Leap Day

It's leap day today!  A day that only comes once every four years!  This is a really unique day!

Christmas, birthdays, Easter, Canada Day, etc, all come every year, but leap day...leap day is like the Olympics, or the World Cup.  And because it's such a special and unique day, I think it needs to be marked in a special and unique way.  So this morning for the duration of All New Breakfast Club, Todd drank tea (usually my drink), and I drank coffee...horrible coffee (usually Todd's drink).  But I took it a step further and decided to dress backwards (this is a homage to my camp days as a kid, where we had "backwards day"...good times!):


           


Weird, yes, but I just wanted to do something different and fun.  So, what are you going to do today to mark Leap Day?


(Here's one more that a friend sent me):

"A day to do things you ordinarily wouldn't do, to take chances!"

A decade later

This was a big week for me.  10 years.  10 years that I've been at LIFE 100.3.  I started November 18, 2005 by delivering a newscast at noon just to help cover when someone was sick.  10 years later, I'm still here, and loving it.  If you're a new listener, here's a synopsis of my history at LIFE.  If you've been listening from when I started, well first, thank you!  And for you, this is a behind-the-scenes of my past decade.  (If you don't want to read this whole thing, just skip to the last couple of paragraphs.)

I remember starting out.  I remember my first newscast.  Hearing myself on the radio and thinking, "This is so cool!"  I remember being super nervous and doing the best I could to impress the bosses.  I remember finishing the newscast, and Scott Jackson saying to me, "Hey, could you come in Monday morning and do our news again?"  And so I did.  Then I was asked to come in on Tuesday...then Wednesday.  And for 5 months I literally worked day to day, week to week; Scott would ask me at the end of every week, "Hey, can you help us out again next week?"  Finally in March of 2006, I was asked, "Do you just want the job?"

You would think my immediate answer would be "YES!!"  But it wasn't.  I had to go home and think about it.  I didn't want to do news.  I hated news.  I couldn't care less about it (at the time).  But I also looked at how many doors God had opened for me to get to that point, and it was almost impossible for me to turn down the job offer.  God kept orchestrating one thing after another, and I knew I had to say yes, even if I wasn't super excited about it.

It took some getting used to, but it wasn't long before I start to like news...and no one was more surprised than me.  Even though I still really wanted to be a DJ, I was somewhat enjoying connecting with politicians, attending press conferences, and researching, writing, and delivering newscasts.  I took ownership of the news department and worked hard to make it sound good.  But it was tough slugging.  There were days when I just wanted to quit.  When I just got frustrated and would think, "What am I doing with my life?  I don't mind news, but it's not what I really want to do!".  I would wonder if I would ever get the opportunity to be a full-time DJ, or if I should just move on.  I was subbing for DJ's when they were sick, but that was only a few days to a few months at a time.  I wanted the real deal, my own show.  There were days of arguments with management, and believe it or not, there was even a time where I almost lost my job because my attitude just wasn't right.  But what they say is true - attitude is everything.  I prayed, changed my attitude, and worked hard.  And that was the trigger I needed.

After six years of doing news and sub-DJ'ing, I was finally given my first real DJ shift - afternoon drive.  That's a big show for your first gig.  I also got bumped to News Director.  And after about a year of doing that, I was given the Ministry Relations portfolio as well, which I've really enjoyed.  It's been great to connect with pastors and hear what their churches are doing to reach out, and see how we can work together to spread the good news.

And now for the last year and a half, I've been back to mornings, but this time as a DJ, host of The All New Breakfast Club.  I can honestly say that this is the most fun that I have had at LIFE (and I've been having fun since the beginning, so I'm in a pretty good spot right now).  I enjoy coming in to work.  Todd and I end up spending most mornings laughing, both on and off the air.  How can you complain about a job where you spend half of your 8-hour workday laughing?  The rest of the day is taken up by preparing for upcoming shows, connecting with pastors for Ministry Relations, and overseeing the news department, and as I mentioned, I enjoy both of those.

Over the past 10 years, I've lived my life out on the air.  I've gotten engaged, married, had a kid, then a second, now a third (my wife is pregnant).  I've talked about my personal struggles with temptation, doubt, and feeling far from God.  Listeners, I have prayed with you, cried with you, laughed and struggled together with you.  And you have done the same with me.  I have had the incredible privilege of being part of your lives, and hopefully ministering to you and bringing God into your lives - and again, you have done that for me.  You have made this job what it is - fantastic.  You have made it fun.  You have made it worth the struggles and difficult times.  You have...made it.

I got into radio to do Christian radio.  I'm blessed to have been able to do this for 10 years.  I remember in March of 2006 when I accepted the offer of employment.  I signed the papers in Scott's office, and we ended off by praying.  I specifically remember him saying, "God, please let this be a long-term and fruitful stay for Tim at LIFE."  10 years later, I'd say God answered that prayer.

Thank you listeners.  Thank you Scott and LIFE staff.  Thank you God.  It's been a great 10 years.

Thanksgiving

We had a great talk-back show today on The All New Breakfast Club.  The question was, "What is something that someone has done for you that you will always be thankful for?"  We got a ton of fantastic stories...lots of tear-jerkers....like a guy who's dad bought him goalie pads when he was a kid, and years later he found out that his dad had to hitch-hike to work the next two weeks because he couldn't afford the gas to drive.  Amazing sacrifices.

It got me thinking about some things that people have done for me in my life.  Here's a few.

As a kid, my brother always stuck up for me.  He was my older brother, and protected me from bullies in the playground.  I was always so humbled by that.  When he and I went on a vacation years later and a person disrespected me for no reason, my brother stuck up for me again.  My brother is awesome.

When I took my first extended trip away from home, it was tough on my parents.  I was going for 3-4 weeks, I was flying by myself, and it was a mission trip, so there was an element of danger.  They let me go though.  When I arrived and opened up my suitcase, I found a tract that they had slid in with some hand written notes of encouragement and love for those time I might get down.  That tract meant so much to me.  I've never forgotten it, and I still have it in a box in my garage (I hope!).

When my wife and I got married, we hit a financial rough patch.  We were struggling in September 2009.  But three times in one month, money showed up.  Once it was our pastor with a rent cheque.  Another time it was $250 in grocery gift cards (I still don't know who gave us that).

A few weeks ago when my car died and my family needed a vehicle, we were struggling to find anything decent in our price range.  My uncle heard about what were going through, and wrote us a cheque that doubled our car shopping budget.  It was incredible.

These are just four simple stories that come to mind.  But when someone does something nice for you, you never forget it.  And you are encouraged to pay it forward.  I know I am.

So, what has someone done for YOU that you will never forget?

Vacation

My wife and I were on vacation last week, and many people will say that we did something a bit crazy.  We went camping with two young kids - a 2.5 year old and an 11 month old....and with my wife being pregnant.  Now, it was car camping, much lighter than what we were considering (hiking for an hour into the deep bush), but that was a good decision because yep, it was a bit crazy...a lot of fun, but a lot of work.  For those considering something like this, know that while it is a 'vacation', it's not really a vacation.  It was fun, but not relaxing...

It was fun.  It was awesome to see our two boys out in nature.  They LOVE being outside.  They love playing together.  No iPads, laptops, or TV.  Just having fun outside.  We brought a bunch of toys and they had fun playing, chasing balls, swimming, playing in the sand, and getting horribly dirty.  It was fun creating memories together.  It was fun watching my 2.5 year old play with his new 'Thomas' flashlight that he got specifically for camping, and that he loved.  It was fun spending time as a family with no agenda.  It was fun taking on a new challenge, something that we knew would be difficult, but that would be worth it in the end.  And it was.

But not relaxing...  Kids can be a handful.  Little boys never seem to run out of energy.  There was never a down moment, which is a bit of the opposite of what camping is supposed to be, lol.  We were always on the go chasing after one or both of the boys.  Nap times were difficult, and night time...well that was a write-off.  Getting them to bed was quite the challenge, then keeping them asleep through the night was next to impossible.  There was very little sleep.

But despite the craziness, we would do it all over again.  We love camping, and we want to pass that down to our boys at a young age.  Next year when we have three kids, we will do it again (Lord-willing).  It's a cheap, fun vacation, away from all distractions and technology.  It's a great way to reconnect with God and be reminded of his incredible creation of nature...do you know how many deer we saw??  We lost count after the second day!

Yep, we'd do it all over again.

Comfort

If there's one comfort in life, it's being able to pray.  Being able to give things over to a higher God who is more powerful and strong than I could ever be.  A God who actually knows what's going on, who cares, and who can do something about it.

The past couple of days, I've found myself doing a lot of praying.  Some prayers are for things that directly affect me, others are for things that have nothing to do with me but are on my mind nonetheless.

This Virginia shooting of two reporters...that was really sad.  Perhaps being in the media makes this story hit home even more, but I'm not so sure; I think we are all affected - and shocked - by this one.  The one peace I've found though, is to pray.  For the victims' families, their co-workers, viewers who saw what happened, and for the shooter's family.  It's comforting to know that God feels our pain with us, and that He can provide peace in such heartache...the kind of peace that doesn't make sense (look at the victims in the Charleston church shooting as an example).  I've been praying for some sense of peace through the pain.

The past couple of days, I've been praying for some people I know who are on vacation.  I'm not sure why I've been praying so much for them, but they've been on my mind.  And I believe that if someone is on your mind, perhaps there is a reason.  Maybe God is bringing them to mind so that you will pray for them.  So I've been praying for them, asking for an awesome vacation.

I've been praying a lot for my parents.  They are going through the terrible debate over whether to sell their home of 30+ years. They can't take care of it anymore and they can't afford it...and yet, there are too many memories to just up and leave.  There have been dozens of honest, difficult, heart-wrenching conversations over the past few months.  There have been lots of tears.  There has been lots of debate - and no decision.  So I pray.

Someone (Joyce Meyer I believe) once pointed out that too often, we treat prayer as a last resort.  When all else fails, pray.  It should be the other way around.  Step ONE - pray.  Step two - try everything else.  Pretty good priorities, I think.

Gotta love social media...

I am admittedly not a huge social media user.  But stories like this one are when I love social media.  I saw this last week and have been laughing over it since.  This is perhaps one of the funniest things I have seen in a very long time.  Check out the link for the full story, but the jist is that a dead raccoon was left on a city sidewalk in Toronto for about 14 hours until a city worker finally came and picked it.  However, it's the reaction from city residents that's so great, catching like wildfire and just getting better and better.  This is definitely something that never would have happened without social media.  It's nice to a see a good sense of humour...  A little morbid, yes.  A dead raccoon, yes, that's sad.  But nonetheless, this response by the people of Toronto remains priceless.

Seriously, one of my favourite stories of 2015.  Poor racoon...but so funny.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/deadraccoonto-honoured-by-toronto-with-sidewalk-vigil-1.3146036

Can't complain

Today...today was a good day.  It started out with a lot of laughs this morning between Todd and I on the All New Breakfast Club, both on and off the air.  We joked around about funny videos on the internet (which of course meant we that had to watch them...and laugh more).

We had a wager with Steve Jones on what our Promotions Coordinator Pip Lucas would be wearing today (I lost, I thought he'd be in a tie).

We took a silly video on a selfie stick (you can check it out on our LIFE Facebook page - it's inspiration from Shia Labeouf).

And we got a call about a Batmobile sighting on Highway 400.  Seriously.

About midway through the show and after lots of laughing, I said to Todd, "We're having too much fun this morning."  And it hit me...I'm pretty lucky.  How many people get to say that, that they're having too much fun at work?  I get to do something I love.  I get to laugh and joke around on the air, and I get paid for it.  I get to work with a really fun guy who usually gets my day off to a great start.  I get to hear from people all across Central Ontario about their lives. I get to encourage those same people - and thousands more - to start their day off with Christ.  I get to work for some pretty great bosses who genuinely care about their staff.  Most importantly, I get to do something I believe in.  It's not just a job to us.  We work at LIFE because we get to spread Jesus.

After jumping off the air, I went to the Georgian College Auto Show with the LIFE Street Team, and it turns out the Batmobile rumour was true!

(He told me to stick my chest out and keep my head up.  I tried, but it's still not worthy of a Batman pose)

I not trying to brag.  I'm not that guy.  The truth is, radio can be a lot of work sometimes.  You are always working to perfect your craft.  You are always "on" because you're a personality.  You sometimes work long hours, and often on weekends.  But that's just part of the gig.  You know that going in, and you take the good with the bad.  And in the end, the good easily wins.

I don't like to write posts like this because they can be take the wrong way...oh look, my life is so much better than yours...  That's not my intention here at all.  I'm just taking an honest look at my life and reflecting on the fact that I'm a pretty blessed guy (and I haven't even touched on my family - I'd brag about that though!).

Thanks Scott and LIFE staff.  Thanks Todd Gale.  Thanks God.