Today I celebrate my second year of marriage to by best friend, Michelle.

It’s sort of like a “second New Year.”

We take the time to write each other a letter, reviewing the previous year, and dreaming about the year to come.  As many of you readers know, Michelle and I do not taking living lightly!  As Thoreau said, we intend to “suck the marrow out of life.”  As Scripture says, “to live life to the full.”

Today I want to share with you the highlights of this past year of marriage.  For all you singles who think marriage is for old losers- I hope you’ll come to realize that some of us still know how to party  We’ve been blessed to live an INSPIRED year.

There are moments in life that MARK us for eternity.  They change the course of our lives, and more often than not, we don’t even seen them coming.  A total of ZERO milestone events that occurred this year were planned by either of us.  I hope this will inspire you to chase the goose.

On July 12th of last year, I saved Michelle from a shark.  It’s a long story, of which I am very proud to embellish.  We spent our anniversary in Houston Texas, of all places!  We got to attend Ecclesia Church and see how “doing church humbly” can radically change a community.

In August we had to put my beloved puppy Toby.  I hadn’t cried like that in years.  It was a good reminder that I am, indeed, still human.  It also gave me a deeper appreciate for what truly matters.

On a whim in September, armed only with a small grant and the gifts of friends, Michelle and I embarked on an 11,000 km road trip across Canada to film a documentary on sex trafficking.  It was stressful, exhilarating, and adventurous, all wrapped up in one warp-speed bundle!

Later in September, we joined up with Iain Pitman and Karyn Makins for a quick trip to Montreal for an anti-trafficking rally.  It was an amazing intimate and spiritual time together, and to the day I die, I will NEVER forget our hostel horror story!!!

In October, we took a group of 13 friends down to the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.  One profound experience was visiting the inspiring Billy Graham Library. The sense of mission and purpose on his united team impacted millions of lives and changed the world. I hope God sees fit to do a work like this with us in our generation! We also got to visit the uber-cool Elevation Church and witness the revival taking place in Charlotte.

Later in October, I traveled with three of my greatest friends to Chicago for Ben Arment’s Story Conference. What a trip! Donald Miller and Dave Gibbons were definitely the highlight for me- reminders to tell His story, and to define church metrics as helping people, not butts in seats.

In November, Michelle and I started a 40-day fast.  No solid foods.  It was terrible.  Time stood still.  We withered away.  We felt purposeless.  If not for sponsoring a kid through Compassion, we would have felt even worse!

BUT… in December we completed the fast, having been given a clear vision for the next few steps.  We called it our “Open Hand God Plan“.  Michelle got a job and we immediately starting saving.

On boxing day, we attended a very unique wedding- it’s not every day that you get to have dinner with 3 former Greek Orthodox monks!  It was truly a “marking moment”… it igniting in me a desire for deep brotherhood and community living.

In February we quit our jobs, packed our 88 things, gave away our furniture, launched our film on sex trafficking, and hopped on a plane headed for Central America.

In March we detoxed and learned to live simply in a tiny riverside casita in Puriscal, Costa Rica.

In April we lived near the Arenal Volcano (still in Costa Rica) and met some AMAZING new friends.

In May we traveled north, roasting marshmallows on a volcano, chilling in Guatemala with new friends, relaxing on a random Caribbean Island we’d never heard of, and working at an eco village in the chilly mountains of Mexico.

In June we settled into the tiny town of Zirahuen, Mexico, for a month of hard work and hustling online. Dreams become realities! Michelle’s vision for Hope for the Sold gets white hot, and I start work on a project for the late fall.

In July we visited our dear Strength Nomad friends in great country of Texas, then took some AWFUL buses from there to here, Lantana Florida, where we will celebrate our 2nd anniversary.

Another thing that MARKED me this year was that in the past 4 months I was blessed with having the time to read 30 new books.  What an education!

And this week, we’re grateful to announce that the next step on the journey is now official confirmed… God willing, we’re moving to Vancouver Island in the fall to do a church planting internship at New Life Community Church!

So that’s our year in review.  In all, we’ve visited 15 new countries and lived (what seems like) about 5 new lives.

Have you ever read the Bible verse “I have plans to prosper you…plans to give you a hope and a future”?  I believe it.  And I can’t believe there’s more.  God is too good.  Honestly, I’m grateful to say that I am one of the RICHEST men in the entire world.  And, as always, I’m excited for what’s next.

This coming year is going to be filled with dreams and hopes and wins and failures and troubles and miracles and laughter and tears and sadness and joy.  I hope that you’ll pray for us- that’ll we’ll know and do His will for our lives.  And I hope that you’ll join us in doing the same.  Who knows how God might use us TOGETHER this year?!

Thanks for your committed readership.  I wouldn’t be doing this without you!

His Love,

Jay