Well, it's now official

after a lot of prayer and contemplation, i've decided to join a large group optometry practice in the Birmingham area.

it's really a long story, so bear with me as i retell it.

the week before we left for Maywood, this doctor contacted me saying he wanted to interview me about joining his practice. at first, i was taken aback. i hadn't been looking to change my job situation. i certainly hadn't been spreading the word that i was looking for something different. he told me he had gotten my name from a optical rep that visits the Cullman office i've been working at 2 days a week for the past 2 years. so, after talking with brooke, we decided it wouldn't hurt to meet him and see what he had to say. plus, it would be good experience for me to go through the interview process.

so, i met Dr. Schaeffer the saturday before we went to camp. i went in to the meeting knowing that whatever he said, i wasn't going to say "yes" that day. the meeting went really well. Dr. Schaeffer is a unique character. he's a very type-A personality. he's very reputable in the academic field and the community. ever heard of the Schaeffer Eye Center Crawfish Boil? that's his baby. anyhoo, everything he said made great sense to me. he's offered me a large pay increase over what i'm making now, full benefits, local work (less miles on my car, not to mention the cost of gas), and the ability to practice optometry to an extent that i can't do in my current situation. well, he offered the position to me that saturday, but i told him i needed to pray about it and talk things over with brooke. he understood that i'd be at camp the next week, so i told him i'd get back in touch with him when i got home.

i tried my best NOT to think about it while at camp. and i didn't, for the most part. i'd still pray alot about it, but i wouldn't fret over it. but, as i prayed about it, i came to the conclusion that this had to be a blessing from God. there were a number of reasons:

1. i wasn't looking for anything. this just fell in my lap.
2. though i'm a "doctor", i haven't been able to make even close to "doctor money" in my current situation.
3. i wouldn't have to spend one night a week away from home like i do now (no offense, big red and patti....like i told you before, that's one of the biggest "cons" in my decision: that i won't get to hang out with ya'll every week anymore).

so as the week toiled on, i was leaning more and more towards accepting the job. that first monday back to work, i got a call from the doctor i currently work for in Cullman on thursdays and fridays. she was calling to tell me that she was only going to need me for maybe one day a week starting in September. when i heard her say that, it's like a window from Heaven opened and said, "how much more proof do you need?!? take the job, dummy!" so, i called him up and we met again to discuss particulars. i called up my district manager with Sam's the next day to give him my 60 day notice. then, i called the doctor in Cullman to let her know. i signed the contract today, so i'm official. :)

so where does this take us from here? the next few weeks will still be the same.

if you need to get your eyes checked at Sam's or Cullman, you'd better act fast! my last day in Cullman is September 8th. my last day at Sam's is October 4th. after i'm finished at Cullman, i'll start part-time with Dr. Schaeffer.

thanks for reading my story. keep us in your prayers as i transition. i'll blog soon about more specifics of my new job. here's a teaser that hopefully some of you might get: do you think Julio Jones and Andre Smith might need contacts? i might get to find out one day soon.

Update

sorry it's been a week since i've posted. things have been busy.

so, here's a house update! unfortunately, no good news just yet. we're still waiting for someone to fall in love with our house. we've had some traffic come through, but no bites just yet. we've dropped the price twice since we first listed (our first price was outrageous in hindsight). we're trying to be patient before we drop it again. we've added a "broker incentive", where the broker that brings the eventual buyer of our house in gets an extra $500 at closing. that's helped, but nothing just yet.

brooke starts school back August 25th. she's dreading having to get back to the grind of school, but she's ready to get it over with! keep her in your prayers as she starts back.

one of our older members from church passed away this week (John Landers). he had battled health problems for the last year especially. he was a wonderful man. a very encouraging person. but most of all, he was a faithful Christian. that means more than anything else at a time like this.

Just call me "Redbeard"

so, i'm rockin' the beard. i let it go at camp last week, and i haven't convinced brooke to let me shave it yet. not sure how long this little experiment will last, but thought you'd like to see it while it's still here.

Fun Sing at Maywood

every day at 9:30 am, we would have a period of Fun Sing. we sing stupid songs like "mama, don't you whoop little Buford" and "dum dum da da da da" and "singing in the rain". well, this year, i had 2 new favorite fun sing songs. one was what i call the "chicka-chicka" song, and the other was what i call "peel the orange". i took a short video of part of the "peel the orange" song. have a look:

Good Ol' Maywood Camp!

we had such a good time last week at Maywood!  we are still recovering from the long days and short nights, but we're getting there!  

brooke was a co-counselor in Gilgal, the 13-14 year old girls.  she also taught a girls Bible class for the 11-12 year old girls.  i was a counselor for Dothan, the 9-10 year old boys.  i also taught the 7-8 year old boys in Bible class.  i also got to speak at our nightly worship service on Monday night.  

we loved getting to catch up with so many old friends.  even though we were "working" to keep up with all these kids, it still felt like a vacation because we spent the entire week with Christians.  

we are making plans already to go next year.  Kristi, Kate Reed, Ryan, Kelly, Mendy, Emily.....ya'll be making plans too!

Brooke and Patti James

A beautiful camp sunset over the "Sea of Galilee"

Me and some of my boys for Bible class

The stands were this packed or worse the whole time!

A-Camping we will go!

we're leaving this afternoon for Maywood!!! we'll spend the week at this camp where Brooke virtually grew up. it will be great to see so many of our friends and help all the kids this week.

check back next week for updates and pictures.

Gage and Ella

Kenzie and Gage

forgive me for being late with this post, but our niece and nephew (Kenzie and Gage Pressnell) stayed with us for a few days in the middle of July.  we had a great time with them!  those kids are too funny, and they are very sweet and well-behaved.  here are some pictures to give you an idea of what all we did.

they absolutely LOVED our neighborhood cat that we call "Shasta".  that was one of the first things they asked about in the morning when they got up was, "Where's the kitty?"

the kids got to meet alot of kids from our church during the week.  this is a picture of Gage and Ella at the McWane Center.  they became big buddies by the end of the week.

here's the entire group of kiddos at the McWane Center.  

we even took a break from shooting basketball to get some ice cream from the ice cream truck!  i think Kenzie ate about 3/4 of hers before it melted.  most of Gage's ended up dripping onto the bricks at his feet.

Mascot Bloopers

way too funny....dog, i love people falling down!

Here's your "America is going down the drain" video of the day!

Iowa mother charged with child abuse for spanking child

i would comment about this video, but i would get too mad.