Recently, I had the honour of participating in one of life's milestones – the memorial service of my grandmother. She was 96 years old when she died and was committed to the church, to Christian education, to her family, and she made time for me as a young boy and into adulthood. As with most [...]
As a young boy, who was raised in Ontario, I remember taking multiple family vacations “to the west” to visit my grandparents in Lacombe, Alberta. On one of our trips, my parents decided to traverse the continent mostly in the US, taking in some sights along the way such as Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone etc. However, [...]
I spent the better part of this evening (at the time of this writing) watching the Academy Awards with my family. It’s not really a family tradition, but our kids are coming of age where we feel comfortable with them watching it with us and not having to change the channel due to adult content. [...]
On an annual basis, during late January/early February, my father flies all of his boys (3 of us) and a son-in-law out to the Phoenix area for a long weekend of golf. This year was no exception. Not only was it a great weekend of golf with memories that came from this, but it was [...]
I love Starbucks. Yes, the coffee is great and yes, I love the brand that they work hard at portraying. Here’s the real reason: they don’t advertise on TV. I love the fact that Starbucks is considered one of the current, most recognized brands in the world (along with Coke, McDonald’s and Apple) and they [...]
Two weeks ago, I (along with a few colleagues) spent some time at a Christian Schools Canada Conference for administrators across Canada. Our keynote speaker was Andy Crouch (coincidentally also the keynote speaker for the InspirED teacher’s convention this week). Andy is the senior editor for Christianity Today and was formerly a Christian contemporary singer songwriter. [...]
I don’t know about you —but when we are visiting as a family in someone else’s home and my kids have no regard for the words, “OK kids— it’s time to go,” I tend to get frustrated. Maybe it’s just me. I mean…when I say it’s time to go (sometimes I even start with a [...]
At the top of my all-time favourite memories as a kid was going to Uncle Cecil and Aunt Sylvia’s farm. They owned and managed a dairy farm in Cobourg, Ontario (they moved to Listowel, Ontario when I was much older). Uncle Cecil was one of my dad’s younger brothers and they were good friends. We [...]
My father turned 70 recently and Heidi and I were able to travel to Ontario. The reason for our trip was to spend time with my dad, my mom, and all of my siblings and their spouses for a wonderful weekend of reminiscing and celebrating a man that we love and honour.My dad is a [...]
Ground control to Major Tom…Ground control to Major Tom…Hopefully by now, as a reader, you have started to hum the 1969 pop hit, “Space Oddity” by David Bowie and if you really enjoyed that genre and type of music you are well into the second verse in your mind by now…This is the song that [...]
