Month: October 2026

Our 40th But Why 25 Matters

Our 40th But Why 25 Matters

The number 25 has become my favourite number. This may seem very odd considering I write today on our 40th wedding anniversary! That is correct, we were married 40 years ago on October 25, 1986!

However, there is so much about 25 in my life that makes it significant:

  • I graduated from Bible College on April 25, 1986.
  • We decided to get engaged on June 25, 1986.
  • We were married on October 25, 1986.
  • There is a 25 month age gap between us.
  • 25 months after we were married, our son David was born on November 25. We dedicated him to the Lord December 25.
  • Side note: His child, our granddaughter was born on December 25.
  • When I was 25, our first daughter, Laura Beth was born.
  • On January 25, our youngest daughter, Sarah Joy was born.
  • We hit a major life crisis when I was 25; the trauma of a church split, subsequent job loss that effectively closed the door to ministry, at least that’s how I saw it at the time.

The door opened to a career in financial planning in March, 1991. One of the most significant events in my career was going through the global financial crisis in 2008. Through it, I found organizations called Advisors with Purpose (AWP) and Kingdom Advisors (KA).

  • I subsequently completed the KA Core Training. Surprisingly on October 25, 2012, while at an AWP Conference in Toronto, I purchased the book Money, Possessions & Eternity, by Randy Alcorn. This proved to be transformational in my life.
  • When I entered the 25th year of my financial planning career (incidentally when I was 50), I accepted a role that was described this way: “a pastor to advisors.” We moved from Newfoundland to Ontario, which I would never have been able to do without Cathy’s support!

We have together served Christian financial advisors across Canada since then! We have received best wishes from so many and even gifts from the UK as we celebrate our 40th!

Today is the 25th and the morning started with greetings from South Africa, saying this: Congratulations on your 40th anniversary on the 25th day of October 🥳🥳. May God continue to use you both as an example and a blessing to the nations!

The photo of of us taken in South Africa is on a rock near the Cape of Good Hope. The photo of our wedding day includes an amazing depiction of the Master providing direction through rough seas. This has been meaningful in our lives. We had no idea on that day about the rough waters we would navigate or where life would lead us.

We are grateful for the many experiences in this life and we have set our sails to continue this journey together.

The 40 Year Journey

The 40 Year Journey

Life is a journey for each of us and it is uniquely different for everyone. I’m extremely grateful for my recent journey to the United Kingdom and then to South Africa. This would not have been possible without years of preparation and so many events that brought me to where I am today:

  • The call from God that I felt distinctly at the age of 15.
  • The decision to go to Bible College in Ontario where I met my future wife, yet never dated her during her three years there.
  • The only weekend Cathy would be home in Clarenville between semesters at Memorial University was the very weekend I would visit her church as part of the LifeLine band and we would have our first date.
  • Graduating from Bible College, becoming a pastor, getting engaged and married (October 25, 1986), all within six months.
  • Major life crisis at the age of 25, the trauma of a church split, subsequent job loss that effectively closed the door to ministry, at least that’s how I saw it at the time.
  • The door opening to a career in financial planning in March, 1991 and the following years of struggle feeling like I may have missed what my life was supposed to look like.

This was one time in my life that I questioned how it was ever possible for God to work this circumstance for my good. I have heard it said often: “When one door closes, another door opens” and that was certainly true at this juncture in my life.

  • The Global financial crisis of 2008, and during this time running as a candidate in the Federal Election, then the turmoil it created in my life and the depths of despair that followed. I have often said that the stock market chart of this time mirrored my emotions and level of despair. (I wrote about this in a previous blog post).
  • The discovery of Kingdom Advisors, Randy Alcorn’s book, Money Possessions and Eternity, that I purchased at an Advisors with Purpose Conference in Toronto. This began to transform my thinking about my calling and how I could fulfill that call even as a financial advisor.
  • After attaining significant success in my practice, I was challenged with the potential to leave it after 24 years and become “a pastor to financial advisors,” thus leaving our home province. Then the next challenge, after the move to Ontario, was to transition from a salaried position to having to raise financial support for the ministry of Kingdom Advisors in Canada!
  • Now there are 25 Champions who have faithfully supported this ministry for the past 10 years! This has allowed me to minister to hundreds of advisors, not only in Canada but beyond what I could have imagined or thought (into the countries we just visited).

It’s been quite the journey that includes many great moments but many difficult decisions.

While we were in South Africa, we took the journey from Cape Town to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned and spent 18 years doing hard labor in a limestone quarry. Our guide through the prison (pictured above) shared how so many were imprisoned and treated so harshly which caused such a somber feeling in my heart. He then took us inside the prison and explained how he was imprisoned himself for 6 years starting at the age of 15.

I could hardly believe what I was hearing – I was sensing the call of God on my life at age 15 – he was being imprisoned at that age! What we have in common is that we were both on a journey, we would both experience unique trauma in life which would determine our destination in life. He shares his story with thousands of people every year which is therapy for him.

Our trip to the United Kingdom and South Africa in October 2026 was therapy for me. An opportunity to share a little of my experience to encourage other Christian advisors on their journey. I understand better now that every journey has purpose.

We all experience some level of pain and trauma and some joy in life. There is purpose in the pain to take us to a new level of trust.

I am grateful for the experiences in my life that have brought so much joy, but also for the painful experiences in life that have served to shape me into the leader I am today. I have learned that when things don’t go according to my plans, I can be thankful and trust that things are going according to His plan. On October 25, we will celebrate 40 years of marriage!