Creativity

“So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he

created them.” Genesis 1:27

The Creator and Master of the universe left his finger prints on you, his child. He made you to resemble him, putting qualities of himself - including creativity - in you. You might not be an artist or musician or designer or writer, but you are creative because you were made by a creative God who made you in his image.

Life Coaching

1. What is a creative dream you have but don’t think is possible?
2. Where, in your life and your ministry, does it excite you to be creative?
3. Where, in your life and ministry, is it challenging to be creative?

forget all the sentences that begin with “yes, but…” and journal for a few minutes about what that dream would look like if you risked pursuing it.

Prayer: God, who created the heaven and the earth and everything in them, thank you for making me in your image. Thank you for the privilege it is to be like you. Thank you for making me creative. Please put in my heart and mind the passion and wisdom and courage to pursue the creative dreams you have given me in life and in youth ministry. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Christmas Presence

Apple just posted their most recent advertisement (check it out here if you can't see the embed below):



The title of this affecting ad is "Misunderstood." I get it--the teen seems so out of touch and disconnected from everyone in his family, yet he's apparently totally present with everyone around him as he captures Christmas memories on his iPhone.

Only, he's not. 

He's still staring at a screen. He's not having conversations with people or looking people in the eye. He's capturing the moment but he's not in the moment.

I don’t want my childrens' primary image of me to be with my head down on the laptop or the cellphone.

I want to be with my family this Christmas season.

Available. Approachable. Aware.

Present.

It's so tempting for me to check my phone or jump on my laptop or mentally tune out while my kids are playing around me. Even now, I'm typing this as my toddler daughter crawls around me pulling herself up and stretching her hands up to be held. I'm so easily distracted from what is most important.

What if we gave our friends and families presence this Christmas season? Instead of making sure we're taking an awesome Instagram photo of the moment or updating our Facebook status to let the Internet world know of our whereabouts, let's leave our phones in our pockets and purses and just be together. So get off your computer and go be present with those you love this Christmas season!

Joel Mayward is a pastor, writer, husband, and father living in Langley, British Columbia. He’s been serving in youth ministry since 2003, and is currently the Pastor of Youth and Young Adult Ministries at North Langley Community Church. A writer for numerous youth ministry publications and author of Leading Up: Finding Influence in the Church Beyond Role and Experience, Joel writes about youth ministry, film, theology, and leadership at his blog, joelmayward.blogspot.ca.

Don’t miss out on the gift God has for you just because it’s not wrapped the way you want it to be.

Welcome! This is my inaugural blog post. What better date to start then the week of Christmas.

Mary is a great example of how God wants us to be a part of His plan. What better way to show your youth, that average means a heck of a lot to God…. and talk about a whack gift!

I’m going to share a story that you may have heard, about a young guy graduating college. He was a rich kid. The kind that you see on those episodes of “My Super Sweet 16”. For graduation he was expecting this sports car he’d been eying.

On grad day, his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, how much he loved him and so on. Then he handed his son a beautifully wrapped gift box. The son opened it and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible, with the his name embossed in gold. Angrily he said "with all your money, you give me a Bible?" and stormed out of the house.

Many years passed and the son was uber successful. But he was missing something in life and realizing his father was very old he thought he should visit him. He had not seen him since that college grad day. Before he could make arrangements he received a call telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to him, his only son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things. 

When he arrived at his father's house sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He searched through his father's important papers and saw the still gift-wrapped Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages when a car key dropped from the back. It had a tag with the words PAID IN FULL.

How many times do we miss God's gifts because they are not wrapped in the package we want them to be? Mary got super bunk packaging – but she didn’t reject the gift.

When we read Mary’s story in Luke1 it’s pretty crazy. Mary was super average - very poor in fact. She loved God but her favor from Him was not for being extraordinary. And the package of her “gift” was far from pleasant: explaining her “virgin” pregnancy to the fam, fiancé and tribe, nine months of carrying a baby, the pains of birth, and let’s not forget the pressure of raising the son of the universal creator!

God’s gift to Mary, us and our youth, is that He allows us to be a part of His plan despite how insignificant we are, but we must not reject the package just because it’s not the way we think it should be wrapped.

Have an awesome Christmas,

Cindy

p.s. Awesome vid for youth of the Christmas story:

About me: I live a pretty simple life... trying to love God and treat others as good as myself... I epically fail at this but mercifully God loves me anyway... different cultures inspire me... the outdoors is my passion... I'm pursuing my MDIV / Masters in Counselling at Tyndale... I spent 22+ years in the skate / snowboard / entertainment / marketing / retail industry at the executive level... led the charge at West 49/Billabong for 12 of them... I've worked in youth ministry leadership roles for more years then I can count.. after many moons in the corporate world I switched to the dark side and am currently the Manager of Youth & Student Campaigns at World Vision Canada... but more then anything I love giving my heart to mentoring and helping youth! #lovelife #dreambig #keepitreal #socialjustice #jesusjustice T/I: @cindymielke facebook.com/cindymielke

Cheerleaders, Shepherds and Cowboys

This past Sunday, I was blessed to travel to Yellowknife for the episcopal ordination of my friend and mentor Mark Hagemoen as the new Bishop of the Diocese of Mackenzie - Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories.  It was a whirlwind of a day as we flew out on a chartered plane from Vancouver at 7am and arrived back by 9:30pm.

During the homily at Mass, Bishop Mark's predecessor gifted him with a set of poms poms.  The visual of the very masculine Bishop Mark waving the pom poms was quite humourous, but the point was clear:  Bishop Mark is to be a cheerleader for his fellow priests, the religious, and for all the faithful in his diocese.

As youth workers, youth ministry coordinators, and youth pastors, we are called to be cheerleaders for our youth ministry volunteers.  Our job is to give confidence to our volunteers that God is working in them and through them.  We are their cheerleaders, affirmers, encouragers, and advocates.

Remember, these are ordinary people in the hands of a most extraordinary God.

So ask yourself:  are you a shepherd or a cowboy?

A cowboy gets behind his cattle and drives them relentlessly with a whip.

Whereas a shepherd goes in front of his sheep and says, "Follow me."


Clayton Imoo is husband to Gail and father to sons Sean Isaiah and Jacob Isaac and daughter Kayla Marie.  He has served as the Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver for the past ten years, helping parishes develop their own youth and young adult ministries.  When not doing ministry, Clay enjoys spending time with his family, playing music, playing sports, playing naptime, and writing blogs on topics such as family, faith, and the Vancouver Canucks.  Learn more about him at http://www.claytonimoo.com or follow him @claytonimoo     

 

Kingdom Diversity

If you study the life of Jesus you will not only discover a God-man full of integrity and character. You may also discover that He likes to do things differently...a lot.

When I first started out in ministry as a volunteer and then young ministry leader, I was convinced that the way I was doing things was the best possible way to minister to teens and families. Call it arrogance, call it being naive, or simply call it being blind. Many years later as a seasoned ministry leader I'm learning to appreciate the richness that diversity has to offer.

Diversity is an interesting word. To some it means embracing a laissez-faire attitude towards life and leadership, while to others it means uncovering and celebrating the different personalities, character and dreams that people possess. For me, diversity is a value; one that liberates a leader from a narrow frame of modus operandi.

Back to Jesus.

If you study the miracles that Jesus performed during His time on earth, you will discover that each one is uniquely different and yet completely amazing. He spits into mud and rubs it onto the eyes of a blind man restoring his sight, He changes water into wine through a simple exercise of refilling empty wine barrels, He speaks to a dead man inviting him to step back into life, and he prays over a small lunch in order to feed a gathered crowd of over 5000 people. And these are just a few of the miracles Jesus performed!

If you take a deeper look into the people that Jesus interacted with, you will again discover this theme and value of diversity. Jesus took the time to notice and to befriend anyone who was willing to be known by Him.

If Jesus embraced and lived this value of diversity, shouldn't our families, churches and ministry communities do the same? Is there room for diversity in your current ministry context, or are you asking everyone to be like everybody else?

Here are a few questions that I'm asking in my life and in my ministry to help me refine the value of diversity:

1. Do I create space where people with different stories, personalities, abilities and learning styles can connect?
2. Do I take the time to celebrate someones uniqueness as well as to look for something that we might have in common?
3. Do I encourage other ministry leaders who do ministry different than I do to keep leading into their uniqueness, or do I suggest that they should copy what I do?
4. Do I possess a balance between creativity and imitation in my pursuit of embracing diversity as a value?

So what about you...how have you seen the value of diversity impact the lives of people? Are there additional questions you'd add to this list to help refine the pursuit of diversity as a value?

Jason



Jason has lived in Calgary, Alberta Canada since 1995, and been a youth pastor since 2001. He is married to the love of his life, Bonny, and together they have three incredible children: Saydie, Cannon and Deklon. Jason possesses a desire to see youth, parents and families become who God created them to be through loving and living like Jesus. He currently serves on staff at Centre Street Church in Calgary. He loves hockey, playing guitar, writing and creating environments and opportunities where others can realize their potential in Jesus while experiencing the full life He promised to those who follow Him! Follow him on Twitter @JayFrizz or visit his personal website - www.livethestory.ca

Married versus Single in Youth Ministry (Part 2: Obstacles)

Last week, we looked at the advantages of both marriage and singleness in youth ministry. Marriage and singleness are gifts from God, but they each have some unique obstacles, boundaries, and struggles.

Here are some ministry obstacles to being married:

-Your time and responsibilities are divided. Paul makes this claim in 1 Corinthians 7: "But a married man has to think about his earthly responsibilities and how to please his wife. His interests are divided." As a married man with two children under the age of 5, I can totally attest to this: to be a good dad and husband, I have to say "no" to certain ministry responsibilities or opportunities for the sake of my family. It's not that loving my family isn't "the Lord's work" (it absolutely is!), but it does mean that my time and energy and resources are split between more people. Even with finances, it becomes more difficult. When I was single, it didn't matter how much I was getting paid to do ministry; I was *getting paid* to do ministry! Now married and a father, I need to be thinking of how to take care of my family financially, meaning certain jobs and opportunities can't be pursued.

-"Affairs" with the ministry. Related to the divided interests, if a person in ministry is giving more of their time and energy to their youth ministry, they end up hurting their marriage and parenting, potentially causing resentment and spiritual struggles for their spouse and children. My wife pointed this out to me the other day: if I had any other job where I was overly committed, she and the kids could feel resentment towards that job or industry--if I was a banker, she could resent banking; if I was a filmmaker, she might not like movies as much. With ministry work, the difficulty is this: if my spouse and children resent my job due to my over-commitment, they end up resenting God, Christianity, and the church. It wasn't banking or filmmaking that made Daddy miss the special birthday or anniversary--it was God. This means that I need to have healthy boundaries and know when to step back from my ministry responsibilities for the sake of my family.

Here are some ministry obstacles to being single:

-Perception of being "less experienced" or "less mature." This one feels a bit unfair, but we know it's true. Some churches won't hire single people due to this perception, and at some point we've made this assumption about a single person in ministry. Even though the average age for getting married is on the rise (currently somewhere around 27 years old), and some of the greatest biblical heroes were single, many youth workers are perceived as less mature due to their single status, not to mention that our vocation involves hanging out with teenagers a lot. A single person simply cannot speak about marriage and parenting with the same level of experience. Marriage still remains a cultural marker for adulthood in our society, particularly within the Christian world.

-The potential awkwardness of dating. It could be difficult to be in youth ministry and pursue romantic interests, particularly if the person is part of your church or ministry. Your dating habits are on display for the teens you disciple, for better or for worse. If you break up with someone, it's a bit more public than other people. You're a model for Godly singleness, which carries a certain responsibility. (This is an even greater responsibility for married people, as you're an example of a Godly marriage.)

-No sex. Let's be honest: this is a bummer. There is a potential increase in loneliness and sexual temptation due to a lack of sexual intimacy and the "burning with desire" that Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 7. Not that married people can't struggle with these, but when the possibility of sexual intimacy is VERY limited for a single person, it's certainly an issue.

Whether you're married or single, consider your current relationship status a gift from God and a unique position for you to love young people in the name of Jesus!

Joel Mayward is a pastor, writer, husband, and father living in Langley, British Columbia. He’s been serving in youth ministry since 2003, and is currently the Pastor of Youth and Young Adult Ministries at North Langley Community Church. A writer for numerous youth ministry publications and author of Leading Up: Finding Influence in the Church Beyond Role and Experience, Joel writes about youth ministry, film, theology, and leadership at his blog, joelmayward.blogspot.ca.

Youth Room: Part 2

Last weeks blog post (here) I asked a money question: If money was not an obstacle, what would be in your youth room?

That is a great conversation starter with other youth workers when you first meet them or even try it with your fellow youth worker team members. It is bound to start a great discussion with almost Christmas twinkle in their eyes.

As I thought about this question and even started asking other youth workers. Some of them laughed, some them had blank stares not heir faces, while others just shook their heads and said, “where to start?”

If money was not an obstacle for me, I would have just “ONE" thing in my youth room.

Youth workers.

That’s it! I would have the best available recruitment, training, and equipping system for youth workers anywhere. We would be a family of youth workers that ministered to the youth and the whole families.

Jeff Smyth is the worst youth worker. He has been involved in both the local church and non-profit areas of Canada for more than 15 years. Jeff lives in Toronto with his wife Heather and son Nathan.
Jeff online: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+

Another short video from Dave Brotherton. What will the kids in your youth group now, look like when they are 25, 30, or 35? What about their heart, their character, their lifestyle, their witness?  Are we really challenging kids to lay the foundations that will take them into adulthood? Or are we serving fast food, or just creating more of the busy, board, voiceless crowd that already exists? What does today's culture need in our Christian kids? Yes, they need to be Christlike examples with compassionate servants hearts, whose action is oriented towards the poor, oppressed, hurting and lost; but more than that, here is 3 things....

Dave Brotherton was a youth pastor from 1984-2006 and now teaches youth ministry at Ambrose University College in Calgary. Dave is also the National Youth Guy for the Alliance churches in Canada and the director of Legacy Youth Conference. Dave is married to Lisa and they share 2 of the greatest kids in the world. Fishing, camping, and cheering on the Leafs are some of his favorite things. 
twitter: @oldbrotherdave

When Silence is Golden

During a scripted prayer before a meeting this morning, there was a period of silence much longer than we were expecting or accustomed to.  It was actually quite nice and I had no problem resting in the spirit and offering up the meeting and entire day.  However, I could tell that others weren't as comfortable as I was as I heard fidgeting and I sensed unease.  Finally someone comically said "So are we going to meet or just pray all day?"

Not that there's anything wrong with prayer; but we did have many things to accomplish.  It turns out that a small miscommunication led to the prolonged silence.  The person who was supposed to recite the next section didn't know she supposed to.

It got me thinking about small group discussions in youth ministry, and in particular, the silence that sometimes comes with them.  We all know that small groups - when done well - can be an invaluable part of youth ministry.  It gives the more quiet or shy youth a chance to express themselves and it helps youth workers break down topics in a more intimate environment.

However, many youth workers do not handle silence well.  Often, a youth worker will "jump in" to break the silence and therefore "save" the discussion from failing - because they perceive the quiet to be a condemnation of their leadership skills.

Or that the question was too specific.  Or too difficult.

Many times, this is not the case at all.  The youth may need time to think about and formulate their answers.  They may be recalling a memory or trying to figure out how to articulate a response.  We can't rush these moments.

Of course, you need to use your judgement.  If every question you pose is met with silence, then perhaps you need to change your technique, change your questions, or both.

However, a bit of silence is just fine.  So don't rush to end it.  Embrace it instead.

After all, it might be the only quiet time you get all day.

Clayton Imoo is husband to Gail and father to sons Sean Isaiah and Jacob Isaac and daughter Kayla Marie.  He has served as the Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver for the past ten years, helping parishes develop their own youth and young adult ministries.  When not doing ministry, Clay enjoys spending time with his family, playing music, playing sports, playing naptime, and writing blogs on topics such as family, faith, and the Vancouver Canucks.  Learn more about him at http://www.claytonimoo.com or follow him @claytonimoo    

Four Tensions a Leader Must Face

Being a leader isn’t an easy task. The greatest leaders in history are those who have learned to work around, embrace and resolve tension. While many people enjoy the responsibility of making decisions, choosing a direction or having people work for you, there is significant weight associated with being a leader because tension is inevitable.

A leader is someone who is open to criticism that is fueled by the mismanagement of the different tensions they endure.

Here are four tensions that every leader faces:

1. Physical Tension – respect and honor for other leaders

There is a natural default human tendency to define our self-worth based on who we are in comparison to others. Leadership is no different. We might look at a leader from another environment and evaluate ourselves to be better than or worse than what we see based on a set of identified or inferred criteria.

Every leader will be faced with the tension to consider him or her self to be of better quality than another leader. Learning to value other leaders for who they are, while leaving room to disagree with process, philosophy or methodology will help you to stay focused on developing into the leader God has created you to be.

2. Emotional Tension – hope vs. pessimism or cynicism

Leaders are often faced with the tension of creating a sense of hope or a sense of impending doom. Facilitating hope creates and sustains vision. Consistent pessimism or cynicism leads only to peril.

Leading from a hope-filled perspective doesn’t make a leader naïve, but instead helps the leader to process, refine and redirect vision as necessary. Leaders need to be honest about their current reality, admitting when things are darker than they had hoped, and brighter then they could have imagined. Hope may not disappoint, but pessimism and cynicism always do.

3. Intellectual Tension – being teachable vs. being arrogance

There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance. This is often the difference between creating momentum or chaos. Leaders who are willing to learn from everyone and every situation will begin to develop intrinsic momentum within their organizations by valuing creativity and innovation over proper procedure and/or productivity.

4. Spiritual Tension – love or legalism

There is a leadership tension between valuing tradition over outcome. A loving leader celebrates diversity while a legalistic leader demands conformity. The values of an organization are its social conscience. Violation of values leads to a culture that is more cumbersome than hopeful, depleting the leader’s ability to inspire, manage, create or stimulate growth. Leadership is learning to balance the tension between a legalistic carnal response and loving spiritual intuitiveness.

Tension is a necessary experience for growth and development as a leader. While this is not an exhaustive list of leadership tensions, it points out the reality that tension exists and it cannot be avoided. What do you agree or disagree with? What other leadership tensions do leaders face? What tension are you facing most prominently right now?

Married versus Single in Youth Ministry (Part 1: Advantages)

Photo Credit: J. McPherskesen (Creative Commons)

Marriage is a gift. When God created Eve, Adam broke into song, and we have the first instance of human poetry:

“At last!” the man exclaimed. 

   “This one is bone from my bone,     

and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’  

   because she was taken from ‘man.’” 

This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. (Genesis 2:23-24, NLT)

In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul writes this about marriage and singleness:

But I wish everyone were single, just as I am. Yet each person has a special gift from God, of one kind or another. So I say to those who aren’t married and to widows—it’s better to stay unmarried, just as I am. 

I want you to be free from the concerns of this life. An unmarried man can spend his time doing the Lord’s work and thinking how to please him. But a married man has to think about his earthly responsibilities and how to please his wife. His interests are divided. In the same way, a woman who is no longer married or has never been married can be devoted to the Lord and holy in body and in spirit. But a married woman has to think about her earthly responsibilities and how to please her husband. I am saying this for your benefit, not to place restrictions on you. I want you to do whatever will help you serve the Lord best, with as few distractions as possible. (1 Cor 7:7-8; 32-35, NLT)

Marriage is a gift. So is singleness. So how do these different gifts affect our calling in youth ministry? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each gift? And how can we steward these gifts for the glory of God?

This week, we'll look at the advantages and benefits of both marriage and singleness. Next week, we'll unpack the disadvantages and obstacles.

Here are some ministry advantages to being married:

-You have a partner in life and ministry. My wife is my biggest advocate, cheerleader, encourager, and source of wisdom in ministry. She can disciple young women infinitely better than I ever will. We also navigate everyday life together, and we'll always have someone who loves us and has our backs, even during the hard times in ministry. Doing this Jesus-following thing together is always better than doing it alone, and marriage is one of the best environments for sanctification.

-Perceived maturity and greater level of commitment. Whether we like it or not, in our Christian subculture there is a perceived maturity that comes with the status of marriage. A married 24-year-old is viewed differently than a single 24-year-old, and many churches and organizations are willing to give more responsibility to a married person than a single person. There is some truth behind this perception: a married person reveals they have the ability to make a commitment, to follow through on things, to work together on a team, and to navigate conflicts. Of course, there are mature and committed single people, and some great biblical examples (read: Jesus).

-Modeling healthy marriage and parenthood. The young people I disciple can look to my marriage and parenting as an example of a Godly marriage. Not that our marriage is perfect; that's the point, actually. We invite them to see us, flaws and all. Many in single-parent and divorced homes don't have great pictures of what a healthy marriage can look like, so offering stories and experiences can be a huge benefit for young people.

-Boundaries factor: my ring says "off limits." Where a young single guy or gal in ministry could send the wrong romantic signals to a teenager or young adult, my wedding ring and presence of my wife and children tells others that I'm not available. Sure, I still have to maintain healthy boundaries in my interactions and guard my heart and marriage; it's just simpler at times when I'm perceived as the old married guy, particularly with single young adults.

Here are some ministry advantages to being single:

-More availability. Being single means having less familial responsibilities, allowing for more freedom in the use of one's time and energy. A single person has a greater ability to be spontaneous and impulsive in the best sort of way. The students want to go see the midnight showing of that new movie? Done. Your adult volunteer team is having lunch after church services? I'm there. They need one more person to go on the missions trip to Uganda? Sign me up. Married people have their spouse's interests to consider. Like Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 7, a single person can devote themselves to the ministry of the Lord without having their interests divided. Can you imagine Paul doing his missionary journeys with a family, either traveling with him or back at home in Israel somewhere?

-Modeling healthy singleness. As a married guy, I won't be able to model a healthy lifestyle of being single and content in the Lord. I can only speak from past experience, so it's really cool to have a volunteer leader in my ministry like Rachel, who recently wrote this awesome blog post for Converge Magazine. She's not perfect--she'd never claim to be--but she's doing her best to pursue God as young single woman, and that's a great example for the young women she is shepherding!

-Jesus was single. So, if you're single, you're more like Jesus! (Apart from the whole "church as the bride of Christ" metaphor.)

What are other advantages you can think of, either for married or singleness in youth ministry? Share them in a comment!

Joel Mayward is a pastor, writer, husband, and father living in Langley, British Columbia. He’s been serving in youth ministry since 2003, and is currently the Pastor of Youth and Young Adult Ministries at North Langley Community Church. A writer for numerous youth ministry publications and author of Leading Up: Finding Influence in the Church Beyond Role and Experience, Joel writes about youth ministry, film, theology, and leadership at his blog, joelmayward.blogspot.ca.

The Youth Room - Part 1

If money was not an option, what would be in your youth room?

A few youth workers gave me their dream ideas:

• multiple game systems
• lounge/living room area (new not cast offs)
• ping-pong table
• foosball
• air hockey
• snack & beverage area
• lighting system
• sound system
• HD projector
• multiple HD flat screen tv’s
• open wifi
• stage
• seating around small round tables.
• mirrored disco ball
• full sized gym

What's would you add to this list?

Share your youth room photos here and I will post them next week for part 2 of The Youth Room.

Jeff Smyth is a youth worker who has been involved in both the local church and non-profit areas of Canada for  15 years. Jeff lives in Toronto with his wife Heather and son Nathan.
Jeff is online: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+

How are we using the time when kids are off school?

Another quick video from Dave Brotherton.  More than anything, I just wanted to be with kids. Sitting in my office sucked the life out of me. Why, then, do I see so many ministries that do nothing over Christmas break? The kids are out of school, making it prime time for relationship building... getting the quality, extended time with kids! Use this holiday season well! Be with kids.

Dave Brotherton was a youth pastor from 1984-2006 and now teaches youth ministry at Ambrose University College in Calgary. Dave is also the National Youth Guy for the Alliance churches in Canada and the director of Legacy Youth Conference. Dave is married to Lisa and they share 2 of the greatest kids in the world. Fishing, camping, and cheering on the Leafs are some of his favorite things. 
twitter: @oldbrotherdave