45 random thoughts after turning 45

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Back when I turned 40, Dad included a little note in the birthday card he sent me. He encouraged me to take some time over the next few days and do some reflecting about the previous decades. I wound up sharing some of the results of that reflection in this post: 40 thoughts for 40 years. Now that I’m officially closer to 50 than 40, I think it’s probably time to do it again.

So here we go…

45 random thoughts for 45 years
in no particular order

You’re welcome to respond to these thoughts in the comments below. Please include the random thought’s number so I’ll know what we’re talking about. I failed mind-reading in college, so please help me out. Thanks.

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45.

It was cool turning 40. I got to share my age with some of my favorite basketball players:

• Calbert Cheaney
• Cody Zeller
• Walter McCarty (when he was in high school – let’s not talk about his career at KY. Or how his stint at UE ended. Let’s just focus on his basketball career at Harrison)

I can’t think of any players who wore 45. I guess next year, I can say that my age is the same number as the current president. If I’m thinking correctly, that’s the only time I’ll be able to do that.

44.

Turning 42 was notable, too. Because then I could claim to be the “Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything.” That was fun.

43.

What do Noah, Joseph, and Gideon have to do with each other? OK, other than the fact that they’re all found in the Old Testament? I’m glad you asked…

They’re in that book I started writing five-ish years ago. I think it’ll be done this year.

42.

I’ve started wearing bifocals. I like being able to see everything again.

41.

I think I’d run through a brick wall for Tom Allen. Archie Miller? Not so much.

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40.

There it is again. My favorite number.

39.

Adoption is hard, Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying. We like to focus on the happy stories, but there’s a lot of pain and trauma and loss in even the happiest of adoption stories. And nobody talks about the hard stuff.

Adoptive parents: If you’re going through a rough season, please know that you’re not alone. Feel free to contact me here if you ever need to talk about things. I’m no expert. But I can help you find resources. And I can definitely provide a listening ear.

38.

I came to the realization not too long ago that Mihret will probably become an aunt before she graduates high school. This kind of blew my mind.

Not that I’m pushing for grandkids anytime soon (because I’m not), but Mihret doesn’t graduate from high school for at least another six years.

37.

You want to talk about stolen elections? Let’s take a look at how hard it is to get a third party candidate on the ballot in some states. And then let’s look at gerrymandering. Oh, and then we can look at the distribution of polling places. I will gladly talk to you about stolen elections. But let’s start here.

36.

I’m proud of my kids.

35.

While Christy and I are really enjoying WandaVision, I think Daredevil season 3 – available on Netflix – is my favorite Marvel television entry. It has the most honest and refreshing analysis of the role of faith in a world that’s spiraling deeper into hopelessness. While I don’t agree with all of the show’s messages about the Church, I wish more Christian filmmakers would follow this example of storytelling instead of something like Left Behind.

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34.

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.

1 Corinthians 10:23 & 24 (NIV)

33.

I love my wife. She gets me.

32.

I cry at the end of Coco. Every. time.

31.

Instead of fighting against things like mask mandates and limited attendance, I really wish the Church would be at the forefront of showing that they care for others during this pandemic. I wonder how many people have been turned off to Jesus thanks to many churches’ response to everything.

30.

The same can probably be said about evangelical leaders’ overwhelming support of Trump. How many people have been turned away from Jesus because of this marriage of evangelicalism and the Party of Trump? To be fair, this is a relevant question for any election, not just 2016 and 2020. How does our political affiliation draw people to Jesus? Or does it push people away from him?

29.

Of course, this begs the question: How have I pushed people away from Jesus?

28.

I’ve wound up helping several people craft their resumes and prepare for interviews recently. Is there side-gig potential here?

27.

I don’t know if this is possible post-COVID. I’m sure there’s a way you could do it in a safe manner, but someone needs to open a dinner theater-type place called Cast Iron Stomp. Food would be cooked in Dutch ovens and cast iron skillets. The show surrounding the dinner would be similar to the nightly campfires we performed when I worked at Philmont, where we “sang some stories and told some songs” (or something like that). I’m sure it would make tens of…tens of dollars. But it would be a lot of fun.

26.

I know Curiosity landed on Mars nine years ago, but it still blows my mind that we are actually exploring Mars from the ground. Mars was still pretty unattainable when I was a kid. And now people at NASA are talking about sending people to Mars like it’s going to be attainable in the very near future. It’s like we’re living in the future or something.

25.

Back when I was preaching, I would spend time dedicated to studying, digging into the text, listening to other sermons, praying for direction, and reading commentaries. I’d have these chunks of information that I knew I wanted to say, but it never really came together until I walked away from the office and did something more mindless, like mow the grass or wash the dishes. Then I could see the puzzle pieces come together in my mind. It’s like I would give my mind (and soul) a chance to relax and that’s when everything came together.

I didn’t know it then, but there’s some science behind that rhythm that I discovered by accident. I’ve tried to take that information and apply it to my creative efforts at home and at work.

So I basically wrote half of this post while doing the laundry.

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24.

Growing up, I believed the Church’s mission was to share the love of Jesus with the unlovely, unloved, and unpopular; that the Church is a ragtag bunch of rejects and outcasts who could barely keep their own lives together, let alone change the world with a message of hope and redemption.

I still do.

23.

I can see how people choose to become Snow Birds.

22.

I haven’t had a direct connection to my high school marching band since my brother graduated in the late ’90s. I’m still incredibly proud that they qualified for State a couple of years ago.

I’m ready to cheer them on again in 2021.

21.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I’m overjoyed I didn’t have to deal with social media when I was a teenager. There was enough needless drama without it.

20.

Do you want to give me a birthday present that won’t cost you a dime? Do these things:

• Subscribe to my newsletter
• Follow me on Instagram
• Like my Facebook page
• Subscribe to Magical Mihret – it would be great if we could get her to 100 subscribers!
• Subscribe to my YouTube channel

19.

Speaking of my YouTube channel…

This is my most popular video. I published it more than five years ago to little fanfare. Sometime last year, it gained some traction in Ethiopia.

It’s weird how some things just spread like wildfire sometimes.

18.

Speaking of Ethiopia, this is not OK.

I’d heard rumors about this back in December 2020, but the information was sketchy and the websites reporting about it didn’t have the best reputation.

Of course, it’s hard to get accurate, reliable, nonpartisan information when you’ve closed off the region from outside humanitarian organizations and severely restricted any type of communication. That makes it easy for the governments to dispute any stories, doesn’t it?

This is not good, Prime Minister Abiy.

I’m thankful that my senator is one of the few members of our government to have spoken out about these atrocities.

Thank you, Senator Booker and Senator Young.

17.

I’m still disappointed that Mara Jade was not included somehow in the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

16.

I still believe in the activity of the Holy Spirit. I still believe in miracles. I’ve seen them happen.

15.

A preacher friend of mine used to remind his church to stop “majoring in the minors.”

That’s some good advice. I should listen to it more.

14.

Growing up, my dad would always say he didn’t think a highway connecting Evansville to Indianapolis would be completed in his lifetime. It was always a bit of a pipe dream. And now here we are – they’re working on the final leg. It’s supposed to be completed by the end of 2024.

See? Dreams do come true.

13.

Have I mentioned I love my job? Not only do I get to help serve as a keeper and teller of important stories, but I also get to write about space. And dinosaurs. And basketball. Oh, and I get to write about superheroes – real and imagined.

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I love it.

12.

Sidedoor is my current favorite podcast. If I were to ever do a podcast for the day job, I’d probably model it after Sidedoor.

11.

When did it become acceptable for Christians to insult other Christians by calling them sheep?

I’m pretty sure that’s what Jesus calls us.

10.

Dad gave us a sous vide precision cooker last Christmas. We used this method to cook our Thanksgiving turkey breast. It was amazing.

9.

I grew up with Daylight Saving Time. It’s not like it’s anything new for me. I still hate it, though. It messes me up for at least a week – even when we “fall back.”

8.

Sunrises. I love them.

I don’t love getting up for them. But I love them.

7.

This might surprise some of you, but I’m still a registered Republican. And that’s on purpose. I’m still hopeful enough* to think that the party can change. If that change is really going to happen, it has to come from within the party.

6.

When I was a kid, I was not a fan of Leap Day. That meant I had to wait a whole extra day for my birthday!

5.

I really thought we’d stopped caring about the British royal family. Clearly, I was wrong.

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4.

The header image for this post was taken off the Atlantic coast. It’s a sunrise. Because while I might be closer to 50 than 40 since I’m 45 years + however many days old, I’m nowhere near the sunset of life. It’s still a rising sun. You know – like Indiana Jones and his dad.

Richard Rohr has helped me understand this approach to the second half of life in his book Falling Upward.

3.

Teachers are heroes. They were before the pandemic. They are during the pandemic. And they will be after the pandemic.

Teachers are heroes. Period.

2.

My theology still boils down to this:

• God is big. Bigger than we can imagine. He is big enough to use even the worst circumstances.
• Love Him.
• Love others.
• Follow Jesus.

It’s that simple. It’s that complicated.

1.

“It behooves us to live!”

Todd Family Motto

I’m 45 years into living the Todd Family Motto^. I hope you’re living it, too!

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Endnotes

*Some might say “naïve” instead of healthy.

^OK, I really haven’t been intentionally living out this motto for 45 years. I’ve only known about it for the past decade or so. But you can argue that I’ve been unknowingly following the Todd Family Motto for the last 45 years because that’s what Todds do!

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