The Life of Joseph Bowman Hey there! Welcome to my little corner of the web. My name is Joseph Warren Bowman. I'm actually known by many different names (or to be more accurate, many nicknames). Here in the internet world people call me Grape (long story, but feel free to e-mail me [link at the bottom] and I'll share it with you). As for the rest of you who know me in real life, most of you call me by my full name, Joseph, but a few of you call me Joe. Everyone used to call me Joe, but about a decade ago (1997 actually) I started using my full name. Why did I change from Joe to Joseph? Well... keep reading. I've tried to make this homepage as enjoyable as possible. I've included links to the web pages of every city I've lived in (or pretty close), the schools I've attended, some of the places I've worked, and other stuff. There are also some insights into my personal life that I've chosen to share, so be forewarned. Enjoy!

Educational Pursuits
I graduated from high school in June 1987. At that time, in the province of Ontario, if you wanted to go to university you needed to complete five years of high school (now it's four like everywhere else). From September 1987 to April 1991, I attended Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario (about 400 kilometres [240 miles] north of Toronto) where I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Linguistics, with a concentration in French to English translation (and studied three other languages as well). After that, I spent three years (September 1991 to April 1994) at the Universit� de Sherbrooke in Sherbrooke, Quebec (about 120 kilometres [75 miles] east of Montreal) where I earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Professional Writing with a concentration in journalism and technical writing. As I already had a BS, I got some advanced credit and "fast tracked" through the second degree instead of taking the full four years. Feel free to check out the web sites for my two alma maters (or, if you want to get fancy and use the proper Latin plural, my almae matres) but take note that the Universit� de Sherbrooke's web site is French only.

A Year in Waiting
After graduating from Sherbrooke, I lived in Canada's capital, Ottawa, Ontario, for almost a year (May 1994 to March 1995), hoping to land a job with the federal government. Alas, that was a year of huge budget cuts. Since I was unable to find full-time employment in Ottawa, when a job opportunity came along�

The Montreal Years
� I packed my bags for what I thought would be the last time, and moved to Montreal, the city I still thought of as "home" for a long time after I left; that's how much I loved it there. As it turned out, however, my life journey took me away from Montreal after only three years. I lived in Montreal from April 1995 to June 1998.
Note: Although the websites for the cities of Sherbrooke and Montreal are functionally bilingual, neither of them have completed their English versions.

As noted above, I was educated to be a French to English translator, technical writer, editor, and proofreader. I worked in those fields for three years in Montreal, at three different companies. The job that brought me to Montreal was at Accovia (then called Logibro, Inc.), a software firm for the travel industry, where I worked as a technical writer and translator for eight months. The second was at Modular Vision Systems, a laser producer, where I worked as a sales and marketing writer for seven months, and the third, for almost two years, at Bombardier Aerospace, where I worked as an editor in their Amphibious Aircraft division. To be honest, this last position was the job of my dreams. It was there that I realized that my greatest passion and niche was editing and proofreading. Call me crazy, but I love sitting with a red pen in my hand, correcting grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

I loved my work at Bombardier. My co-workers were fantastic, and to boot, the pay was great too! I could have stayed there forever. But God had other plans for my life. Keep reading�

The Year in Toronto
In early June 1998, I resigned from this editing job and moved to Toronto (the first time) with no job to come to, or any means to pay bills or ANYTHING. It was a move totally based on faith. During the 15 months that followed, I bounced from one short-term contract to another, and lacked nothing.

So what prompted the move to Toronto? GOOD QUESTION!!

The Day My Life Changed Forever
On Friday, June 13, 1997 (yes, Friday the 13th), at two o'clock in the morning (OK, if you want to get technical, it was actually Saturday the 14th), while sitting in my apartment in Montreal, God called me to ordained ministry. It was pretty sudden, the way in which I heard my calling, but I knew it was a real call right away. There had been no "tap on the shoulder"� it was far too instantaneous for that, but it wasn't a bolt of lightning or a "vision" either. Whatever it was, it was a dramatic event. For about a week after that, I was unable to eat, sleep, or function at work. Until I really sat down and examined what had happened on that Friday night (or Saturday morning), I was a mess. When I was able to accept my calling, I ran into it full force, and my life changed radically, and immediately.

Over the two previous years I had let my Christian faith go stagnant. Although I still attended church every week, it was only out of duty. I was there in body, but not in spirit. My bible had sat unread, collecting dust on a shelf for most of those two years. And I never prayed. On the outside, I was still "talking the talk" but I sure wasn't "walking the walk" any more. Sin had me trapped pretty well, and I didn't even care. God wasn't getting through anymore. How I loved my sin! Then came June 13, 1997. God had had enough of my foolishness and decided that if I wasn't going to come back to Him on my own, He'd have to come after me. And that's exactly what He did. TALK ABOUT GETTING HIT OVER THE HEAD WITH A CROWBAR!! Many changes followed, and one of them was that the Holy Spirit prompted me to have people call me Joseph instead of Joe (which is what people had called me all my life). The Lord showed me that when He called Abram, He changed his name to Abraham. When He called Saul, He changed his name to Paul. When He called Simon, He changed his name to Peter (those are all characters from the Bible in case you didn't know). And when He called me, He gave me back my full name of Joseph. My parents and childhood friends are still getting used to calling me that, now over a decade later! Others, well, I'll always be Joe to them, and -- ugh -- there are a few people (all over the age of 80) who are still permitted to call me Joey because that's what I was called when I was very small... but apart from these old ladies, I won't answer to that name!

The Lord also prompted me, in July 1997 that I needed to leave Montreal, and move to Toronto. He had plans that were beyond my understanding at the time, let me tell you. In June 1998, when the lease on my Montreal apartment ended, I obeyed God, and moved to Toronto. I spent 15 months in Toronto attending and helping out where I could at Grace Toronto Church (which, sadly closed its doors as a church in March 2005), a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). I taught Sunday School (Grades 2 and 3) and I became part of the leadership team for Crossroads, the college-age ministry.

Seminary
In August 1999, I began a new chapter of my life. I packed all my life belongings into a van and moved to St. Louis, Missouri, USA, where I started a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree at Covenant Theological Seminary (the national seminary of the PCA). The initial plan was that I would be in St. Louis for four years to complete the program, and then return to Canada to become an ordained pastor after that. But, like has been often the case in my life, my plans were not necessarily God's plans, and things took another unexpected turn.

Chicago, Chicago, that Tottlin' Town...
During my third semester at Covenant Seminary (autumn 2000), I suffered through a major "life crisis" (akin to a nervous breakdown). I failed four of my five classes that semester. Very few people around me saw that my mental and physical (not to mention spiritual) health had deteriorated. I hid it very well.

I decided to take a sabbatical from my studies for "a year" to get healthy again. I felt as though my life was spiralling completely out of control (actually, it was... and even worse than that two-year period before I was called to ministry). I was borderline depressed, burned out, and close to suicidal on more than one occasion -- how's that for opening myself up for all to read on the internet! I left St. Louis in January 2001 and moved in with my friend Jason in Woodstock, Illinois (in the outer suburbs of Chicago). If you've ever seen the movie Groundhog Day, it was filmed in Woodstock. I spent the next four months doing absolutely nothing. I watched a lot of television, along with numerous movies. I went for long walks, took the suburban train into Chicago a couple times, and read the entire Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis for the first time in my life. It was a very refreshing time for me, hanging out with new-found friends. I left Woodstock in May 2001 to return to Canada.

Toronto� ROUND TWO
From May to July 2001, I lived in a state of flux, without much purpose. I had considered staying in the USA. In fact, an opportunity opened for me to move to Memphis, Tennessee in June 2001. I packed my bags and moved to Memphis on June 16, 2001 (for what was supposed to be 18 months). But that door closed soon after I arrived and I left Memphis after only 17 days (what a waste -- although I have to confess that part of the "closed door" was my own stubbornness).

By early July, I returned to Toronto, to "start all over again". I moved into a two-bedroom apartment with a friend, Mike. I returned to Grace Toronto Church and began a job search. Within three short weeks, I had secured a long-term (albeit junior) position as an editor/proofreader at Comda: The Calendar People. I'm willing to bet that you might even have a Comda calendar in your home. If you have a calendar from your local pharmacy or corner store with a footer with the company name and address on it, chances are, it's from Comda. They produce the vast majority of calendars in North America.

The job was cool� but the pay wasn't what I was hoping for, so I kept looking for a more senior position with higher pay� and less than five weeks later, I found one. At the end of August 2001, I had an interview at the Canadian Securities Institute and was subsequently offered a position as an Item Reviewer (fancy title for Bilingual Proofreader). Finally� a senior, permanent position in my field, with great pay, excellent benefits, and even a pension plan! But� it was not meant to be.

Only four months later, I was fired from my job. I have to admit that I deserved to be fired so I can't really complain. But nonetheless, this was a major setback for me that sent me into a tailspin, leading to another relapse into depression and nearly a second nervous breakdown. I was determined to pick myself up, get a new job, and move on. I had high hopes that I'd find work quickly (as I had before). Instead, I spent the next eight months unemployed without any unemployment benefits, I might add! If it weren't for the love and care of some dear friends, I would have gone over the edge; there's no doubt about it. I was forced to cash in all of my retirement savings (RRSP's in Canada / IRA's in the US) -- over $5,000 -- and lived off of it for then entire spring and summer.

Finally, a (temp) job...
Just before Labour Day 2002, I finally found a temporary job through a temp agency. I spent six months at TD-Canada Trust, one of the largest banks in Canada. It was a rather junior position (again) and certainly not the most glamorous job, but it sure beat doing nothing, so I was very grateful for it. The best part was that it provided me with the financial ability to move into my own apartment (a.k.a. "The Dungeon" - a dark, hot, stuffy, but spacious basement apartment) in October 2002 - where I lived for the next six years.

Around the same time, I also began doing some freelance French proofreading with the Canadian Standards Association (CSA). I had interviewed with them in the summer of 2002 with the prospect of a full-time editing and proofreading job. While that didn't work out, they did offer me some sporadic (yet fairly steady) freelance work. This freelance work went on for over two years.

Quarry Came A-Knockin'
Soon after I started at TD Bank, I knew it wasn't somewhere I wanted to stay forever. The atmosphere was unpleasant (and I had a supervisor who was even more unpleasant). However, with the job market being as volatile as it was, I didn't have much success finding permanent employment and in my field.

A couple weeks after I started at TD (September 2002), I had an interview at a communications firm in Waterloo, Ontario (about 150 kilometres [90 miles] west of Toronto) called Quarry Integrated Communications. They were looking for a proofreader. They interviewed several people and narrowed the field down to two candidates... me, and one other. They hired the other woman but told me that they liked my qualifications so much that the next time there was an opening in their writing team, they'd call me. On Monday, February 24, 2003, they did just that, and less than 24 hours later, I found myself accepting a three-month contract as a writer with their team, with the potential of a permanent offer to follow. It was a great company, and I worked with a great team!

Four Weeks Later...
Alas... again it was not meant to be. As much as I enjoyed the atmosphere, my boss, and my co-workers, the actual work was beyond me. The learning curve was very steep and fast, and I couldn't keep up. I was drowning fast. I knew it, and so did my boss. We both knew going into the job that it might be a stretch and that I'd have to learn a lot, fast, with little or no training (this was made clear to me when I had the interview), but we thought (and hoped) we could make it work. On Wednesday, April 2, less than four weeks after I started, my boss and I met and we agreed mutually and amicably that it wasn't going to work.

So I again found myself unemployed (or at least underemployed, since I was still doing the freelance work with CSA). Within a few weeks, I found another temporary job doing bilingual transcription at Hansard, the written record of the proceedings of the Ontario Legislative Assembly (the equivalent of an individual state's House of Representative in the USA). The job went until the end of June 2003, when the provincial Legislature ended its spring session. I had an interview to go back and work there full-time (permanently) in September 2003 but that didn't work out.
Note: Feel free to visit the Ontario Legislative Assembly website. You can click on Hansard to see the record of the current (or any of the most recent) session(s) of the legislature to get an idea of the kind of work I did, or if you're so inclined, you can get information on anything dealing with the Ontario Provincial Legislature.

The rest of 2003...
No work, no work, no work. After the let down at Hansard, I had a couple other interviews (and second interviews) but time after time, I'd be "first runner up" and not get the job. And by mid-September, the freelance work at CSA dried up too (and had no work at all from them during all of September, October and November).

About this same time (staring in August 2003), I kept feeling God "pulling on my heartstrings" that it was time to start thinking about going back to seminary. In September, I actually applied to continue my degree at Covenant Seminary, but to change from the M.Div. program to the M.A.T.S. (Master of Arts in Theological Studies). The M.A.T.S. degree is only 60 credits (instead of the 100-credit M.Div.) and I could transfer my existing 29 credits from my M.Div., meaning I was half done before I even started.

Covenant allows you do to that entire M.A.T.S. degree by distance education, with the exception of three one-week residency classes in St. Louis. My application to change degrees from M.Div. to M.A.T.S., and change my status from on-campus student to distance education student was accepted. I was then just "waiting" for a job to come along so that I could afford to start taking classes. But as I said, job after job opportunity came and went. Every time, the Lord prompted me: "It's time to go back to school."

November 2003 came, and a deadline approached to apply for a January residency class in St. Louis. I knew I needed to go, but had no way to pay the $1,100(US) tuition or for the trip there and back. But the Lord kept saying: "It's time to go back to school."

At the same time, Covenant Seminary gave me permission to take half of my remaining credits here in Toronto at Tyndale University College and Seminary. Again, without work, how was I to afford to take classes? Again came the prompting, "It's time to go back to school."

So, I was finally obedient... Mid-November, I sent Covenant Seminary the $200(US) deposit for the January class (not knowing where the rest of the $900US would come from), sent in an application to Tyndale, and booked my car rental for the trip to St. Louis.

Within 48 hours, a temp agency called me and asked me if I was free for a two-day work placement. First work I'd had since September. I worked the two days, and then got another call from another temp agency for another three days of work. And as soon as that was done, Hansard called me and offered me three weeks of work back with the Ontario Legislature. They didn't hire me full-time but they wanted me back while the Legislature was in session. While I was working there, CSA called me and gave me a 300-page document (easily a $1,000 assignment). I am thus living proof... ignoring the promptings of the Lord only gets you into trouble and that when you're obedient (no matter how stubborn I was), He provides! There, suddenly, was all the money I'd need to pay my tuition for St. Louis, and two classes at Tyndale for the Winter 2004 semester.

Seminary, take two and TIMES TWO
And so... I found myself as a student again (at least part-time). I went to Covenant Seminary for a week in January 2004 for a one-week class (Educational Ministries of the Church), and I took two evening classes here at Tyndale (Church History II and Systematic Theology II).

Continued Work Woes... Panic Sets In
While taking those two night classes at Tyndale, I spent the entire winter desperately looking for work. Nothing. From January 1, 2004 to April 1, 2004, I had a total of seven days of work. My unemployment benefits ran out at the end of January. I paid my rent on February 1 and on March 1. With so little work, I knew that I wouldn't be able to pay April rent. All of my savings were completely depeleted. Something had to happen. Believe it or not, I was registered with between 25-30 temporary agencies. I telephoned each and every one of them every week and began begging for a job, even something at $8.00 an hour. I couldn't understand how someone fluently bilingual, typed 65-70 words per minute, and got over 90% on advanced level MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint couldn't get ANY work whatsoever. I found out from more than one recruiter that the market truly was that tight.

I needed money, and badly. I sought out the leadership at my church and requested assistance from the benevolence fund. They gave me a small gift, as did another friend who saw my need. I also got another one week temp job at the end of March. With that help, I paid my rent on April 1, 2004, got my April bus pass, went to the laundromat to my laundry (barely able to put the quarters together to do it), and bought some groceries. After that, April 2, 2004, I was down to less than THREE DOLLARS in the bank (I kid you not... I have the bank statement to prove it). Things were really desperate. I kept on reminding myself how the Lord provided every penny for my St. Louis class and both of my Tyndale classes and trusted Him to continue to provide for me. He did.

He's perm!
Near the end of March, one of the many jobs I applied for was a Bilingual Word Processing Operator (fancy title for "Transcriptionist/Typist") at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (formerly known as the Workers' Compensation Board). The work was all but identical to what I was doing at The Ontario Legislature, except instead of transcribing speeches from Members of Parliament, it would be letters and memos dictated. I applied, got called for testing (French grammar, English grammar, speed typing). Well, I passed all the testing and got called for a personal interview.

On Tuesday, April 6, 2004, I got the call. I GOT THE JOB! I started a week later, Tuesday, April 13, 2004. The first order of business was to get my picture taken for my security pass. This place hires a lot of contract people and summer students. So... when the security guard asked my boss: "How long will he be here for?" (I guess that box had been left empty) I heard the two nicest words I've heard in my whole life:

"He's perm!"

A job. A REAL JOB. FULL-TIME. PERMANENT. BENEFITS. PENSION PLAN. After over two years of trying so hard... it was official. PRAISE BE!

Three months later, my probationary period ended, and I was officially made permanent.
Note:I've changed jobs three or four times in the five years that I've been at the WSIB, almost always in bilingual roles. As of June 2009, I am now working as a Claims Adjudicator. A challenging but enjoyable role.

I took the summer off from my studies, then took another class at Tyndale (Systematic Theology I) in the fall of 2004. I was really exhausted after that course... I never dreamed that taking ONE night class, reading, studying, doing research, all while working full time... would be so tiring! I again took a break from my studies during most of 2005.

Back to Square One?... Not quite... but...
In April 2005, I registered for my first correspondence class through Covenant Seminary (Psalms and Wisdom Books). Unfortunately, during the spring and summer of 2005, I really over-extended myself. I added way too many extra-curricular activities to my already too busy schedule. I was either out of town or busy doing something most every weekend in the months of May, June, July, and August 2005 (for 17 weekends in a row). And with some sort of function going on every night in the middle of the week as well - not to mention laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning... I was getting way too little sleep (less than five hours a night, every night, for weeks on end), and finally, my body simply shut right down.

All those "issues" that I'd dealt with in 2000 and 2001, after leaving seminary, started to creep back in... and fast. I was headed towards breakdown #3 at breakneck speed. At least this time I recognized it before it got to a perilous state (but no so fast that I ended up on temporary probation at work).

By mid-August 2005, I realized (actually, I had friends tell me that I had to wake up and realize it) that my seminary class had to be put on hold (meaning I'd basically "thrown away" $1,000US...) but my emotional, physical and spiritual health had to come first. Having been down the road of depression and burn out twice, I wasn't anxious to go there again.

I finally decided that I needed to talk to my doctor about all of this. I was officially diagnosed with mild depression. However, my doctor felt that I didn't really need an anti-depressant; I just needed something to help me sleep a full night and get my sleep schedule normal again. If I could just sleep properly again, everything would be fine.

The medication did its trick. It took a couple months (into January 2006) but I got back on track. I set some very stringent bounaries with myself with regard to my sleep schedule, healthy eating, and even what I do with my spare time, to ensure that I never go down that road again. I also have some good friends who were looking out for me (both here in Toronto and around the continent). I thank God every day for them.

I also had to work on my relationship with God again. Over the last several months, I'd become lax at my Bible reading and praying again. And of course, the results are very clear. Although I've always known that when I don't submit every fibre of my being to God, it only leads to trouble. However, staying on that track has been a long row to hoe... and one that God is gently and patiently (good thing He has the patience!) moulding me into.

The other disheartening event that took place during the spring/summer of 2005 was that my home church (Grace Toronto Church) was closing down. Although a new church plant would begin "starting from scratch" I was not going to be a part of it. After spending the entire summer of 2005 without a church home, as of Labour Day 2005 weekend, I found a new church home. I never dreamed that I'd feel "at home" in a church of over 1,000 people (and a BAPTIST church at that!), but this place just oozed God's love. They had a heart for broken people, so even a guy like me who had been through the turmoil I was in over the previous five years could find love and acceptance. I began attending Morningstar Christian Fellowship (formerly known as Churchill Heights Baptist Church). I was very happy there. I plugged into a "Community Group" (their small-group ministry) and found some wonderful Godly friends. But, over the two years there, I couldn't become a member of the church (given my long-standing Presbyterian beliefs in baptism of children of believing parents). At first, I knew I needed to stay there and just "be" part of a church and not "do" anything or be involved. It was a good fit for me for those years. I stayed there until Christams 2007.

The Arrival of Jean-Claude
Early in 2006, I began doing some serious number crunching with regard to my monthly budget. I started seriously thinking about buying a car for the first time in my life. I would be getting a substantial income tax cheque and my parents had agreed to give me a bit as well... so I started shopping.

On Satruday, March 18, 2007, I stopped into Don Valley North Toyota with the intention of looking at a Toyota Matrix (since I already knew that's what I wanted to buy). Well...

Two hours later, I walk out of that car dealership as a car owner. I wouldn't take possession of the car for another week or so, but I bought a brand-new 2006 Toyota Matrix (colour: meteorite metallic).

In the 10 days that followed, I arranged for insurance and bought personalized licence plates (MR GRAPE -- what else would you expect!?) On Tuesday, March 28, 2006, I took the bus back up to the dealership, gave them a huge deposit (I've never written a cheque for anything even remotely close to that amount of money in my life), and was given the keys to the car, and drove him home.

Friends of mine in the U.S. told me that I was required to name my car, since he was my first. I've dubbed him "Jean-Claude" (don't ask).

In the first year alone, I put over 20,000 kms on him (including six trips to New York state). Now that I have a car, I just don't know how I lived without one.

In all of 2006 and the first half of 2007, I lived very frugally, saving everywhere I could, to pay off the car in 18 months instead of four years. As of July 31, 2007, I did just that. He's mine and all mine.

Back to Seminary
By the summer of 2006, I realized that it was time, once and for all, to decide what to do with seminary. Covenant Seminary gives you nine years to complete a degree, and I was now six years into the nine years. There was no hope of finishing in time. Would I just let it go? Would I fast track and finish?

I finally decided to apply to Tyndale Seminary. Instead of taking courses at Tyndale and having them tranferred back to Covenant in St. Louis, I met with one of the academic advisors at Tyndale and decided to do the exact opposite... tranfer all my existing credits from Covenant Seminary and become an M.Div. student at Tyndale.

As of December 2006, it was made official. I became a part-time student at Tyndale. They accepted almost all my Covenant credits, yahoo! I started out as an M.Div. student with a Biblical Studies major and Pastoral Studies minor but switched to the Masters of Theological Studies (MTS) program in the fall of 2009. Since 2006, I have been taking one night class per semester and am scheduled to graduate in April 2010. FINALLY! What I'll end up doing with my

New Church Home� New Denomination!
Around Christmas 2007, I started to feel the stirrings that I needed to find a "real" church home � a place where I could become a member and become active in a church community. But where? I knew the Presbyterian Church in Canada (the denomination I grew up in before moving to the PCA in 1998) would never be right for me again. Their theology had become much too liberal. Granted, there are some conservative congregations but they�re rare (and rarer all the time). I started asking some trusted friends for some advice. I was willing to travel, if necessary, to find a place that was a �fit� for me. I had quite an extensive wish list: an evangelcial, conservative, Calivinistic, Spirit-led church with paedo-baptistic beliefs, modern vibrant worship, and expository preaching. Yeah, right. As if I'd find something in the Greater Toronto Area that fit all that.

One dear woman said, "Joseph, would you travel all the way to Mississauga?" (a western suburb of Toronto, about a 50-kilometre drive from my apartment). I said, "Sure, I�ll check it out."

Within two weeks, I knew beyond all doubt that I�d found a new church home. I�m now part of Meadowvale Community Christian Reformed Church, part of the Christian Reformed Churches of North America (CRC). I've never been part of such a vibrant church. The worship and preaching is Spirit-led and the congregation is primarily young families in their 30s and 40s with young children. Lots of people my age.

Driving 50km each way to church every Sunday went through a lot of gas. I knew it was time to move. On November 1, 2009, after six years, I moved out of "The Dungeon" into a large one-bedroom apartment on th 18th floor of a high-rise building in the west end of Toronto. It's considerably higher rent that The Dungeon, but with actual LIGHT, central air conditioning, underground parking, more cupboard and counter space, and even a storage locker. It's well worth it.
Note: This is where my story will continue...

All Work and No Play? NO WAY!
In my spare time, my biggest passion, bar none, is playing competitive Scrabble. When I am able, I play on Wednesday evenings at the Toronto Scrabble Club, and I play on-line on Scrabble Beta and Lexulous (Facebook) and at the Internet Scrabble Club (find me there under the handle "greyhavens"). Most of all, I play in tournaments all over the province of Ontario, and into New York and Michigan. I also spend countless hours studying flashcards every day to improve my play (yeah, I'm very addicted to Scrabble).

I also have a passion for learning foreign languages. I'm fluent in only two (English/French) but I have a working knowledge in six. I also love to cook. Some friends say I make the best lasagna they've ever had.

I'm also fond of kicking back, relaxing, listening to jazz music, and even enjoying a pipe* or a cigar from time time to time (hey, I've got to have a vice, don't I?).
*Click on pipe to see a picture taken of me with my pipe.

I'm a big Christian Contemporary Music fan... I love Scott Wesley Brown, Ray Boltz, Michael Card, Steve Green, David Meece, and Michael W. Smith.

I'm also the worst punster you'll ever meet. I know zillions of groaners (to which my friends will remorsefully attest!), so consider yourself warned.

But most of all, I'm just a guy who loves the Lord with all his heart (even if my actions don't always follow suit!).

Thanks for taking the time to read about my life. Pleased to meet you. Feel free to drop me a line by e-mail at [email protected], and sign my guest book! I look forward to hearing from you.

Last edited: September 7, 2009

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