You’ve Got a Friend in Me…and in Woody…and in Jesus

Gail and I took the kids to see Toy Story 3 this Thursday on our 10 year wedding anniversary. Four of the five of us were completely blown away by the show (Kayla, not Jake, slept through most of it), making it a wonderful way to spend a “lazy day” on vacation.

I was extremely impressed by the entire movie, as it was a seamless weave of action and emotion. In particular, I was struck by the number of Christian themes in the movies, whether intentional or not.
At the end of the story, when Andy was reluctantly giving Woody to Bonnie the little girl, he described Woody in this way: “He'll never give up on you... ever. He'll be there for you, no matter what.”

I immediately thought of someone else who never gives up on us, someone else who is always there for us, no matter what: our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. That is what makes our Catholic faith so special and so true: that Jesus is always present to us. Whether at Mass in the Eucharist, in the Adoration Chapel, in the Sacraments, in nature, or in other people: it’s not too hard to find him. But we need to be open to seeing him, as opposed to ignoring him or denying him. That’s the challenge.

I strive to be more like him in what I say, what I do, and most importantly, in who I am. That’s what we are called to do as Christians: to bring (or pass on) Christ to the world. And as Andy passed Woody on to Bonnie, I likened that to us passing on Christ and sharing Christ with all those we encounter. So that others may experience the incredible blessings that come from having relationship with him.

Similarly, Woody spent the majority of the movie trying to find his way back to Andy (little did he know that Andy would give him away…haha). Even going against the rest of his toys, Woody looked for opportunities to “return home.” I see this going both ways: as much as I seek Jesus and long to be more like him, I also think that Jesus is searching for me. I see Jesus as thirsting for me and longing to be in relationship with me, just as much as I long to be relationship with him. Again, it goes back to him never giving up on us and always being there for us.

Near the end of the movie, when Woody made the decision to stay with his fellow toys as opposed to with Andy, it showed his ultimate loyalty and sacrifice. Loyalty and sacrifice: sounds like another man who lived around 2000 years ago.

Lastly, and this is more of a youth ministry reference, when Woody was trying to leave Sunnyside Daycare the first time, the horse Bullseye kept following him to the door in an attempt to go with him. Each time Woody denied Bullsye, encouraging him to “stay here,” I thought of the popular “Crucified Again” skit that I’ve both acted in and witnessed at many a parish or diocesan youth ministry event. In the skit, a teenager character promises to spend the evening with Jesus after neglecting him for a while, but then reneges on his promise in accepting an invitation to a party. The skit ends with the teenager telling Jesus to “stay here,” while putting Jesus’ arms in a crucified position. While Bullseye didn’t end up crucified so-to-speak, the parallel was unmistakable to me.

Now, given that there are only so many themes and morals possible in a movie (especially a family-oriented one), it’s probably quite easy to find Christian themes (love, faith, loyalty, sacrifice, etc) if you look hard enough. But these four examples really left an impression on me.

As I prepare to go to Mass in about an hour, I will undoubtedly give praise and thanksgiving to Jesus for so many things: his loyalty, his love, and his sacrifice. But most of all, at least for today, for his friendship.

Imoo Family Road Trip Video Blog #2: 5 Tips for Disneyland

It was an eventful day at Disneyland on Wednesday, July 7: my first time there in 2 years. The memorable day started off with a foul-mouthed (yet friendly) parking attendant and ended with a show being cancelled because of a 5.4 earthquake!

In this video blog, I share 5 things to remember when planning a trip to Disneyland. I filmed the majority of this blog while waiting for Gail and the boys to emerge from "Soaring over California."

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How to Celebrate a 10-Year Wedding Annivesary

As Gail and I look forward to a cool milestone tomorrow (we got married on July 8, 2000), we've been discussing ways on how we might celebrate. Given that we're in LA, Disneyland (or another attraction) is an option. A nice dinner, or maybe a movie (we saw Ratatouille while in LA in 2007...with the boys). Toy Story 3 maybe...as long as it's not Eclipse!

Then there's the question of with the kids or without kids...definitely pros and cons to both...with babysitting becoming a huge factor.

Regardless, much like the CCC contest a few months ago, I decided to hold a little contest.

Send me your most reative, entertaining, comical, outrageous, or sincere (haha) suggestion as to how Gail and I should spend portions or all of our day tomorrow. We'll award a prize to the suggestion we like the most (we haven't really come up with any criteria other than if we like it). The prize won't be as good as Canucks tickets, but it will be a prize nonetheless! And keep it clean....haha.

And who knows....we might even follow your suggestion!

PS: The offer to fly down here and look after our kids might get you an automatic win...you'll just come out of it down $400 or so.

Imoo Family Road Trip to California: Video Blog #1

In this first video blog of our road trip to California, I share a few sights from our drive down the I-5, as well as share a few tips for making a long drive.


See the historic Mt. Shasta (along with Mt. Dr. Pepper and Mountain Dew), how we lost Jake for an hour, and of course, some footage of our kids dancing.

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A Decent Proposal

The boys and I were chatting today in the van as we waited for Gail to finish her shopping. We got onto the subject of our 10th wedding anniversary, coming up on July 8. The hilarity soon ensued.


Jacob started things off: “When I want to get married, I need to buy the girl a ring, right Dad?”

“Yes, Jake…that’s the tradition,” I replied.

“And I have to get married when I’m 25 years old, right Dad?”

Hmmm…wasn’t sure where he got that from…especially given the fact that I was 24 when I proposed to Gail.

“Uh…no, Jake. You can be younger or older than 25.”

“Well, I know that I will hold her hand when asking her and I’ll speak ve-ry slooooowwwlllllllyyyyyyy. Do I say ‘Will you marry me?’ or ‘Would you marry me?’”

Taking a break from my laughter, I recalled that I actually asked Gail “Would you marry me?” when I meant to say, “Will you marry me?” I guess I was nervous!

“It doesn’t matter Jake…let’s worry about this in a few years.”

As an aside, Jake’s attitude towards marriage is vastly improving. The last time we talked about it, he asked me if he had to stay with the person he married. After I told him of course, he then told me that he would tell his wife he was going to work but then would visit another girl. I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or seek counseling for him.

Back to today…Jake asked one final question: “Dad, where did you ask Mom to marry you?”

“At St. Paul’s,” I answered, “in front of all the teens, core leaders, and parents at LIFE TEEN!”

(See the video footage here).

Jake’s reply? “Oh my gosh!”

Then it was Sean’s turn to pepper me. More accurately, he offered his unsolicited opinion, just as Gail returned to the van.

“Dad, I think it was unfair that you proposed to Mom in front of everyone at LIFE TEEN,” he said. “Mom probably felt pressured to say ‘yes’ in front of all those people.”

Gail and I exchanged a quick grin.

“Well I knew she was going to say yes,” came my weak reply.
“And what if she had said no?”

Gail and I exchanged another quick grin.

“Why would she say no?” came my even weaker reply. “Besides, most women would say yes to me in that situation.”

I turned to Gail still grinning. Her grin had turned into a grimace. She punched me in my right arm, making me grimace.

Sean shot back: “Yeah, you’re right Dad…most women would say yes…”
My grimace turned back into a grin and then into an outright smile.

“…to just being your friend.”

I had no comeback. As Sean, Jake and Gail broke into uproarious laughter, I went back to grimacing and I started the van and drove. Even Kayla started laughing, and I’m pretty sure that she had no clue what we were talking about.

I can’t wait to see what tomorrow’s conversation will bring.

Or maybe I can.

Giving it His All

Sean has just completed his first season in the Richmond Ball Hockey Association and what a successful season it was! His team, the Raiders, came out of the Richmond league with just one loss all season and proceeded on to the provincial championships last weekend. There, they met some extremely tough competition, as all of the opponents seemed to be bigger, faster, and certainly more aggressive. When the smoke had cleared, Sean’s team finished in 4th place…a great accomplishment especially in considering that there were 46 teams in his age group province wide (only 8 teams were at the provincials).


I’m extremely proud of Sean, as the league was for players his age and a year older. He was certainly one of the most noticeable players out there, as all of our road hockey games in front of our house came in handy. Despite facing tough opponents, Sean always gave it his all. He let everything hang out (figuratively, not literally). And he gave 100%. Not 110% or 200%, which are physically impossible (I’m not sure why people insist on saying things like that), but his full 100%.

I actually rode Sean pretty hard this season. I admittedly expect a lot from him, whether it’s academically, athletically, socially, or spiritually. I’m getting better at catching myself, seeing that he’s only 8 years old and he’s probably already accomplished more than his old man (he’s definitely got more potential to succeed than his old man). However, there were a couple of times during games this year when Gail has remarked to me that I was a “tough hockey Dad.” Then I would start crying for being admonished.

One thing I bugged Sean about was his foot speed, or lack thereof. I would often joke that he looked like he was playing with a 25 pound weight hanging around his neck. He would counter that it was better than having 25 pounds hanging around his gut. But what he lacked in speed he more than made up for it with skill and more importantly, heart.

His exceptional effort reminded me of his track meet at Minoru back in May. Not fast enough to make any of the sprint teams, Sean entered the Softball Throw and the 400 meters. Knowing the Imoo boys’ penchant for avoiding any semblance of long distance running (I get winded going up 3 flights of stairs at work), I went into damage control mode even before he had raced. I wasn’t too confident, and admittedly neither was he.

"Don’t worry Sean, just do your best. I’ll be proud of you no matter what.”

“I just hope I don’t come in last.”

“Well just picture a big plate of beef sashimi waiting for you at the finish line.” Now there’s motivation for you!

The gun sounded and by the first turn, Sean was 4th to last. By the 200 meter mark, he had slipped to 2nd to last. As they rounded the 3rd corner, I could see Sean constantly looking over his left shoulder, making sure that he wouldn’t be caught.

“Forget about him!” I screamed from my sideline position down the home stretch. “Catch some people in front of you.”

Then, something happened. Faster than Jake falls asleep at Mass, Sean exploded into the final turn, his cheeks expanding and contracting with every large, quick breath. Arms pumping and eyes bulging, he blew past 11 or 12 other runners during the final 100 meters, with his fanatical father screaming from the sidelines. I was extremely impressed and surprised, as Sean’s final placing was around 27th out of 40…about 12 spots better than we both anticipated.

I quickly ran to the finish line immediately after the race to congratulate Sean but I couldn’t find him amongst the other runners. A few moments later, I spotted him hunched over just a few meters away from where he crossed the finish line. I gave him a hug and told him how proud I was.

“Way to go son!” I exclaimed as I eagerly anticipated his response. Something magnificent. Something profound. Something epic.

“Thanks Dad….I almost threw up.”

Well I guess I'll settle for honesty. At least he gave it his all!

Kayla Singing Jesus Loves Me

First it was Jacob singing this song as a 4 year-old, and now it's Kayla doing her rendition as a 2 and a half-year old.

Gotta love child-like faith! "Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it." Mark 10:15