The Cedar Life
Living for the Long Run
Archives
Some Trips are Colder than Others This past Christmas, Santa gifted me a copy of Colin O’Brady’s The Impossible First. The book documents the author’s quest to become the first person to cross Antarctica alone and unsupported. Woven into the story is the journey it took to get there and the challenges he faced that fed his drive to do something that no human had ever done. The book is a compelling… Read More
After a few months away, I am back this week. My wife and I welcomed our fifth child in November, a healthy baby girl, and my life has been rather busy(er) since, but I am excited to be writing again and plan on publishing more regularly moving forward. There will be more long form content coming soon. For now, here are Three Things for this week. 1. Finding Adventure Colin O’Brady is… Read More
1. Painting with a New Palette – In August, someone sent me a YouTube video in which Bishop Robert Barron is interviewing actor Shia Labeouf regarding his conversion to Catholicism. This followed his preparation for playing St Padre Pio in a film on the great saint’s life. Admittedly, I hadn’t really been tracking with Shia’s life developments in recent years, but after learning a little bit, it’s safe to say he’s not… Read More
From a busy October, August seems like a year ago. Our summer holiday this year was a departure from our normal time away. Stemming from an unplanned ‘win’ at a school silent auction, we made the decision to take a road trip from our home in Metro Vancouver up to the Yukon, a journey that took two weeks and covered more than 6,200 kilometers. Some (many) might question the sanity of such… Read More
Last week I wrote about my experience attending a retreat in 2018 and how that weekend has impacted my life since. When I had the opportunity to attend the same retreat in 2019, I did not hesitate to sign up again. On my journey of faith and personal growth, one important lesson I have learned is that the path is not a straight line. We do not evolve and grow as people… Read More
Origin Stories 2018 was the year that the trajectory of my life changed. It the year I discovered a path that I never anticipated taking, but one that I am so grateful to have found. There were a lot of things that happened in late 2017 and 2018 that I can look back at and point to as markers that led my life in a particular direction. But it was in the… Read More
Timely Words Towards the end of 2019 and into January of 2020, I was trying to discern a word or phrase that would help guide the year ahead. Word of the Year was a new category for me, but I spent time in prayer and reflection listening for the word. Eventually, two words emerged: light and joy. I remember thinking at the time that “light and joy” as my words of the… Read More
Sandwich Talks I recently had lunch with a friend who has a parent going through some serious health issues. My friend’s father is in his eighties and while some of the issues are acute, there is also a realization that he is likely to need increasing care over the coming months and years. Throughout the conversation, what became clear was that this friend was trying to navigate the ‘normal’ waters of life… Read More
Lessons in Dentistry Following a recent visit to the dentist, we instituted a rule in our home that all the kids must floss every night before brushing their teeth. Keep in mind that we have four kids 8 and under, and it is dad’s job to make sure it gets done, which often means I am the one doing the flossing. Trying to get little people to stay still with their mouths… Read More
You Still Hold the Pen In a recent interview, author and business coach Bedros Keuilian was asked what the biggest factor is in preventing people from reaching their full potential. Bedros’ answer was simple: the story. Everyone has a story, he said, hardwired into them about why things are the way they are. Why they don’t have the life they desire or good health, or whatever it is that is missing. But… Read More
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