's been good.

Very good.

Thought you might like to try it sometime.

Peace,

T

simple encouragement...

Funny thing happened at breakfast this morning.

My wife asked me, near the end, "So, what are you preaching on, this Sunday?"  I thought about it for half a second then quoted the passage...

"Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, let us, as many as are mature, have this same mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind..."

(Phil 3:12-16 NKJV)

And halfway through, she started crying.

Could be she's feeling emotional.  Could be the text got to her.  Could be her life has her in a spot where she's really needing what it seems like God's got brewing for her this week at THE WELL.

Might be true for you today as well.

(if it is, maybe come see us, 10:30am this Sunday...)

It's loaded with goodness.

Gonna' do my best to write something beautiful and useful today.

Pressing on...

T

pressing on...

This is going to be one of those weeks where I'm preaching to MYSELF at THE WELL.

See, I'm feeling tired and a little down.

Here's a snippet from the text I'll be working with:

"But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal..." 

(Phil 3:13b-14a ESV)

I need to hear that.

It's not that this feeling is strange. I've been here before. I'll be here again.  It's a 'season'; a 'waiting' season.  We're coming to the end of what has become (in the last three years) a four month period of silence to begin the year.  This is due in large part to the rhythms of the entertainment business.  Spring/Summer is a wild rush to get proposal, treatments and scripts in to the powers that be. By Fall whatever we're going to be working on, we're working on. We then work through 'till Christmas.  Fall has a second smaller rush to try and get some work set up for the new year. This rush inevitably doesn't play out before Christmas and, therefore, the thing you were working on gets put aside the week before Christmas and nobody even starts thinking straight again 'till the third week of January.

Then, from January 'till April/May you wait.

And wait.

And...

Well, you get the idea.

I hate waiting.  It's hard, it's uncertain, it tests my faith.

The real challenge for me in a 'waiting season' is to keep my mental/emotional/creative energy level consistently high and my hope simmering.  See, in a 'waiting season' you're still required to come up with good ideas. You're waiting for the 'good idea' you worked on last year to get approved but, while waiting for that, you're working on other ideas--typically three to five good ones--that you hope will get sifted to one or two that actually get traction for the next year.

In an ideal world, that way, you'd end up with one project that keeps rolling to which you'd add subsequent ones.

In all my years as a producer I've never yet had one success followed by another.  I've had projects happen, projects run their course and projects close. Then I've gotten another project going, only to repeat the cycle.

Which is fine, but my hope is to get to the point where I've got a few eggs in different baskets that keep rolling.

And it 'aint easy.

An ad on FB reminded me of this yesterday. It was for a 'Masters of Divinity' distance-Ed course and it promised (as all ads do) that you'd end up with a GREAT job as a pastor in "...a variety of pastoral roles..." if you'd JUST sign up, pay for, and complete their course.

Liars.

First, most distance-Ed courses (especially in theology) are kinda' suspect. Second, just 'cause you have a degree in a thing, doesn't mean you're going to get a job doing that thing.

Plus, 'pastoring' 'aint a 'growth industry' nor is it a 'job' but rather a calling. Going to school 'aint going to give you a 'calling'.

Same deal with show-biz. I've often told people (when speaking a various events) that you shouldn't get into ministry OR show-biz UNLESS you're called. It's just too tough, too depressing, too relationally charged, too set up for failure, too disillusioning to do it for any other reason than "I HAVE to do this..."

'Cause it 'aint easy.

Point here (for me) is I'm feeling tired.  Feeling like I don't want to wait anymore. Feeling like I'd rather not be doing what I'm doing these days.

Melodramatic?

I don't mean to be. Just trying to tell the truth, mostly to help me process, get it 'out there' and see if I feel better and/or learn something as a result and also to (perhaps) encourage those of you who might be dealing with similar feelings.

What does it mean to "Forget what lies behind..."/"Strain forward..."/"Press on..." in your context, or mine?  What SPECIFIC things do you need to be doing with your days to fulfill those three? What are you going to need to do (and to whom will you turn) to help you find the strength to keep going when you feel like quitting?

What is the source of your (my) hope?

Are you really called to be doing what you're doing?

If not, when are you going to quit and what will the fallout be?  If you are called, what's it going to take for you to stop moping and keep going?

Interesting side note:

I've been feeling a bit 'down' with attendance at THE WELL. We're starting to see the 'Spring/Summer Slump' hit our attendance.

I thought it was because of me...

So I ran the numbers.

And if you compare our first 16 weeks in existence (Sep-Dec 2009) to the last 16 weeks (Jan-April 2010) our attendance has (in fact) grown by 76% and our giving has grown by 63% both of which are EXPLOSIVE numbers for this 'industry'.

So, I have (contrary to my mood) every reason to be encouraged.

I'm also (listen up all you entrepreneurs) feeling a little 'blah' because THE WELL is planted now and I don't feel the same urgency I felt before it existed.  The tendency now (for guys like me) is to get bored and start thinking about moving on.

Not gonna' do that this time--I LEARNED my lesson.

Instead I'll take a friend's advice and do whatever it takes (expansion, new services, new complexities, new staff, new creative initiatives) to KEEP planting this new church so that I stay 'engaged' in the process.

Also, I've been really busy the last couple weeks with producing a music video and getting budgets and proposals ready and trying to find new post-production space so that's kept me out of my Bible more than it should--and I'm here to tell you--if you stop reading your Bible every day (for even a week) you'll find, as I do, that you start getting down about life.

I gotta' hit that book.

Gonna' do it right now in-fact.

We're ten days away, BTW, from an answer on our current series. I look forward to letting you know how that goes.  Either way, it'll mean another significant shift in my time-management requirements, outlook, hopes, fears and ambitions.

If you're in the Burlington area, c'mon out and see me this Sunday to see how the above passage (and the thoughts swirling around it) 'preach' or podcast it sometime next week.

Hope your day goes (a little) better because of this.

Now go read your Bible...

T

Perspective...

Been losing perspective lately.

Main Entry: 1. per-spec-tive

Pronunciation: per-spek-tiv

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English perspectyf, from Medieval Latin perspectivum, from neuter of perspectivus of sight, optical, from Latin perspectus, past participle of perspicere to look through, see clearly, from per- through + specere to look

Date: 14th century

archaic: an optical glass (as a telescope)

It's been (from where I sit) three tough or somewhat 'blah' weeks at THE WELL. Mostly this is due to attendance shrinking as part of the early onset of spring in our area.  No matter the size of church, once the warm weather hits you typically lose 20% of your attendance week to week until everyone gets back into their routine come fall.

In a church plant averaging between 70-80 people each week a 20% drop is VERY noticeable and disheartening.

So, I've been trying to fight through that.  In addition, our worship experiences have been a little rough of late due--in large part--to the fact that the facility we rent hasn't been able to rent us rehearsal space as often as we need it. The last two weeks (not this past week but the two before) we had our rehearsal cancelled last minute which meant running through the songs Sunday morning which meant rougher worship than you'd like.

(we'll need our own dedicated space sooner rather than later I think)

I sat there those two weeks, while the worship was struggling, feeling just horrified.  Now, to be clear, partly I felt horrified because I hate crafting an experience that makes people feel awkward. Coming to a church plant is a tough thing to do in the first place; you can't just walk in and be anonymous. It's a certain kind of person that comes out in the early days of a church's life.

But, as you start to grow (as we are) you begin adding people who are a little less entrepreneurially-wired and they want to have a somewhat 'normal' church experience. They want the vibe not to suck and the music not to suck and the kids time not to suck and the preaching not to suck and they don't want too many people to bug them. They just want to check things out.

So, if you suck, it sucks for them.

The other part of hating it when an aspect of what we do at THE WELL 'sucks' is that it hurts my pride; it embarrasses me.

And nobody likes to be embarrassed.

Naturally, I know that pride is something to be repented of.  I realize that worrying (even subconsciously) about what people think of me is borderline idolatrous and something to be repented of.

I get it.

But I still felt horrified at points in the past month at THE WELL.

Which makes it tough to do sometimes, especially when it's all volunteer. You get to thinking, "Why am I doing this again?"

Typical 'church planter grind'.

So today I woke up feeling really low. I cooked breakfast quietly, had to force myself to eat it (no appetite) quietly, cleaned up quietly, sat drinking my second cup of coffee with my wife quietly.  So quiet was I that she kept asking, "Are you okay? What are you thinking about?"

My life.

(Am I doing what I 'should' be doing? Why does it feel so mundane and depressing? When am I ever going to get to the point where I can make a little more money? Why can't we just sail away? Am I wasting my life? What am I REALLY supposed to be doing? Did I just do this in my own strength? Where is God? Am I wasting everyone's time? I don't want to be trapped. What am I doing?)

Those kind of questions.

So, I came downstairs to the office, cleared the inbox, checked FB and Twitter then started thinking about something to blog.

See, this here blog has been BURNING up the past 10 days since my R-rated "Save your Marriage" post.  Almost 3,000 unique reads in that time.  By FAR the busiest this blog has ever been.  In a small way we went viral last week.  A typical day here sees between 30-60 unique visits.  When, halfway through Friday last, we had 480 uniques I knew that people had picked up on the blog and started referring it to their friends.  I knew we'd really struck a chord when a girlfriend from grade 10 I hadn't talked to in 20 years added me on FB mentioning, in passing, that my blog post on marriage was posted on her friend's wall in COLORADO.  Then another friend chimed in saying they'd read it on a friend's wall in HOLLAND.

Worldwide.

So I let it sit, and frankly, I was feeling a little drained.

Then I started getting inquiries about publishing it. Then I started getting calls to build a sermon series on it for Fall 2010 and create a DVD series to accompany it (and the book) and heard that a potential investor was interested in helping us do it.

We'll see...

Then I preached about it at a wedding and, man, you should've seen the room. People were shocked, appalled, thrilled, and moved.

(I preached an ABRIDGED version. Relax...)

Plus last week I produced a music video for a good friend of mine and that was a pretty stressful experience.  Not the producing itself, that's pretty simple stuff and the kind of thing I can do in my sleep by this point, but it was producing it FOR him that was tough.

Two reasons.

1) I'm not very good at not being 'the boss'. To quote M. Night Shyamalan from his biographical "The Man Who Heard Voices"; "I have a need to lead..." I realize this can be seen as a character flaw. But I also realize that the World needs leaders and that's how I'm wired and to feel bad about it and spend my life pretending to be something other than I am is not exactly a productive use of my time on the planet. It's hard for me to work for someone else. To quote Warren Buffet from his biographical "The Snowball"; "Find the person you admire most, and work for them..." which was his way of saying, "Look, if you're wired as an entrepreneur and a leader you'll never be happy working for anyone but yourself."  That said, I was eager to do it because I don't typically get hired by anyone to do anything. Most of my work is totally self-started (in partnership with my wife and business partner) so it was really nice to get asked, and I knew it would be good for my work ethic and my humility. So I did it and that led to the second problem...

2) I really didn't want to screw it up.  There's nothing worse than having a 'friend' work for you and having them drop the ball leaving you feeling like 'Crap I shouldn't have done this, but they're my friend so I can't fire them..."  This left me very determined to make sure this experiment was a GOOD experience for my friend.  And I think it was.  It just meant that I was very preoccupied during the lead up to it and execution of it.  I'll post a link when the video's done. I think it's going to be very strong.

An interesting anecdote (man, you can tell I haven't written in 10 days, this is turning into quite a long post): My friend's assistant--when he found out I'd been asked to produce the thing--asked my friend, "Hey, why on earth would you get a PASTOR to produce your music video?" My friend laughed. "You have no idea who Todd really is, do you?"  I got into a conversation with the assistant on-set, not knowing he'd had this chat with my friend, and he asked me about what I do; like, "Why are you producing this anyway?"  So I told him a little of what I've done and what I've got cooking on the production front and he looked at me and said, "I had NO idea..."

Funny.

We 'pigeonhole' people don't we?  I need to stop doing that.

So the crazy response to my blog and the pressures of producing that music video and the relatively 'blah' experience of THE WELL and the ongoing mind-numbing process of WAITING and WAITING and WAITING for my TV show to either get picked up for a 2nd season (giving me a guaranteed year and 3/4's of great work) or dropped (forcing me to go and find a job) combined to throw me into a bit of a spiral.

Also, I wasn't reading my Bible enough.  Just twice a week (just devotionally for me and Jesus--not for work...) due to my hectic schedule and depressed mindset, and THAT wasn't helping one bit.

And ALL the above hit me in the last half hour.  So I walked upstairs real quick to tell Nicole that I'd figured out 'why' I was being so quiet and feeling so low. As an aside, it's really important to communicate with your wife, otherwise she assumes the worst; which in my case involves me running off to Fiji or something.

Then I came down and decided to get some perspective.

I went through my iPhone photos from the last two months and this is what I got:

My baby daughter and her baby cousin loving each other on a trip to Montreal. That's a good thing and something to be thankful for...

My new boat, the day I bought it with my thrilled family on top of it rejoicing with me.  That's a good thing and something to be thankful for...

My baby daughter vogue-ing for me while we walked through the boat yard. 1) being at the boat yard in the first place and 2) having a vogue-ready daughter are good things to be thankful for...

We've started a band at THE WELL (two bands in fact) and though the logistics are stressing the CRAP out of me and my associate, in the end, those bands are going to be good things to be thankful for...

We got given an annual membership to the Royal Ontario Museum and have been taking our kids there once a month 'cause they're home-schooled and LOVE the ROM. A good thing and something to be thankful for...

My daughters are gorgeous and love each other and we live in a house that gets the sunset every single night. Something to bless God for...

My youngest Son Sam is wonderful. I glory in the King because of him...

My church is small but in-existence. Our Good Friday was off the chain as was our Easter service. We have talented hard-working people starting to come and they made the above 'look' happen. Thankful for that...

Although my brother and sister-in law are overseas (which is an ongoing source of sorrow), the rest of us still live close enough to each other to do a rip-roaring Easter egg hunt (courtesy of Uncle Robbie) which is cool because 1) He is RISEN! and 2) we're non-religious enough to enjoy Easter Eggs which, as you can see, makes our kids VERY happy.  Thankful for that...

I'm filthy in this picture 'cause I'd just finished sanding the bottom off my SAILBOAT. I almost don't have words to express how thankful I am for that...

I talk about her a lot. This is my stone cold fox of a wife Nicole. She's starting her own business as a personal-trainer/fitness/lifestyle/nutritional coach. She's so motivated it's downright humbling. Gorgeous too.  I love her.  Real glad for that. We still feel like teenagers.

The feet on the right are mine. The feet on the left belong to one of my dearest friends. We were at their house last week. Our kids just played all night and we drank enough wine to forget our sorrows for a while (trust me, it's Biblical...) Thankful for that...

The 'interrogation scene' from the music video I produced last week. A real privilege to work with my friend the super-talented director/visualist.  My three big kids were on-set with me for the first half of the day which was really cool. A real blessing to be part of it...

My boat has been cleaned (thanks Markie, lookit her shine) and the bottom has been painted. This week I re-do the boot and cove stripes and varnish the woodwork. We're getting the cushions re-covered today and next week I re-bed the hatches, fix a leaking stanchion, pick up and test the engine, figure out the 12V wiring, check the mast and all it's fittings, then we'll be ready to go.

May 9th we splash.  Week of May 10th we sail her home to the Bronte Harbour Yacht Club where we were OFFICIALLY accepted as members last week.

So, as you and I can plainly see, I need to stop moping, be thankful, and get on with it.

Point taken.

Happy Monday everybody...

T

sick...

(this post is 'Rated R' for sexual content. If you're a religious person, or uptight in general you won't like this post. Don't read it.  If your marriage needs help, read on...)

Been livin' on the stuff.

Got one of those killer sinus infections. Just hit me out of nowhere this week. When I get this kind of sick I just pop advil cold and sinus and ignore it.

Almost not working this one's so bad.

But...

It got me thinking.

See, it's not just me who's sick.  A whole bunch of people we know are sick and what's sick about them is their marriage.

Sick marriages.

All around us.

In fact, my wife is feeling downright spooked by it, so numerous are the broken and breaking marriages within our circle of friends.

The sickness has got me thinking, see, you can't take advil for a sick marriage.  People try, they attempt to medicate their unhappiness with all sorts of different 'drugs', but ultimately the kind of sickness that results in a broken or breaking marriage is the kind of sickness that can't be mastered by a painkiller.

A broken or breaking marriage requires radical surgery.

And, ideally, you want to be doing preventative maintenance well before you fall ill.  So, knowing this is a bit off topic for this here blog, I figured I'd hit you with some bullet points to consider that might help you keep your marriage healthy.

(My qualifications for dispensing such advice?  13 years married, very happily so, WITH four kids under 10. Parents 40 years married very happily so. Both sets of grandparents, happily married 'till their deaths on one side and 60+ years and counting on the other side.  Brothers and sisters, happily married. Cousins, happily married. Wife, certified pre-marital counsellor)

Good enough?

Alright. The points...

(in no particular order)

-You have to screw (I use the other word in our face-to-face sessions but seeing as this is the internet, I'll be polite) each others brains out. If you stop screwing (and I do mean screwing--enough of this 'making love' silliness, you need to HIT IT) each others brains out you're headed for trouble. This is universally true.  Every single broken up or breaking marriage I know of they're down to once a month or something crazy like that. Our norm is three to four times a week and--for the record--we're neither nymphomaniacs nor 19 year olds.

-If you start keeping score ("Well, I did it last week and you never do it...") you've both lost. Period.

-Selflessness is a two way street. Unless you're both laying your lives down for each other you're in trouble.  Selfishness is THE marriage killer. Practically this means you do what she wants (sacrificing what you want) and she does what you want (sacrificing what she wants) and you both get cared for. If you stop working this equation each and every single frickin' day, you're doomed.

(did I mention the 'screwing each other's brains out' part?)

-You need to date, each other. Take her out. Dress up for him. Work at it.

-Red wine and a hot tub will do wonders for your sex life AND your social life.

-Sit beside each other, even if you're working on different things.

-Stay sexy.  Guys and Gals. If you 'let yourself go' you're saying "I don't care what you think..." which equals 'contempt' and contempt is another MAJOR marriage killer.

-Discover their 'hot buttons' and cater to them. Does he like a clean house? Clean the frickin' house. Does she like to get things done? Get off your ass and get things done. All the time, every day of every week for the rest of your lives.

(did I mention the 'screw each other's brains out' part?)

-Talk. All the time. Over breakfast, on the phone, at night, in bed. Have long conversations about nothing in particular. Listen to each other. Look into her eyes.  She's pretty, isn't she? See? You were starting to forget.

-Dance.  I don't care if you grew up Pentecostal like me, you need to take her dancing. Girls love to dance. Dance with her.

-The second it crosses your mind to call her, do it. Act on your kind impulses and overcome your nasty ones.

-Watch your tongue. You never get an angry word back. The tongue is one of the most destructive weapons we have at our disposal.  If you speak kindly to each other it'll go a long way, trust me.

-Remember what my friend's mom (holler at your boy "Seer"!) said in her speech at his wedding. "Your spouse is not your enemy." Often you're going to want to lash out, and since your spouse is the nearest available target you're going to lash out at them. Don't do it. They're not your enemy, they're supposed to be your best friend.

-Stop going to 'guys night' and 'gals night' except once in a while.  If this is more than once a month it's too much.  Guys need to grow up and stop hanging out with their 'buddies' and go home and hang out with (and screw) their wives.  If you're a boy in a man's body you need to stop it, grow up, get some courage, grow some balls, and love your wife.  If you're a girl who loves going to those stupid 'chatty' women's groups where all they do is complain about their husbands, you need to stop it, go home, find your husband and take your clothes off.

-Shower together every morning.  It's good to have to 'share' the water, share the soap, pass each other the toothpaste, and see each other naked at the start of every single day. Did you notice how pretty her nipples are? See? You were beginning to forget weren't you?

-Do whatever it takes to spend time together.  You should always be saying 'no' to other social engagements because you need to get home to your wife 'cause you LOVE her. If you're away from her more than you're with her you've got BIG problems.

-Resist the urge to go to sleep at different times.  You know why.

-If she doesn't like your family, either fix it, or tell your family to stop being stupid. If you can't and they won't you leave them and cleave to her. If you can't stand her family, fix it, or tell them to stop being stupid.  If either of you picks your family over each other you're doomed.

-If you're a person of faith you need to express that faith together.  If you go to church and he doesn't you've got problems.  If you're a man, stop being stupid, and go to church with her. If you hate your church, find one that doesn't suck where you can get involved and make a difference. Every good church loves getting 'with it' men involved. Trust me.  The only kind of 'good church' is a church that preaches about Jesus from the Bible with authority. If your church doesn't believe in the authority of scripture and doesn't preach about Jesus it's not a good church and it's going to, ultimately, be of NO use to you.  Only Jesus will do.

-You (dudes) work your ass off and you (gals) work your ass off and stop telling your spouse to get to work. Lead by example. Work your ass off.  

-Shine.  If you're a dude, shave, work out, dress nice, make sure you smell nice. When a girl walks into a room she loves it when the other girls in the room notice her man. It makes her feel like she made a good 'catch'. You men need to be men that other men would follow and other women use as an example of what they'd like to find.

-Shine. If you're a gal, dress up, do your hair, shave your body, stay fit, do whatever it takes to keep your man physically interested in you. If you 'let yourself go' you're in trouble. I know that's not a popular thing to say but it's the truth.

-Laziness will kill you, and your marriage.

Alright, I have to get back to work now. 

Homework...

Go buy a bottle of red wine, go home and...

(you know the rest)

T

Waiting for it...

I feel it coming. 

Change, a speeding up of pace, an increase in productivity and busy-ness.  I couldn't tell you exactly *why* I feel it but I'm quite sure I do.

The signs are all around me.

One of the most reliable signs is the number of pages I use each day in my working notebook. More pages means more on the go, more opportunities, more possibilities.

My notebook's been ripping it lately.

Another sign is the number of appointments I have to schedule each week and the number of phone calls I have to make to my wife to make sure our schedules are in-sync.

Lots of that happening.

Another is the amount of people-related stress I'm dealing with. When nothing's really happening in your life you don't have a lot of people-related stress 'cause 'doing things' means doing them *with* people which means if you're not doing anything you don't have to interact with people much.  The more *things* that start happening for you the more people you've got to dance with and, Lord knows, people (including this one) are strange creatures.

Definitely more of that kind of stress these days.

My fingers hurt.

Too much typing.

My head hurts.

Too many things to imagine, plan, write and do.

But I'm happy.

I often say, "Better busy than dead..."  It could be spring, or it could be spring and the fact that a windstorm of work is headed my way.

We'll see.

(plus, I got a sailboat to get ready...)

T

Hope(ful)...

I have reason to be hopeful.

Do you?

(not hating there, seriously asking/wondering)

Some of my reasons this week:

1) We had a great Easter weekend at that wee church I planted just over six months ago. Nearly 140 people came through the door. Now, I realize, with peers of mine having hosted 4,000/6,000/20,000 that same weekend, that 140 is a drop in the bucket.  But, said churches are 8/9/13 years old.  140 in six months is much faster than the last time I did this. 140 is HUGE on the 'typical' scale for church plant growth.  *Most importantly* 140 is ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY actual people who--I hope--were encouraged by what was going on at THE WELL this past weekend.

2) Hollywood is showing signs of love for the new pitch we've been working on for what feels like forever, but which--in fact--has only been a year and a half (only?). We had a conference call on Friday that got us up to speed on some of the things that have been done to start 'shopping' the concept and--I'm very grateful to hear--our work is being preliminarily well-received. The next two to three months should be interesting.

(on the 'perseverance' side of things--in case you're wondering--I'm writing VERSION SEVEN of the pitch today...)

3) After a very disappointing March 28th session in the pulpit (where I felt like I totally dropped the ball) my Easter sermon was (IMHO) worth the price of admission.  Nice to know I haven't totally 'lost' it.

4) My meeting last week with the Hamilton 'film commission' went REALLY well.  They'd really like us to set up shop in their downtown core and are willing to do some pretty cool things to help us make that decision. I'm excited to be welcomed. Excited to maybe be part of helping an emerging arts scene take fuller shape. Excited to maybe get a cool space next to a cool deli where I can shoot some cool stuff and help others do the same.

5) The 'stern lines' for my new sailboat are being installed this Saturday at our local yacht club, where I was officially accepted into 'membership' on Tuesday.  I feel so chique! (not really)

6) We've got so many 'pastoral counseling' sessions booking up, we can hardly keep up and THAT means the stuff we're talking about on Sundays is starting to take root and *that* is a big part of what it's all about in the first place.  AND a couple has asked if they can start helping us, so we're going to start officially training them. How awesome is that?

7) We've got a second worship leader starting up which means (i) more people are stepping up (ii) my first dude has so much other 'Pastoral' work to do we need someone to step up and help which means (iii) we're growing (but I already told you that).

8) I'm toying (just 'toying' mind you...) with starting a Sunday night service (maybe in time for our one-year anniversary this September).  Just toying, mind you.

Anyway, thought I'd share.  Hoping my 'thinking thankfully out loud' might encourage you to do some out-loud thankful thinking for yourself.

To help you find hope in your week...

T

80's and Easter...

A bit grainy (iPhone from sixty feet) but that's how things looked at THE WELL on Good Friday.  We had a nice intimate service in the Anglican tradition. Live Harp provided by our good friend Kat Gray.  Thanks girl.  Overall Easter weekend was our biggest yet (in just over six months in existence). THE WELL is growing rapidly. Faster than I've experienced before. Something to be thankful for...

Then Sunday, we blew the roof off the place.  I lost my mind preaching, and we had an all round wonderful time.

That's what Nik and I looked like Friday night at our crazy friend's birthday. She insisted we all dress up 80's style, and we did. You should have heard the people snickering at us as we walked to dinner downtown.  I took comfort in fun friends and a fun (and foxy) wife. Something to be thankful for...

We did our best to kick it old school.

Saturday we spent the day cleaning our sailboat--a lifelong dream. Seriously, every spring since I can remember I've WISHED with everything in me that I could be at a boatyard working on MY boat.

Dream came true this year.

Something to be thankful for.

I feel very grateful, even moved.  How 'bout you?

T