The Blog of Matt MacDonald

I married my best friend…
I had no idea what I was getting in too…
I thought I understood love…
I tried not to cry…
I cried…
I began to see a glimpse of God’s love for us…
I saw why marriage is something God loves

3 years ago…I married Hailey Solena Trachsel…life has NEVER been the same since, and I’m glad!

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I have loved my mom for as long as I can remember. She’s a great example of what it means to put others first and to (no matter the cost) push for excellence in everything…every time. Mother’s are one of the best inventions ever.  Think about it.  As least for me, my mom has loved me, cared for me, fed me, cleaned up after me and most of all, made sure my dad didn’t pull crap like this:

Mother’s Day is great. BUT today was the first mother’s day that I not only could celebrate my Mom, but also by honouring my baby’s mamma. My wife has 2 excellent role models her my mother and my mother-in-law and I thank God for giving me such a great wife who is a fantastic mother.

So to all you mother’s out there. And if you have a mom (which you probably do) shame on you for reading my blog on her special day.

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After some discussion with some friends, I have decided to start the process of shifting the focus of my blog.

At its inception, my blog was about my life…engaged then married…in university then starting work…no kids…then kids.  My wife’s blog (which is not getting more daily hit then mine b/c she’s smarter, prettier and just generally better than me) focuses on our family, our life and everything in between.

In years past, I’ve walked the line between full-time ministry (still hate that term) and working in the corporate world.  That said, after much consideration, I have decided to change the focus of this blog.  What am I going to talk about?  Well…there’s not way I could possibly answer that now, as I am sure a year from now I’d be way off!  BUT, I can say this: the blog is going to focus on my life, but more in what I am learning and the stuff that I deal with on a regular basis.  Some of the topics I really want to dive into include: “Being Young.”  I get asked to often about what it’s like to Be so young and: Married, Have a Kid, Own a Business, etc.  My first response is always “Not easily,” giving God the glory for what He has done and continues to do in my life.  Pride is a tough thing when your young.  The world says “conquer me…then brag about it,” but God’s world says “die to self, live for eternity.”  WOW, is that not contradictory!  That said, I’m going to kick off the “new focus” with a series called “Being Young” in which I’m going to dive into different areas that I have experienced and what I have learned as a result (both the easy and hard way).

I hope that this new focus will better help me to get into words the lessons I learn daily, and hit the world of blogging from the perspective of a young entrepreneur that also loves Christ.

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Social Media is a funny thing.  From Tom @ Myspace to Evan @ Twitter…social media has come a long way.  I remember when myspace was cool.  It started off with teenage girls, then moved to bands and eventually the hoochies got a hold of it…and it became suck.

Then facebook.  I remember facebook.  You know, that social networking site for college students.  I used to have facebook.  Then my grandma and her friends got it.  And I left.

I jumped straight over to twitter.  About a year and a half ago, when it was still “some dumb micro blogging thing.”  Then CNN, Oprah…and you guessed it a few to many geriatrics jumped on board.  Well, I still haven’t abandoned ship, but am definitely on the ‘prowl‘ for what’s next.  Could it be THIS…maybe THIS….or even THIS?

Only Time…Will Tell.

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As earthquakes, volcano’s, floods and disease seems like a weekly occurrence…I am drawn to the verses from Romans 8:

¹⁹For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²²For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. ²³And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Reminds me of a song that I used to sing when I was very little, and I’m sure that I will sing it with Stella…

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The Story of Zac Smith from NewSpring Media on Vimeo.

I saw this on THIS GUY’S blog.  Like him, I’ve watched it 3 times now…and cried…3 times.  “God is still God, God is still Good.”

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Why? Why do the Leafs suck so bad? Even when it’s bad, the upside sucks. What’s the best part of being in 2nd last place in the NHL…pretty much guaranteed a top 3 draft pick. NOPE. The brilliant Brian Burke traded TWO first round draft picks for Phil Kessel. Nothing against Phil Kessel…but wow…he ain’t that good.

For the past 5 years, April has been tough. The Leafs pull out the golf clubs early…once again.

Maybe next year will be “our” year?

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Okay.  Some I love my country.  I’ve even bet on my allegiance (still owe this guy thought :S).  But I have also been outspoken that Canada’s reputation for…sucking, does not go undeserved. Well, we’ve done it again.  In addition to sub-par Superbowl commercials, an absence of Chipotle’s and a commitment to all sports that require a stick, skates and fighting…we have once again displayed our shortcomings.

Being the “Old Man” that I am, I went to bed last night @ 10:30.  I received a text this morning from my brother saying: “Are you up, are you watching right now?”  This could only mean one thing, something crazy happened last night post-me going to bed in the NCAA game.  So, being a Canadian, I go straight to tsn.ca to find out what happened.  Here’s what I saw:
You could imagine my surprise when the only mention of any NCAA event (last night there were 4 games) is a byline that reads “March Madness Roundup: Kansas State captures memorable win.”  ARE YOU KIDDING ME!  I know that the NCAA Tourney is a bigger deal in the U.S, but (what I found out later) it was a double-overtime photo finish…and….nothing. You could imagine my confusion when trying to figure out what my brother was referring too.  I decided to shoot over to espn.com just to see:

Full front page coverage and video of the game, and 2 of the 4 sub stories about other NCAA games.  For some reason, TSN believed that Montreal (6th place) beating Florida (12th place) in an NHL game last night somehow deserved the top line.  From this I can draw one of three conclusions.

1) TSN hires only hacks, that know nothing about sports
2) A 6th place team beating a 12th place team in hockey is multiples more exciting than a double overtime, winner moves on college basketball game
3) Canada is just really…that bad.

I think it’s a tie between 1 & 3.  On another note, American’s now are on a path to socialized medicine and probably socialism itself.  Maybe having crappy sports coverage is a socialism symptom.  That probably wasn’t in the Pro’s and Con’s that Obama listed when pitching the bill…

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Today I tweeted:

Within seconds, my friend Kaj hit me back with a “I guess Loverboy was right.”  I did not make the connection.  But after Mr. Google reminded me, my afternoon is going to be spend rocking it 80’s style too…

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A little Monday morning pick-me up. This was TOTALLY me circa 1989.

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