Fifty One

Happy Birthday to me!  On this my 51st birthday I'm listing 51 people who have had a big part in making me who I am, roughly starting from 1969 to 2020.

1. My parents, Don and Beth Jaques (1969).  I am who I am today mostly because of their influence.  My mother's organizational and detail oriented mind. My dad's encouraging spirit and cautious nature.  Mostly their constant love and support.
2. My sister Tracy Jaques Raymond (1969). My oldest sister - she is a steady person who can always be counted on. 
3. My sister Suzanne Jaques Martin (1969). My middle sister - the storyteller in our family (God knows we needed ONE!) - her passionate prayer life and persistence in the midst of struggle continue to inspire me.
4. My paternal grandparents Don and Anne Jaques (1970). First introduced me to the Monterey wharf and the ocean and blackjack and ping pong.
5. My maternal grandparents Robert and Virginia Seidel (1970). First introduced me to Southern CA, camping, and Disneyland. 
6. Harold Nickel (1975). Coach of the Rose Hill Bobcats - my team from 1st grade through freshman year of college.  "It's fun to play. It's more fun to win."
7. Rev. Harland Willow (1978).  My first pastor. He was the one whose invitation I responded to, making my first formal decision to follow Jesus.
8. David Gies (1978).  My first "best friend" that I can remember.  Lots of time playing kick the can in his neighborhood.
9. Brian Nickel (1975).  Another great friend - so many times playing sports together and doing overnighters.
10. Chris Nye (1978). A Rose Hill Bobcat teammate. His parents were huge Neil Diamond fans.  One memorable day in 9th grade we decided to drink a lot of vodka and coke.  Way too much.
11. Patsy Jackson (1980). My first voice teacher - she directed the kids production at Rose Hill Presbyterian where I first sang a solo.
12. Debbie Jacobsen (1980s).  Director of Christian Education at Rose Hill Pres.  She led our Christian Endeavor groups in Junior and Senior High where I first started developing ministry leadership skills.
13. Kurt Langkow (1985).  Though two years older than me we were close friend at youth group, attending lots of camps and retreats together, and going on lots of double dates with youth group girls. We published a silly "newspaper" at summer camp that was super sarcastic and got us in some hot water occasionally.
14. Karen Pike (1985). My first serious girlfriend.  She was two years ahead of me in school and we started dating just after she graduated.  We dated for over 2 years, some of it long distance.  Broke up during my freshman year at SPU.
15. Kirk Marcy (1985). My high school choir teacher.  Taught me so much about singing, musicianship, and jazz.
16. Chris Broderick (1985).  One of my closest friends in High School.  Lots of late night fun after football games. We're still good friends thanks to Facebook.
17. Jeff Bursch (1987). We met our freshman year at Seattle Pacific University and would become roommates 2 of our four years there.  We took a "beginning folk guitar" class together and he wrote an "Indigo Girls-esque" song that we played at the big SPU Talent Show.  He was the best man in my wedding and we are still friends today.
18. Mike Rodriguez (1987).  A fellow "choir nerd", we sang in SPU concert choir together for 4 years and we are still friends.
19. Dr Ed Smyth (1988).  A professor at SPU, Ed took me under his wing with one on one mentorship and introduced me to the concept of Christian Discipleship.  Ed would later perform my marriage ceremony and we are still in touch.
20. Bryan Grisham (1988).  From Shreveport, LA, Bryan was the director of my first Continental Singers tour.  Though only a couple years older than me, he seemed wise beyond his years and was funny and an amazing musician and leader.  He surprised me at the end of the tour when he invited me to be his Assistant Director the following summer.  This began a process for me that steered me into music ministry for the next few chapters of my life.
21. Ann Bollen Jaques (1988).  That summer tour in 1988 not only changed my career direction, it introduced me to my closest friend, my lover, my partner in everything to this day.  A skinny California girl with long blonde hair, blue eyes, and a smile that could light up the room - she had me almost from the first day.
22. Gina Hilton-
    Van Osdall (1988). One of my best friends from SPU.  She was a deep thinker, and one of my first "outside the box" Christian friends.
23. Author CS Lewis (1988). Although I had read the Chronicles of Narnia, it was during college I started reading his theological/philosophical works like "The Great Divorce" and "Mere Christianity".  
24. Dr Woodward (1988). My choir teacher at SPU for four years.  
25. Jack and Helen Bollen (1988).  Ann's parents.  He intimidated me at first, and she was always so joyful and encouraging to me. I miss them both.
26. David and Michelle Bollen (1990). They gave Ann a place to land when she first moved up to the Northwest from CA.  A music pastor, David became a mentor to me, and we have enjoyed cycling together.  David and Michelle are some of our favorite travel buddies.
27. Gary Davis (1991). Pastor at Canby Christian Church where I started my pastoral career. He took me under his wing as a young naive music pastor who had never worked with volunteer adult singers and musicians before.  My 10 years under his leadership there could not have been better. We are still friends.
28. Jeff and Allison Hartwell (1991). When we moved to Canby, we immediately became close friends with these two. Allison was a childhood friend of Ann's.  Jeff and I began meeting weekly for Christian accountability and encouragement - a practice we continued the whole time I lived there.  We are still great friends.
29. Todd and Shari Davis (1991).  Some of our other best lifelong friends, there was no one else I wanted to surprise Ann in Vegas with for her 50th birthday.  We have so much fun and long discussions with them whenever we get together.  And wine.
30. John Hieb (1994).  John was a first generation computer nerd, and a fellow fan of Rich Mullins' music and CS Lewis.  A veteran who suffered from PTSD, he took his own life a few years ago.  I miss him
31. Dr Steven Delamarter (1994).  An Old Testament professor at Western Evangelical Seminary, he introduced me to the world of the ancient near east, the confusing world of Biblical archeology, and the mind-bending challenge of learning Hebrew (which didn't really happen).
32. Carrie Wright (1996).  Young woman who chose to place her baby daughter with us in adoption.  This selfless and brave choice changed my life in so many ways.
33. Bethany Joy Jaques (1996). My creative, free flowing, artistic, ADHD, beautiful daughter who has always challenged me to stop being so literal and sequential and linear in how I see the world.
34. Kim Archer (1999). Young woman who selflessly chose to place her son with us in adoption, setting in motion a huge change in our family and future.
35. Ryan Samuel Jaques (1999).  With a unique mix of sensitivity, a memory for details, artistic and musical talent, and a sharp mind, Ryan has taught me to open my mind to new ways of looking at things.
36. Dave Browning (2002). When it came time for me to leave Canby Christian Church to become a lead pastor, Dave became my mentor as the head pastor of Christ the King Community Church.  A true visionary leader and a voracious reader, Dave was able to start a movement of churches based on 3 simple ideas.  He died a couple years ago of a brain tumor and I miss him.
37. Ken Mann (2002). One of the leaders of CTK Oak Harbor where I was a first time pastor.  From a charismatic church background, he challenged my thinking and showed me what living the Sermon on the Mount really looked like. 
38. Scott Goldman (2002).  Worship leader at CTK Oak Harbor. I didn't know when I met him then that our friendship would develop slowly over time to where it is now. We meet regularly to solve the theological and political problems of the world. Definitely an "out of the box" thinker.
39. Yedidya Parker (2004).  A street preacher in India who joined the CTK movement.  I would spend a few years supporting him and his family as they spread the gospel at great personal cost in India. 
40. Tom Montanaro (2006).  He was the first pastor of CTK Coupeville.  He is a passionate follower of Jesus and it was exciting getting this church started with him.  Unfortunately things did not work out and we went our separate ways.  This was a painful moment in my development as a Christian leader and exposed some very faulty thinking and beliefs I needed to confront.
41. David Kobelin (2008). A positive, enthusiastic Christian leader who introduced me to road cycling.  He also provided life coaching for me that helped me come back into Church ministry in a more healthy way.
42. Ron and Christine Still (2006ish). These friends joined our small group for a couple years and we enjoyed fun times camping and hiking with them.  Many miles together on road and mountain bikes including a very memorable "Seattle to Portland" 2-day event.
43. Craig Cooley (2012?).  One of the leaders at CTK Coupeville, we began a friendship that has really grown in the last couple years.  He's one of my favorite people to discuss life, theology, recovery, and philosophy with.  And he helps with so many projects I need help with.  
44. David and Sarah Bailey (2014).  Hired to take over CTK Coupeville, David listened to my Biblical and theological questions and pointed me to great books that helped me hold to my faith, albeit a changing one.  They were both so helpful during the struggles we had in our childrens' teenage years.
45. Author Pete Enns (2015).  An Old Testament professor who lost his job when he began teaching ideas that flowed directly from what he saw happening in the texts of the Bible, his books "The Bible Tells Me So", "The Sin of Certainty", and "How the Bible Actually Works" have been life-giving to me and helpful in me developing a more intellectually robust and practical faith.
46. Author and speaker Rob Bell (2015). His book "Love Wins" spoke to my inner doubts about the systematic formula of salvation I had inherited and taught.  His podcasts and later book "What is the Bible?" keep pushing me to think bigger about God.
47. Clay Miller (2015).  Clay introduced me to the idea of becoming a real estate agent - an idea I don't think I ever would have come up with on my own.  
48. Eric Mitten (2015).  He took a chance bringing a "pastor" with absolutely no sales experience into his office full of all sorts of people.  His professional investments in me have helped me succeed in this surprising 2nd career.
49. Erik Mann (2015). Although we never would have been friends in high school, we developed a friendship and partnership at Windermere that helped us both.  When he moved on from real estate as a career, his decision to refer his clients to me has been a win-win for both of us.
50. Anita Johnston (2015). Anita's friendship has been a total surprise to me.  Although she has no use for organized religion, she is a loving and inclusive person who keeps teaching me about what it means to love everyone.  
51. Drew Barnhart (2017).  First time lead Pastor at Living Word, I've been grateful for our friendship and his openness to including me on the preaching planning team and the actual preaching team at Living Word, even though my ideas lean left of where he is personally.  

Grateful grateful grateful for how my life has intersected with all of these people, and so many more who I would include if I kept extending this list.  I endeavor to keep deepening my relationships with the people I'm lucky enough to interact with in my neighborhood, my workplace, my church, my family, and even online.  I've got so much to learn from all of you and I'm glad we're doing life together.