Meetings

All day meetings at a retreat last year...(Aaron and Tracy didn't know they were getting married yet)

I have meetings all day. Sometimes I think I am a professional meeter. We have lots to do, but you can't do any of it when you meet. In church world, everything revolves around the meeting. Since most decisions are made by a team, it's the only way to get consensus on ideas and such. So, I will start my meetings this morning at 9. Then I have an 11:30, 12, 2, and 3. Then I will come home. That will be the whole day. It would be awesome if we could figure out how to not have to do meetings...but then what would I do with my title of "professional meeter?"

On another note...the deer season beard started Saturday. I ran this black and white so you could see all the grey. Everywhere there is a light spot in my beard...yep, grey. Oldness is happening.

Hunter Vision Update

Dr. Joel and Me. June of '08. Planning for these days.

It's been a while since I have posted about the status of Hunter Vision. I figured the few who read this regularly may want to know how things are going. Plus, it is always good for me to document points in time so I can look back later and remember. So here it goes. (This list is the order in which they are on my mind)

1. We still officially have no money and we are spending money at this point. It is an interesting time. We have several different funding options currently and any one of them could be perfect, but we aren't locked in yet. I am working to have that part resolved by November 1. It looks very likely that 90% of what we need in equipment can be wrapped into a lease, so I think we are only going to need the cash portion of $350,000 to get rolling. That is the part I am chasing right now. Has to happen soon...

2. RDV is where we'll be. Unless something terrible happens in the next 30 days, we will have a lease at RDV sportsplex. That is a huge win for us. RDV has a great name in the community, the suite we are leasing had a LASIK group in the space before we came, we personally know the guys who run the place, the location is the exact geographic area we looked for from the beginning, and the target patient group is there in droves. That space is an unreal gift from God.

3. Joel's fellowship is going great. He is training under one of the best in the entire world. While most stories of his daily routine aren't glamorous, he is loving being able to soak up the nuances that set apart the best doctors from the rest. Most of the fellows from this practice go on to be the best in this field. Joel is part of an elite group and that can only bode well for how many people we will be able to help.

4. Attorneys and legal mumbo jumbo. We currently have 2 attorneys working for us. One working on the lease stuff and the other helping us with our Articles of Organization and compensation contract agreements. Even though this business is a family business it will be run as clean as any fortune 500 company. I believe that clear agreement up front only helps. The water is bound to be muddy at some point and we will be glad we agreed on everything beforehand.

5. Timeline. Today- January 1...get money, execute lease, get micro-website up (so people can sign up to get in line for LASIK), have branding process started. January 1- March 1...begin office clean up and minor renovation, go to 3/4 time at Summit, complete equipment lease agreements. April1- June 1... move from Summit to Hunter Vision (full-time), finish renovation of space, interview to hire 3 staff, get all legal paperwork (like surgery release forms and such). June- July... Dr. Joel is back in town...equipment installs happen and staff gets trained.

August 2, 2010... Game on, it's opening day.

That was a seriously boiled down timeline. Even I am impressed that I boiled it down that far.

We are pushing hard to get this ready. Meanwhile, I still work full time at Summit and love every minute of it. That is going to be a bitter-sweet day when I leave there.

Well, off to the great adventure of today...praying all the way along..

Plan B (Lagoon Marooned)

Aaron uses 2 match sticks, some seaweed, and an orange to fix the boat. (not really)

So the story of Saturday (opening day of deer season-turned day of fishing) goes a little something like this:

I wake up at 4:05 am ready and fired up about the day. The day is only potential for a record at this point. My thought is never that it could be record horrible, only that it could be record awesome. On this day, I was wrong...

***sidenote

You see, the last 6 months I have spent hours investing in what I would do on opening day of deer season... what I would wear, what gadgets I would need, what tree I would sit in...etc. You only can really understand why if you deer hunt, otherwise this sounds completely ridiculous.

***

After the morning prep stop to the 7-11 for some bottles of water and a granola bar, I head to Aaron's house. My arrival at 5 finds Aaron prepped and ready to roll. We just have to hook up the boat to my jeep and we are off. Well, dang. The boat trailer lights won't light up when I plug it into my wiring harness. I just got a ticket 2 days before for rolling through a stop sign, so I am not feeling real adventurous. So we head to Wal-mart to buy a couple new fuses and new ends for the wire connectors on the trailer side and the car side. After an hour wiring job (because we are not electricians) we are ready to try again...so I fired up the car, hooked up the new wiring job...nothin'. It didn't work at all. (At this point I am kicking myself for not going to trade school)

So, $20 dollars and 3 hours later....we decide it's light enough that we can just be careful and it will probably be ok. Well, we were right and it was fine. We got to the ocean 3 hours after we planned, but we made it.

After launching the boat in the water and parking the truck, I hop in and Aaron fires up the engine (but it didn't fire right up). We were off to our spot. A little bummed about the delayed cast off, but not too bad. We were fishin and had no time we had to be home (We had what I like to call "imaginary freedom"). After hitting our first spot with little fishing success, we decided to head to a new spot.

Oh, but, no. The engine was not making noise when Aaron turned the key. So, we were 5 miles from the boat ramp, marooned at sea. Aaron and I both jumped into McGyver mode and started making things up to try to get the boat to work. We were looking at all sorts of wires and wondering if we just tugged one or rewired another if we could make the boat go. I have not yet mentioned that it is 95 degrees out, not a cloud in the sky and wind of 0 mph.

After a dehydrating hour and a half of trying to hook up oranges to the battery and using fishing line to hold experiments in place, we decided to give 1 last effort before paddling... we switched to the trolling motor battery... Holy moly, It actually worked. Now the day can begin...

Then God took the day back from Satan... We headed back to the boat ramp to pick up Adam and Sterling... while there, I found out my trailer lights were now working???? Then we headed out to the Indian River and caught a bunch of trout... That was awesome. Finally the day was going as planned. It only took 8 hours to get to awesome.

So what did I learn from all of this?

I guess I learned that you should not fish on opening day of hunting season if you haven't checked your trailer lights and boat battery first, but if you do you should just go 8 hours later than you thought you would want to start since you won't get there until then anyway.

A valuable lesson, I'm sure.

How did I not hear it?

This picture is just awesome. Kinda like when I sleep in.

I woke up this morning actually laying on top of my alarm. As in, it was under my stomach. I did not hear it go off, but it must have just made me angry enough to lay on it to make the sound go away. I think I am going to need to put it farther away so I have to get out of bed. Dang it. Well, I slept until 6 by accident, but boy do I feel like a million bucks. I feel like I hibernated.

The great thing happening this morning is Lisa booked flights to Kansas. Lisa and I are off to see baby Luke in a few weeks. That should be awesome. Better get the alarm smothering problem under control by then...don't want to miss my flight.

Plan B

My super nice cousin, who was sad along with me for the sudden loss of hunting property has come up with a plan B for opening day of deer season. It's not hunting, but it's as close as we can get given the circumstances. We are now headed to mosquito lagoon for a redfishin' bonanza.

Aaron is awesome. He put it together to help us cope. He did a good job.

It's great to have people around who care. Few others would really even would know how to help, but since Aaron hunts, fishes and grew up understanding the importance of the fall hunt, he sprang to action when it all went down.

It's also good to have people around who can get you to plan B faster than you would get there yourself.

So, here we come mosquito lagoon. The reds won't know what him 'em.

Thanks cuz, and nice work.

Not Good

I think you'll agree this picture is sad.

So, I found out yesterday that the property that I have hunted in Florida for the last several years (and planned to hunt this year as well) has changed to a "pay per hunt" piece of land. The landowner called me yesterday to inform me of the new prices. I have not ever paid to hunt there and was actually saddened by the news. It means that I will not be hunting in Florida this year because every spare dime we have these days is going toward opening Hunter Vision.

It took me a while to even figure out how I was reacting. I am not sad often enough to know what it feels like immediately. I get mad, bored, happy, frustrated, motivated, tired..etc., but almost never "sad". For that, I am grateful. I realized that I have a God who loves me, healthy family, a great marriage, a roof over my head and all the potential in the world ahead of me. Those are the things that matter, but yesterday it was hard to remember. I was really wrestling with how sorry I felt for myself that I couldn't do the one thing I plan all year to do.

Today is a little better. I know it is all temporary. Someday I hope to have some property and be able to share it like others have shared with me. Furthermore, I am still heading to Ohio to hunt with Isaac this year. That is good.

Maybe I'll find another place. I'll give it to God and see what He does with it.

80% of family time

This is what we do. Every time we are all together we spend most of the time laughing. It's not part of the agenda, we just enjoy hanging around each other. My two brothers are hilarious and they make the rest of us laugh a lot. Laughter is good. It makes family time a lot of fun. This is one of my all-time favorite pictures. Pop can't see anything when he laughs. That makes me laugh.

Dad Day

Lisa was at a Beth Moore conference this weekend, so I had the kids. I was actually pretty excited about it since it would give me time with them I don't usually get. I am not the most creative dad, so I had to find something to do. If I try to sit around at home with them it ain't fun because they get bored and then I get irritated. I need more patience, but I don't have it yet. So, we blew it out and did stuff from morning until night. I declared it "Fun Day with Dad". I even borrowed Isaac's kids so that we would have more fun and I could spend time with my nieces and nephew too.

Here are a couple photos from the day of awesome.

Fishin' time with Uncle Isaac and the cousins

Noah Body surfed.

Ava kinda "surfed".... this made me laugh.

All in all it was a great day. I was exhausted by the end because there was no down time from beach in the morning, quick lunch at home, fishing with the cousins in the afternoon... Spending time with family cannot be replaced. I have the photos to prove it...

Breakfast with Pop

About once a month, Isaac and I have the pleasure of eating breakfast with our dad. Brother Joel is invited too, but he can rarely make it since he lives in Tampa or Kansas most of the weeks that we have this gathering. Not too much longer now though and Doc Hunter will be back in town with Lizzy and Luke.

Anyway, it's a great time. Mom cooks all of us breakfast and we sit around their kitchen table and catch up. We listen to Pop's stories about his crazy day-to-day world and then talk about what we are doing, too. It's a great reminder that family matters a ton and that we need to take a few minutes every now and then to just stop and enjoy the fact that we are working hard together in the journey.

I have an incredible family on all sides. I have been given more than I deserve. That means I have to go do something with it. Everything I have been given was given to me for the benefit of others. I pray that I am faithful today with those gifts. That is my prayer every morning when I get up.

Gotta get ready to get the kids off to school and go hang out with pop...

Time is flyin' by...

I realize we are all given a certain number of days. I think mine are flying by faster than everyone else's. I had my first "when did I get old?" moment the other day. I was talking to a 21 year old guy and he was telling me a story. The story was great and I was sitting there listening. He said to me a few times, "so I was talking to her on the phone." Now, that is not an abnormal statement however, what he did with his hands every time he said that was abnormal.

And now we move to the story's "Josh is old" phase...the picture above is me making a normal gesture for the phrase "so I was talking to her on the phone." That is not what happened. Every time he said he talked to someone on the phone, he put both hands together in front of him, jumbled his thumbs (like he was playing nintendo on a pretend controller) and faked like he was "texting" without a phone.

It was crazy. I wanted to tell him that was not talking on the phone, but I quickly realized that it actually was talking on the phone for him. What happened? When did I all of the sudden go from 25 to 75? Was it when I quit playing nintendo?

Oh well, I am loving every minute of my golden years... Where did the time go?

No Time Today

Got no time for a real blog. Early meetings this morning with the attorneys for the facility lease for Hunter Vision...the relentless train rolls on. 10 1/2 months until launch. Holy Cow.

Another Big Week Ahead...

Lizzy, Dr. Joel, and Lisa in the Laser Room of Hunter Vision

I have the Monday morning stress kickin' right now. Should be a good week, but good heavens, there is a lot to be done. I think more than anything I am feeling the pressure of getting the money we need to fund the clinic start. Hopefully , I will make progress on that (as in find someone to invest all we need) this week. I know there are a bunch of other clinic related items that we will get done, but none will help me sleep better than finding out where we are going to get the money to start.

This weeks meetings include attorneys, laser vendors, and possible investors. I need prayers that they all go well. As a matter of fact I am going to quit writing and start praying now.

Just Because

Bloggin' just cause I should to maintain momentum and consistency. I know me well enough to know that if I don't do something, it is the beginning of the end. I am slowly killing that part of me, but I'm not there yet. So, since I enjoy starting my day with this 99% of the time, I blog today.

15 days until deer season. I. Can't. Wait.

It's almost close enough to start prepping the gear.

Life Update

I took this picture on our strategy retreat last week.

He wasn't afraid of me at all.

When I see birds I am reminded of God's provision. They do not know how they will survive from day to day. But, God provides for them. "How much more valuable are we than birds?"

Good stuff. Made it through yesterday well. Ate clean. Worked out. Tried to avoid getting the plague from half of the office...you know, a normal day. I think I achieved the first two of those. Not quite sure about avoiding the plague. I don't feel right. I am pretty sure the sickness is on the way. Time for Zycam.

Here is the status on the big areas of life:

1. Family/ Home

Great. Kids are great, Lisa is great, everyone is happy and healthy (minus my possible plague). Lisa is working out more than I do and that is intimidating and inspiring. Noah is doing amazing in 5th grade. Ava is turning 5 in November and amazingly hilarious these days.

2. Summit

Not sure I can remember a busier time than now at Summit. The church is growing like crazy (2800 2 weeks ago, 2600 now normal), we are trying to lock in a location for the first new Summit site in Waterford Lakes. Isaac is trying to raise a million dollars by January to launch this site. I am working through a transition plan, overseeing my 5 areas (which are growing no matter what), fixing all the little problems each day that hinder people from working, and trying to actively manage cash for the first time in quite sometime. We spent a bunch this summer on the new kids space we just opened and didn't bring in record offerings, so we have to be a bit more conservative in the next few months.

3. Hunter Vision

Craziness. We received a term sheet from RDV on space in their facility. It looks very likely that RDV will be our new home. Pretty cool stuff. This 365,000 sq ft facility is where the Orlando Magic practice, community meetings happen, and there is a huge workout facility/ sports club. I don't think we could have picked a better location. God willing, that lease will be taken care of in the next couple months. We have several funding options in the mix right now. I will be meeting with laser vendors over the next few weeks to get our final numbers on equipment and such...should be interesting.

Crazy times, but a fun ride. God keeps showing up in different ways in each of these areas of my life. It is most difficult to do what Dr.Tuttle preached last weekend. He told us to walk in the renewed will of God each day. I want to think I would prefer God just letting me know now what He has in store for the next 12 months...that would greatly reduce my anxiousness. I know however, it would also reduce my purposeful daily surrender to Him.

I love where my life is right now. I am as happy as I have ever been. I mostly thank God for letting me walk through it each day learning new things.

This inventory update has been great for me to read to myself. :)

Day 1

After eating everything you see in this frame+ 2 hambergers...

Labor day was good to me. I was not good to it. I ate more than most humans should at the little party we went to with our Summit Connect Group. It's time for me to declare a new day 1. Dang. I had come a long way. I think this was the beginning of week 5 with no day 1's.

Oh well, day 1 it is. I just have to avoid the breakfast sandwiches at this meeting in a hour. I should be able to do it. Discipline is like whack-a-mole...you get one area under control and something else pops up you need to take care of.

Here I go again.

***Oh, and lest anyone think it was just Labor Day that threw me into this new declaration...it wasn't...Labor Day was just the mother of all days after about 5 days of not paying attention to what I was eating.

Sunday Grocery

The kids...just goofin around.

Every Sunday after we go to church, we go to the grocery store. Now, it is inconvenient because we take both cars to church (Lis has to be there early to do lighting stuff for the worship team). So, it would be easier to take one car to the grocery and take the kids home in the other. We don't do that. We take both cars to the grocery and walk around it together.

Lis and I decided long ago that if we could do it together, we would. It's made a difference in our marriage and in the way the kids see family. They don't always like it because it means they are dragged a bunch of places, but I don't really care. I think they benefit more in the long run to learn what it means to be a part of a family. That includes doing stuff just because you should rather than doing what you want to do in the moment.

I don't regret one minute I've spent with my family. They'll be up soon and we'll hang out for 30 minutes or so before we all start the day. Here we go...only five more days until another Sunday grocery run...

22 Days

When I see what God has made, I relax. Nature is God's way of blessing my soul. I see how big He is in the minutia and how small I am in the vastness of this world. I can't wait to spend some time in the woods with God. Only 22 days until I can.

Off-Site

Today begins 3 days of planning. The Summit strategy team does this twice per year. We leave the office and go to the beach for 3 days to plan next phases of ministry. It is one of my favorite things we do. The work that can happen in 3 days off-site blows away anything I can hope to do in the office. No distractions...just the agenda and the team. I love it. These guys are smart as heck and love God. They are incredible leaders to be around and process with. I am really looking forward to what gets accomplished. It is always good stuff.

Short post today since I gotta get ready.