Day 2.

Today is the first day of the new format. In honor of the new format and at the request of my good friend Sue, I have changed a few things to make it a bit easier to read. I've classed up the joint, as they say. Let it be known that I worked out yesterday. I tried my best to do everything as light and easy as possible so that I would not be too sore today. It feels like someone beat me with a metal pole. Ok, done complaining. The new "short devotional" format that is just me writing as I randomly think through life and scripture, begins...NOW.

Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."

I had to start with this verse. It's where I'm living right now. I do trust God. I know better than to lean on my own understanding (that part is actually easy to not do). It's the next part that gets me every darn time. "In all your ways, acknowledge Him." How bout we compromise and go with..."If you try to acknowledge Him in over 55% of your ways, He will make your paths straight?" I think I'd have a better chance of hitting that one on a daily basis and my paths might be a little straighter. That's still a majority.

I'm working hard to "acknowledge Him in all my ways", it's just not easy. It's a long refinement process that will never be complete until I see His face. (Which, have I mentioned I'm looking forward to?)

I'm headed out today to acknowledge God in every part of my day. My family deserves it and so does yours. The world would be better if we all hit 55%, but aim there and we'll be lucky to hit 30%. God knew this about us. The challenge of "all" our ways is the only way the point gets across...He deserves nothing less than 100% of me. It requires a purposeful decision at every step, all day long.

Well, here I go... hopefully tomorrow is day 3 and not day 1 again :)

An Attempt

When I go back and read my blog from the first days of writing, I see that I have been here before. Prior to the last 5 months, I spent most of my time attempting to implement new discipline tactics into my life. It's almost a hobby of mine. It's actually a really good thing. When left to myself, I do what I don't want to do and don't do what I should. The less discipline I have in my life, the more time I waste doing frivolous junk like watching tv, napping for no reason, eating really unhealthy...etc. So, after a run of life unlike any before...I am back on it.

Now, if you notice this blog title... I am attempting to jump back on the train. Oh, and I really will attempt it, but I also know that I set my alarm for 5am this morning and somehow didn't hear it, so I woke up at 5:45. Dang. Fail one. But, there is no fail without a try, right?

I am also going to re-work my blog. There will be stories of the Hunter family day and such, but it will be in the form of a Monday-Friday devotional. It will help me to write it, and maybe it will even help some of you to read it...I don't know.

What I do know is that I can no longer flail about. I'm not sorry I have flailed recently because I needed to for a time, but to honor God with my days I need to get back on the wagon. He gave me today's minutes and hours, so I should use them in a way that shows Him I'm thankful.

So, the first goal is getting to January 1 without missing a day. I will be getting up early to spend time with God, blogging, exercising, and eating healthy. Ridiculously, the last one will be the hardest.

Feel free to join me on the journey. Tomorrow hopefully will be day 2 and not day 1 again...ha! I know me well.

Because I love Magic.

We hit the Magic game tonight. The Redick's were kind enough to give us their seats for the night. Normally I just go with Noah, but because they have 3 seats we were all able to go for an incredibly fun evening.

Lisa slept about 2 hours over the last 48 due to some crazy thing called "Black Friday" or something like that. SO, she was a wee bit tired when we got home. However, it was a fun night out together. The Magic won. JJ played well. I ate a cheeseburger that cost $8.25.

We are doing ok! Our conversations about Ava are no less frequent, but they are many times filled with laughs amidst the tears.

It was a great night to just be out with family. I can't believe I have the one I do. I don't take it for granted for one second.

On a less serious note. The Magic are awesome.

Thanksgiving.

I am thankful this year. In the midst of incredible pain and suckiness, I am thankful for my family, friends, and the love we have from all of you. We don't understand God's plan, but we know He is good. It's all we have to hang on to. We miss Ava more than we thought it possible to miss someone, but we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is bigger than death. He conquered it. If only we were big enough to comprehend God's plan we would no doubt be better at walking through this. However, it's not what we are. We are small. God is big. So big, in fact, that He endured this for all of man kind with the death of His only son. I'd say I can't imagine, but He gave me the gift of knowing His pain, first hand. Ava is perfect now and I can't wait to see her.

I can't wait to be with her again, but until then I choose to be thankful. We know a love from friends and family that few are blessed to have. This day we will be thankful for her life and all of God's other blessings. We're still here, so he ain't done with us yet.

I'll never fear death. God gave me that gift on September 4th. I have so much to be thankful for. It's a weird Thanksgiving for us, but one I'll remember for the rest of my days. Thanks to all of you for walking the journey by our side.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends. You bless us every day.

Oh, just bloggin.

A good day. Dr. Joel and I spent a lot of time working through the next stages of Hunter Vision before he went on to do lens replacement surgeries all afternoon. I am fired up about what is to come for next year and Hunter Vision. It surely will be a great year as we continue to help people "see the world better."

That little catch phrase is one we use between us often. It represents our commitment to making sure that we are doing God's work with each dollar that we actually make through the clinic. We committed very early on to give 15% of all of Hunter Vision's profits to better the world for Christ. So when we say we help people "see the world better", what we mean is that because of them, we can actually give to change people's circumstance. We can send people on missions trips or go to remote places to fix people's eyes, or whatever...but a minimum of 15% is headed out the door to show Christ's love.

We talk about it regularly. I am sure 2011 is gonna be a great year for Hunter Vision, and therefore a great year for us to contribute.

Life is not about what you can get. It's about what you can give so that others may know Jesus. I am reminded of that every single day by a little 5 year old who lived a life that marked the world for Christ. We owe it to her to continue the tradition that she lived out...Just like her grandparents began.

Just today's thoughts. I'm sure I'll have more tomorrow.

I'm Back

It's been while. It's time to get back in the saddle. I'm in both emotionally and physically. I still miss the heck out of Ava everyday, but God is walking with us. Sometimes I feel him close, but I always feel her close. Not too sure why, but that is life for me right now.

I am back from my hunt and it was wonderful. It was a bittersweet time in the woods. There is a lot to think about when one is alone for hours on end. I spent a lot of time thinking about and talking to Ava. In between those conversations I saw a bunch of deer. I got 3 this year, so I wasn't too trigger happy in Ohio. The Ohio deer are left to grow another year except for the two my brother Isaac got for his family.

The time with brothers each year is irreplaceable. Even though Hunter Vision is only 3 months into it's existence, Dr. Joel and I couldn't not go. We have lots to do at Hunter Vision, but one thing I know is that family time trumps all other comforts of life. A week not in the office may not have been advisable by some, but it was necessary. There is always a reason not to spend time with those you love, but there is never one good enough. We had to go. Now, I am glad we did.

We had a plaque made that is on a beach tree in the middle of the woods overlooking a valley in north central Ohio. It reads, "AVA HUNTER...she guides the flight of the Hunter Brothers' arrow each November and watches over us until we meet again. Nov 1. 2004- Sept. 4th, 2010." We took our annual brothers photo in front of that plaque this year. It was a sweet time to remember the sweetest of life's blessings.

I shed a lot of tears in the woods this week. I remembered Ava and remembered that our God is good. He continues to bless us and we can see it if we look for it. Thanks to you all for your continued prayers. It matters. It has been an incredibly difficult 3 months, but God asks us to continue to press forward and assures us that he will provide. I'll keep counting on those provisions until I get what want...to see my girl again. Until then, we've got work to do...and a Vision Correction Center to build.

There is no place better to fix your eyes... on Jesus and at Hunter Vision. (In that order)

Just reporting in...

No need to worry...

No time to blog as I continue my hunting adventures...I'll fill everyone back in in a week or so when I am back in the saddle and the groove. Two of my favorite cliches. All is well right now in Hunter land. Thanks for praying for us as we just keep walkin' it out...

Made it.

Well, we made it through the last 2 days. It sucked, but we are now on the other side of it. Her birthday party was awesome. I dreaded it all day, but loved it once it got rolling. All of the people who were a big part of her life came to our house and we lit fireworks and sang happy birthday. What I expected to be full of sadness was so very full of fun and joy. Just how she likes it. Lisa was the mastermind behind the party. Have I mentioned how amazing she is? Keep us in your prayers as we walk through these first holidays. We just don't know what to expect emotionally. We made it through her birthday...now on to the other stuff. I was just thinking about how I have a 12 yr old and a 6 yr old...weird.

Ava Turns 6.

Here is last year's bday post:

My little girl turns 5 on Sunday. That is really weird to me. It seems like she was born 5 minutes ago, not 5 years ago. Even more weird is 13 years ago, Lisa and I were married...13 years from now, our kids will be out of the house. Where does time go? Why does it speed up more with every day you live?

I am grateful that God gave Ava to us. She is a beautiful little girl, inside and out. I could not love her more. She constantly keeps us laughing...and laughing is her favorite thing to do. God blessed the world with a strong little girl when he made Ava. I pray everyday she uses that strength to honor Him and her husband one day. I know she will.

I am still learning how to have a girl-child. They don't make sense to me, which I guess makes sense because they don't make sense to me when they grow up either (except for you, Lisa...you make perfect sense to me all the time**).

It's much harder for me to have a girl than a boy since my protection for her knows no limit...and my understanding of her knows all limit. I grew up in a house of boys...nothing that wasn't logical was allowed in our house and no problem couldn't be solved with a good, old fashioned, fist-fight. Currently, I cannot make that rule apply. I am a work in progress. I am hoping by the time I get to heaven, God will have allowed me to understand girls...even if but for a brief moment...

I'm mostly joking, but it definitely is different than raising a boy!

I am so glad she is growing up happy, healthy and knowing she is loved. What an awesome 5 years we have had and we look forward to so many more. Happy birthday, Ava! We love you like crazy!


**There always is an asterisk in writing that requires further investigation and may only be half true to make the author look better and the reader less offended.

Well, here we are a year later. Things changed this year...except for the part of me that doesn't understand girls. I still don't. Ava's 6th year of life blessed more than most could ever hope to. It's part of what I hang on to these days. I know she is in perfection and wouldn't want to be back here for anything, but days like today are tough stuff. We miss her so very much and struggle with the part of us that wants her right here. We still don't understand why God does stuff the way that he does, but are so thankful that we had the time on earth that we did with an amazing little girl. Her birthday will always be special to us. It's a day to remember and celebrate a life that marked thousands. Who knew that God had such a special plan for her? Ava, I am so incredibly blessed to be your dad. I can't wait to see you again. Save me a seat...I'll be there before you know it. Until then, I'll hang here and take care of your mom and brother. Don't fret (I know you aren't)...we are good.

Ava, Happy 6th Birthday. Your mom, brother and I love you so very much.