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.

Diet

Todd was off this morning and Maria Lopez jumped into the co-host chair.  She did a great job, and something she shared is going to stick with me for a long time.  She talked about a sermon she heard this week from Joel Osteen, who was discussing what to do when you're down or depressed.  That's always a tough place to be, so it's a great message.

Maria/Joel started off by talking about self control - when you're on a diet, you refuse a slice of chocolate cake.  When you're on a budget, you don't go clothes shopping when you don't need to.  And when you're in a bad state of mind, you need to take a 'diet from negative thoughts'.  That was Joel Osteen's phrase, and it hit me.  I've never thought of it that way before.  When you're on a diet, you abstain from certain things.  You stay away from things that you know are not good for you, and load up on what IS good for you.  What a great analogy for where our thoughts should be.  Positive and negative people alike, we all have moments where we need to make sure we're thinking about the good stuff, and not focussing on the bad stuff.  Of course you'll have bad days on your diet, you'll cheat here and there.  But you get back up and keep going.

So do you need to be on a diet from negative thoughts?  I'm sure it would do me some good sometimes.  From now on, consider me permanently on a diet :)

God is in control

It's nice to know that God is in control.  Sometimes we get so nervous about...everything...and I think God is up there saying, "Hey.  Breathe.  Chill out.  I got this.  Breathe again.  Relax.  And think about the fact that, really, I got this!"

This is similar to last week's post, but I suppose this my my stage in life right now.  I think God has just been reminding me, "Hey Tim, relax.  I got this."  And even though I know that, I still have nervous moments.  It's funny that we know that God is in control, we can look back and see how He's worked in our lives in the past, He reassures us that He is STILL working...and yet we still get nervous or anxious sometimes.  I suppose that is just our human nature, but that is the wonderful blessing of grace - that God understands our human weaknesses, and He walks with us and comforts us anyway, and tries to remind us along the way that yup, He's in control.

So, hey you, relax!  Oh wait, that's just a mirror.

More Faith Please

This past Sunday, I lost my cell phone.  The last place I remember having it was at the grocery store after church.  Since then, I looked EVERYWHERE for it.  I called it over and over, searched my house, my car, my office at LIFE, even went to the grocery store and all the neighbouring stores to ask if anyone had turned anything in.  Nothing.

I talked about this on the radio two days ago, and got lots of helpful calls and tips...but still, no phone.  Then a friend emailed me this:

Tim, I know someone who knows where your phone is......

God does!!!!!!....He will show you!

I saw the first line of that email and I was so elated!  Finally, someone who knows where my phone is!  Then I saw the second line...and I wasn't too happy.  In fact, I was irritated.  I thought, Urg, I know God knows where my phone is!  But a lot of times I pray and nothing happens, so is He really going to bring my phone around?  Besides, I've looked everywhere in my house, I can't hear it vibrating, and it's two days later and no one has turned  it in.  So let's face it.  It's lost.  And I was literally 100% sure nothing would happen.

A couple of hours later I was sitting in my office and I thought, "Okay, I really should pray.  My friend is actually right."  (I had been praying about it since Sunday, but not as intentionally as I decided to do it at that moment.)  So I prayed then, and when I got home from work, I talked to my wife and mentioned the email, and we prayed again, intentionally.

That evening, my wife walked past our couch and stepped on something that was under it...and lo and behold, the phone!!!  I could not believe it.  I couldn't believe that it was in my house.  I couldn't believe that we'd actually found it.  And I couldn't believe that God actually heard our prayer and brought it to us.  I felt so much joy...and a bit of shame for not trusting God to answer my prayer.

It served as a great reminder for me that yes, God is in control, and yes, He does care - even about the small things.  I actually have something else in my life that I'm a bit nervous about right now, so this phone incident has served as a reminder of God's presence, and because of that presence, I have a lot more peace.

I hope this helps you out if you're nervous about something.  Pray!  God does care!

Contentment

I've been wresting with this issue for the past few years...actually probably all my life.  What is contentment?  What does it mean to be content?  Is there a certain level where we should all be content?  Is there a different level of contentment from person to person?  (This discussion is specifically about finances.)

Let's start in the bible.  Philippians 4:11-12, "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want."

Paul clearly was content.  Despite being shipwrecked multiple times, beaten, whipped, starving, on the run, cold, imprisoned, etc., he was content (1 Corinthians 11:23-28 for Paul's struggles).  He had God, he lived for God, and that's all that mattered.

Now in the 21st century, is the same?  Can we be that content through all circumstances?

Let me elabourate a bit.  If you make enough money to pay your bills, put food on the table, and stay out of debt (with wise budgeting and spending), but you can't afford to put your kids in swimming/skating/music lessons, you can't afford to go on vacation, and there are no extra frills in life...should you be content in the fact that your bills are paid and "that's good enough"?  Is it okay to want more money to do the things mentioned above?

What about if you can't even pay your bills?  The point where you are relying on God to meet your daily needs, and help you pay your bills at the end of the month?  Is it okay to want more then?  Or should you rest in the fact that God is providing for you and "that's good enough"?

Then there's the other end of the spectrum - you make enough money to pay your bills, and then some.  You can take a vacation each year, put your kids in sports, fix up your car, go out to dinner once in a while, etc...  Is that contentment?

There are missionaries who have nothing and yet are the happiest people you'll ever meet.  And there are wealthy individuals who have everything, and yet have nothing.

I know that the answer is God.  We find our contentment in God and not in worldly things.  Yes, thank you.  Good Sunday School answer...that is annoying but true haha.  But I guess the question comes down to this - when is it okay to want things?  If someone is in one of the first two scenarios, is it wrong to want more money so that you can live a little bit more comfortably, or so that you can give good things to your kids?  I can't imagine that there's anything wrong with that.  And yet by wanting more, does that mean that we're not thankful for what God has already given us, and not trusting Him for the rest?

I don't know.  I see both sides.  What I do know is that we should be content in all circumstances.  The 'want' part is where I'm confused.  Any help is welcome.

Impulses

The past few days/weeks, I've been wondering about 'impulses'.  That feeling you get that you need to pray right now for a certain situation, or you should call someone that just came to mind, or you should stop in at this coffee shop, even though you weren't planning on it when you left your house.

How many of those impulses are from God?  How many of them do we actually follow and go for?  I've had it happen three times in the last two days, that I've gotten the 'impulse' to pray for someone.  And I've done it.  Actually, once I ignored it, but then someone else asked if we could pray and I knew right away that I should not have ignored my impulse.

I think we get them a lot more than we think we do.  For some reason though, we can sometimes tend to ignore those thoughts.  I have a huge tendency to say, "Oh, that's just me and my thoughts, not God".  What if I'm wrong?

1 Thessalonians 5:17 says "pray continually".  That means as you're looking around, you see things from God's perspective.  As I'm writing this and I look out the window in my office, I see three houses outside, and the thought comes to mind - "pray for the people in those houses".  Is that God?  I can't imagine that EVERY time it's an impulse from Him telling me to pray; personally, I don't think that's how it works.  But I do think that as we become more Christ-like, we get His mind, see things His way.  And I believe Jesus probably prayed for everything, all the time.  Even short, quick prayers - "God please help that person"; "God, let the people in the car in front of me come to know you"; "God, let something good happen to this cashier today, and let them know that it was because of you"...etc.

I wonder if that's how it's supposed to be.  I think so.  I try to do that.  And it's nice to know that God hears each of those prayers, even if I don't know what will come of them.

It's been a fun week!

I like weeks like this on the internet.  All the neat and weird stories that have popped up, it's fun!  It's a nice break from the heavy (and often negative) stuff that can often be in the news, and that can sadly make up our world today.

But this week was different.  I've smiled and laughed a lot the past few days, and my curiosity has been peaked.  It started off with the mystery bunker found in Toronto.  What is this bunker, who built it, what was it for, when was it built, etc...so many questions and no answers.  Crazy!  (It's too bad it's been filled in now...)

Then it was the story of the llamas on the loose in Arizona.  Police, bystanders, people in their cars - no one could catch these for about 20 minutes!  A fun video to watch (here's the shortened version):

Then there came the story of the giant catfish.  Dino Ferrari reeled in this monster - 280 lbs, almost 9 feet long! (He released it.)

And then of course, the one that has completely boggled my mind - "The Dress".  The dress that has polarized the internet.  Some see it as white and gold, others and blue and black.  For me, it so CLEARLY was white and gold all morning, and I emphasized that on the air and to all callers today...and then five hours later I looked at it again and now all I see is blue and black...  It's messing with my brain!

I can see both variations now (it's all the lighting and the angle).

Hopefully one or all of these stories made you laugh too!  If not, look one of them up and enjoy!

Birthday

I turned 33 yesterday.  It was my birthday, meaning I could do whatever I wanted.  My wife kept asking, "What do you want to do?  Anything you want, it's your day!"  But I worked in the morning, and had a 2.5 hour meeting that I had to go to in the evening...so there were only a few hours in the middle of the day that were 'mine'.

So what was my choice for 'whatever I wanted to do' for those few hours?

I took a nap.  A wonderful, magnificent, almost heavenly, nap.  My wife took the kids, and I had some one-on-one time with my pillow.  I woke up feeling so refreshed.

For those of you who think I'm lame, I understand.  I too used to be so naive once.  Then I had kids.  And started working at 5am.  And everything changed.

It was the best birthday ever.

It's about time

Our new washer arrives today!  Finally!

Our washer broke about two and a half weeks ago and we called a repair man in to fix it.  He said it was a write off and we should get a new one.  We were finally able to order one at the beginning of this week, and it'll be delivered today.  Whew, just in time, our bedrooms are literally full of laundry. With a two year old who doesn't care about his clothes and a baby who still spits up, laundry piles up FAST.

Over the past couple of weeks though, I've been reminded again of how great it is to have good friends.  Since our washer broke, we have done about eight loads of laundry at three different people's homes...and we easily could have done more.  In fact, if the new washer wasn't coming today, we'd be calling on our friends again this weekend.  But all the friends just jump in right away - "Of course, you can use our washer and dryer anytime!"  One person even folded our laundry for us, lol.  Too sweet.  The hassle of carting laundry back and forth in a small car is nothing when compared to how great your friends can be.

So I am beyond grateful for our friends...but I can't wait to not have to rely on them anymore :)

Bed pan race!

I had the opportunity to do the bedpan race at Mash Bash again this year.  This is the second time I've done it.  It's a lot of fun!

Let me give you the run down in case you don't know what this is.  Mash Bash is a big event put on by Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre, and it happens every year at Snow Valley in Barrie.  It's a huge fundraiser for the hospital and a lot of fun.  And every year, they have bed pan races, where you sit on a bed pan and see who can get down the hill the fastest.  It's very difficult.  VERY.  Bedpans are small!  I compete in the media race against other radio personalities from the Simcoe County area.  Both times I've done it, I've ended up wiping out.  This time though, I got a lot farther down the hill!  I ended up with a lot of snow down the back of my pants though...it was a cold few hours afterward...

I also had a GoPro strapped to my chest, I'll upload that video as soon as I get it downloaded onto my computer.  You'll see just how hard it is!

Fun Christian music

I have to say, I'm impressed with the calibre of Christian music coming out these days.  Specifically, new styles of Christian music.

We've always been good at the worship music.  That's a given.  And the music that you wouldn't quite classify as 'worship' (as in, you likely wouldn't sing it on Sunday morning), but you can just tell by the style that it's Christian - Casting Crowns is a good example.

But this new 'fun' style of Christian music that's coming out, I'm loving it!  It's...well, it's just that - fun!  It gets you dancing!  Forgive this description, I'm not trying to sound negative here at all, I'm just not sure how else to describe it other than...it's music that you might hear on a secular radio station if it didn't have lyrics about God and Jesus.  Not because other Christian music is bad or poorly done, but simply because of the style.  These songs have a fun sound.  A bit like Mumford and Sons, but the Christian version.  Songs like:

Tim Neufeld, I'm Free

Mercyme, Greater

Rend Collective, My Lighthouse

Chris Tomlin, God's Great Dance Floor

One more Mercyme tune...Shake!!

This is not by any means a knock against any other style of Christian music.  I like lots of artists that don't fall into this style.  But it's just nice to see this newer, upbeat, fun music.  Often Christian music is serene, worshipful, melodic, soul-searching, which is fine.  But it's great to dance, move and shake to music with good lyrics that praise God!  In fact, Mercyme said that in creating their last album, their goal was make music that you couldn't sit down to while listening - it was just too much fun :).  What a great goal!

Alright, get your dance on!  Have fun!

This is how you do Facebook!

I'm not a big Facebook user or social media guy.  I see their importance, I know how to use them, I DO use them...but for the most part, I just couldn't be bothered.  BUT, when something like this comes along, it changes everything.  It inspires me.

This guy is awesome.  No one knows who he is.  His identity has not been revealed yet.  But his Facebook profile pictures are amazing.  Where he gets the props, how and where he takes the shots, it's all a mystery.  But whoever he is, he's going viral.  Have a look at some of his profile pictures:

Here's the recipe that I'm realizing from watching people like this who become global sensations.  Find something that's unique and that you enjoy doing, and do it well.  Like this guy.

Out of the ordinary.

Super-creative.

Fun.

And now, viral.

Could be a good recipe for church outreaches, no?

2015

Here we are at the beginning of a new year.  The dawn of a new day means you look ahead.  You look at what's coming next, and how you can better yourself.  But to do that, you have to look back too.

2014 was a great year, and a challenging year.

Great because my second son was born.  Great because my wife and I saw God's hand leading us in several different ways.

Challenging because for the life of me, I could not stay healthy.  I used to be the iron-horse, the guy who never got sick.  My 'sick' has always been a bit of a head cold that's usually gone within 1-2 days.  But in 2014, I had laryngitis, strep throat, several long-lasting colds and coughs, and even a pulled muscle.  It was a long year.

So how do I look ahead and make changes (if possible)?  One thing my doctor said was to get more rest, and that would help with not getting sick so often.  It's hard when you have a full time job where you're up by 4:15am, are a full-time dad of young children who don't always sleep through the night, and have other responsibilities that keep you busy during the day.  So this year, my wife and I are making a concerted effort to help me get more rest through a couple of lifestyle changes.

Additionally, I've picked my verse for the year.  Mark 9:24,"Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”  You see, I am a doubting Thomas.  Yes, I believe in God and Jesus.  But my faith could use some help sometimes.  I want to believe more.  I want to believe that when I pray, God hears, and can - and WILL answer.  And I'm quoting a verse right from the bible in calling out to God - I need God to help me overcome my unbelief.

That's what's ahead for 2015.