Prayers answered! Just got home from the Trussville Design Board Review meeting - everything has officially been approved. The building is happening The Phoenix TBD 2024

It was 8 months ago today on May 7th 2023 that our building burned down. To the minute, exactly 8 months ago I was standing outside the destruction along with everyone while Chris Schmohl, Brandon Jones, and the rest of the incredible Trussville Fire Department successfully extinguished the blaze before it became fully involved.

I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, and that a healthy perspective is all you need. There is no good news or bad news, just news - we decide how to interpret it.

Demo starts Monday! It's been a long time coming. CrossFit Trussville has been here in Trussville since 2008, and these last 10 months have felt longer than the last 16 years.

I've had incredible peace about everything. Was I tired? Beat down? Overwhelmed? Exhausted? Oh yes indeed, but honestly with genuine reflection, I can say that my head has been level throughout working hard to maintain a perspective beyond myself. I owe a lot of that to the perspective God's allowed me to develop over the course of my life with challenges He's thrown at me, and I owe a healthy share of resilience to the community of support that we have around us.

Concept art of the style we are going for (white, black, wood accent) in our upstairs community area with the glass window overlooking our 3,700sqft front room.

We've torn down an entire gym 52 times, set up for an entire church service 52 times, moving the equivalent of 4,160 rubber mats, 3,744 Dumbbells and Kettlebells, 1248 boxes, rolled 367,120 pounds of plates, and 832 Rowers, Echo Bikes, and Ski-Ergs (but who's counting?)

I couldn’t wait to post this – we’ve received our very first event booking inquiry! Our (almost) inaugural client called to book our building for a graduation party. This moment is not just a milestone; it’s a testament to the dream we've been building together. Let me take you through why this is such a big deal and how it’s filling me with hope and excitement for the future.

Even standing there watching the smoke billowing from the building, I personally never experienced any unmanageable sort of worry, frustration, anxiety, or "why me?". Amidst the chaos, I watched athletes drop what they were doing to come love on us as we stood across the road watching our building burn. We watched members of ours who are firefighters whom we love storm into the building (even on their day off) in full gear to combat the fire, risking their own safety.

As we look back at the last couple of pictures captured at CFT just immediately before the fire (below), we're filled with an appreciation of our journey and an undeniable anticipation for what's ahead. The past two months have been nothing short of incredible, demonstrating the unwavering spirit of our community.

Wow, two months since our building burnt down that we've been in for the past 10 years. Things happen, and we adapt. I'm thankful we have people in our lives that we can lean on. "Gym family" is something we say often, but my goodness does it take it to an entirely new level when you're in the most vulnerable situation ever, and you're simply surrounded by incredible folks.

In short, I realized that I had to just start typing and see what came out, and that no matter what, I wanted the first words that anyone read regarding this entire process; the ups and downs, the late nights and early mornings, the sparse time to share with my wife, the physical and mental exhaustion, the soot, the rust, and the abruptness of it all, is that I am thankful and grateful. My wife and I's perspective on all of this is that things happen. I'm a firm believer that there isn't "good" things that happen or "bad" things that happen, but things that happen in which we can work to control our perspective on the circumstance that creates our reality.

A huge shoutout to Blalock, Bryant Bank, Drew (with the CDC), our architect, engineers, and the city for their hard work behind the scenes. The amount of back-end clerical work and coordination involved is immense, and it’s heartening to see everyone hustling and giving their all. Each step forward is a testament to our collective effort and dedication.