About Me

Me and the Space Shuttle Discovery at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington DC

You can reach me at matt@mattdantodd.com.

My bio.

“Matt Todd is a retired space shuttle pilot. He would have been the first man to walk on Mars, but a freak pancake flipping accident led to him being dismissed from the space program. He spent three years in the Sangre de Cristo mountains in northern New Mexico in an attempt to rediscover his purpose. Now he uses his space travel and mountain man experience to help others tell their stories.”

OK.

That’s a lie.

But it’s fun, right? Here’s the real scoop…

Crater Lake Self Portrait at Philmont Scout Ranch

For as long as I can remember, I have loved a good story. As a child, I would make up all kinds of tall tales and unleash them on my parents. I think that’s why I was so drawn to the Star Wars Original Trilogy. It was masterful storytelling. Of course, the action figures didn’t hurt.

I planned on using my love for storytelling to make movies. I convinced my friends in 8th grade that I would become “the next George Lucas.” I even entered the Communications program at Milligan College with my sights set on moving to LA and attending film school after graduation.

Obviously, that didn’t happen.

I still love a good story, though.

I love watching a good story on the big screen and I love reading a good story. Stories consume me. I love hearing a good story, too. I heard some amazing stories while I worked the backcountry of Philmont Scout Ranch during the summers of 1995 and 1996. And I think some of that rubbed off on me because I love telling a good story.

And that’s why Life in the Fishbowl exists. Not because I’m a great storyteller, but because I just can’t stop telling stories.

It began in November, 2004, over on LiveJournal. It was an attempt to share my seminary experience with friends and family across the country. If I remember correctly, it was originally called something like Random Thoughts of a Reluctant Seminarian. Eventually, the blog was renamed to MattDanToddLand because the nature of the blog had begun to change. It wasn’t just about my seminary experience, but everything else about me, too. It was my little kingdom in the vast space that is the World Wide Web.

I’m no longer in seminary.

And this blog has continued to change. It’s more of a chronicle of our family’s life in…well…a fishbowl. Hence the name change.

It has been said that serving in full-time vocational ministry means your family feels like they’re living in a fishbowl. When I accepted my position as Pastor at a small rural church, we instantly became a conspicuous family because my kids became “Preacher’s Kids.” And my wife became the “Preacher’s Wife.” Instead of complaining and running from the fishbowl concept, we decided to embrace it and take advantage of the opportunity to live our life with transparency. Pastors and their families are people, too. And that has been declared loud and clear on Life in the Fishbowl.

I’m no longer a pastor.

While I am no longer a full-time pastor, our family is still pretty conspicuous. In September 2009, we brought Mihret home from Ethiopia to her forever family. Now we continue to live in a fishbowl as we journey through life together as a transracial family.

Front Porch Family Portrait
Front porch photo by Angie English Photography

Things I love*

Star Wars
Indiana's banners hanging at Assembly Hallthe Indiana Hoosiers
the Evansville Aces
Taco Bell’s Bacon Cheeseburger Burrito (I hope they bring it back)
orphan care
basketball
the Indianapolis Colts
the St. Louis Cardinals
Twitter
Grilling
comeback stories
redemption
coaching instructional baseball
Philmont Scout Ranch
Ethiopian food
history
vacations
storytelling
the feeling of brand new dress socks on your feet
March Madness
orange cake

Things I don’t love

JarJar Binks
cats
the BCS (the BCS is dead!)
politics
University of Kentucky athletics
cucumbers
taxes
honky-tonk country music
math
coconuts
snakes
allergies
doing the dishes
Google+ (Google+ is dead, too)

Thanks for checking in on me! Feel free to stick around and check things out. This blog’s been around for a while. I’m sure there are some gems you could dig up if you felt like it!

*I think it should go without saying that I love Jesus, Christy, and my kids. But I should probably say it anyway. Even though they really aren’t things.

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Howdy. I'm Matt. My wife, Christy, and I have four kids and two dogs, I'm passionate about orphan care. I'm a die-hard fan of the Evansville Aces, the Indiana Hoosiers, and Star Wars. I'm trying to live life by the Todd family motto: "It behooves us to live!"
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9 thoughts on “About Me

  1. Hi, thank you so much for taking an interest in my (well, at this point mainly Hungarian:-) blog. I am honored. And I have just realized that you are the same as The Tale of Anakin Redeemed…:-) Wow, I so much enjoy your inspired and out-of-the-ordinary kind of articles…:-) Blessings and greetings from Hungary.

  2. Ha! A fun blog! I’m from Indiana, born in Ft. Wayne, lived in Indianapolis for 5 years. Love them Hoosiers too. Also hate math and snakes. I’m popping in from the a-z and I love finding other believers in the blogosphere. I think we can change the world, if we use blogging for good. Nice to meet you! New follower here. come visit, if you’d like:
    from The Dugout

  3. Hi, Matt I was going to comment on “3 easy steps to a romantic steakhouse dinner at home” but I see comments are closed there (?). I live not all that far from some of the best steakhouses you’ll find in Georgia but still it’s never the same as making something at home!

    Anyway, I thought it was a nice post. Nice family pic you have, too. Much respect to you!

    Best regards.

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