Chismville

I know this sounds really nerdy…but if you have an iPhone, iPod Touch or an Android phone (Droid, etc), you can view our blog quite easily now. There is a mobile plugin we installed to make viewing our post easy! If it does not automatically detect your mobile device, down at the bottom of your screen is an “on” and “off” switch. Make sure that is turned on!

The family is doing great! We just returned from San Diego for a two week vacation to see David’s family. Maryland was nice and cold when we returned: high 20s. This week it has been in the mid to upper 40s: feels like Summer!

If you wonder why we do not post as much as we use to, blame it on Facebook. David also writes blogs for a number of companies, so his time is limited and/or he is just plain burned out when it is time to update the family site. We both post updates on Facebook when we can.

The big news of this week was the passing of Joli’s Grandfather, Dick Hake. He went home to be with the Lord January 10th at around 10PM. A number of Joli’s relatives will be driving and/or flying into town tonight and tomorrow for Dick’s memorial service. The family has been strong and doing well.

David’s business is off to a good start in 2010. He is still providing marketing management and consulting services for service professionals: painters, electricians, locksmith, roofers, an irrigation company and so on. He is truly loving his job! His company website is: www.adavidcreation.com. One of the big blessings for his business was partnering with business consulting firm in Philadelphia, PA last October: Summit Services Inc. They deal primarily with painting contractors and have expanded to other service professionals too. They are a full service business management and consulting firm, and David is not helping with their marketing department and helping a select number of their clients around the U.S. The job requires little travel time and he can work from home too. David will begin a once a month meeting at the firm’s office near Philly starting this month. Although he does not like driving long distance, it is the perfect time to listen to books on tape!

Joli is working hard serving three little children while being pregnant with #4. She loves being a homemaker and enjoys teaching the kids. Joel and Chalice are already learning vowel sounds, letters, and much more!

That is the brief update! To learn more: send us an email or … we’ll catch you on Facebook now and then. Oh…and Go Chargers! David has NOT switched to becoming a Ravens Fan!

Just a brief good morning, hello and a Merry Christmas to all our friends and family scattered across this great nation!

We are gathering our final items and neatly organizing (he he) them into our suitcases as we fly out to San Diego this afternoon for a 2 week visit. We also have a foot of snow out front of our home…so we definitely have a White Christmas. This makes me sad that I’ll spend the remainder of this Christmas season without snow, wearing a t-shirt and flip flops. The positive side is I’m longing to see my dear Chism family!

I wanted to let you know that we HAVE recently upgraded our camera and have been quickly catching up on photos of our sweet kids. Please visit our “new” gallery. When I find more time, I’ll upload them to our website. However, this other site is 10x faster thanks to Apple and MobileMe. Enjoy: View our Photos

This morning, I read the interesting and short story of Jonah. I was amazed at how Jonah, a prophet of God is so much like me! I’m no prophet! But I do, at times question God’s plans and in a sense feel like I’m on the run from God! Jonah, who had direct conversations with the Lord still questioned the works of God and thought his (Jonah) plans were better!The other thing that was very interesting, once again to me, is to see how great are the mercies and grace of God. Jonah was upset at God for witholding his wrath upon Ninevah? Why? Because Jonah thought it was just punishment to destroy the evil and wicked people! Jonah was correct! It was just, and throughout the Old Testament we do see a lot of justice being done! However, Jonah also knew that God’s character was filled with mercy and grace and that He was slow to anger! Reminds me of James 1:20, “the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God!” The God of the Old and New Testament is the same God executing both justic. And mercy according to the good pleasure of His will. This is the God we worship and serve! Praise God His ways are higher than our ways!I wrote this post because my heart goes out to those who believe the God of the Old Testament was a mean and angry God and had little or no mercy! The book of Jonah gives us the best illustration of the Creator of all things!

The Chism Family is packing and moving yet ANOTHER time. We are moving approximately 8 miles away to the town of Mount Airy, Maryland. People keep asking why I am doing it! We absolutely love our current home, which sits on 8 acres and a half-mile driveway (private). Why would you want to move from paradise? Well, the Internet is a problem. I am running a business out of my home on a very slow connection. That is one of the key factors. I am running GoToMeetings and having a number of conference calls with clients: so I need better Internet and phone service. That is reason #1. Reason #2 is simple, it is about $100 to $125 less per month in expenses: every dollar counts. We were offered to rent the upstairs of a beautiful home in Mount Airy from my brother in law’s mom. She was a widow with 10 children who recently got remarried. She is moving east closer to Annapolis and Baltimore. Therefore, she wanted good tenants in her home until she decided what she would do long term with it: sell or keep renting it out. Because I am new in business, I cannot get a home loan and am enjoying renting for awhile: little to no stress! So until business picks up, renting is the best option and very affordable. We love the new home too. It is not as private as our current home, but it is still wonderful. We’ll have about an acre of land, with a swing set, sandbox, slide and still in the country!

Daniel and Jenny (Joli’s sister) have made the basement into a lovely apartment, so they will be our neighbors! We are excited about the new move…oh and I’ll have a private executive office too!

We are moving this Saturday! Anyone in the area who has nothing better to do on a Saturday morning, I’d love the extra hands.

Here is our new address: 6603 Charles Dr, Apt A  Mount Airy, MD 21771 / My office line: 301-363-5197

Starting my own business has been an awesome experience. I feel like it is the right thing to do, and I have been given a lot of positive encouragement from friends and family that they can totally see me doing what I am doing: helping small service businesses grow! Ah…but running a small business is difficult and has lots of burdens to carry. I am trying to help small businesses (like myself) save time, be more organized, and get results! However, I am feeling the pressure of what small business owners go through from time to time as I too have a full plate of events, marketing, follow up calls, scheduled events…oh and family and church activities! On top of all that…I’m in the process of moving!!! Can you talk about being stressed? Wow! I’ve had a hard time breathing the past few weeks and have been quite tired and worn out. I’ve even lost 2 clients who were NOT unhappy with my service but were running out of money. I came home from a 4 day vacation yesterday only to find out that my Acura needs $3600 worth of work done on it this week: it is not drivable! We backed over a rock…and the rock decided to destroy the under area of my car.

So, today, I was feeling overwhelmed. I began thinking about my savings account. I have money in savings. I have a retirement account. I have money from the sale of my San Diego home, but I am trying to be careful on how I spend right now. The savings was mainly for long-term items like a new home, our kids, etc. I feel like it is now slowly being spent on the “here and now.” Well, it was not until I just stopped and prayed. I prayed to the God who provides. I prayed for wisdom and that God would provide. It seems God has been showing me over and over lately to put my trust in Him and not to worry. I think it is also a wake up call to rest in Him for my future and my “daily bread.” Proverbs 3:5-6 reminded me to trust in the Lord with ALL of my heart: to NOT lean on my own understand and ways of doing things but acknowledge HIM in everything I do…and he WILL direct my path.” I was also reminded of the passage in, I believe it is in 1 Timothy, that the LOVE of money is the root of all kinds of evil. I want to earn money to use it for God’s glory, not to “get rich” or hoard up earthly riches that will perish. Money is given to us to be spent: but wisely. So, in faith I went to the auto mechanic and told them to do the repairs. I came home and got an email and a phone call with several interested in my marketing services! One person in particular said he wanted to hire me on a monthly basis, and his fees will pay for my car repairs. Of course I have to work hard and service him, but that unexpected email requesting my services could not have been better timing. I read the email, looked up and said, “Thank you Lord. You will provide.”

The air conditioning was not working this morning during the service at New Hope, but that is not what made me fidget restless in my seat. Jenny has been in labor all day and I got a text message about it just before we went inside. I am still restless, eager to hear that Jenny’s and Daniel’s little daughter made her appearance safely and smoothly into the world!Life keeps buzzing along. In the past few weeks Kirstie turned 16, Eden turned 20, and Emily turned 18 yesterday. On Eden’s birthday I took my final final for Chemistry and by God’s sweet grace completed my degree in Political Science through Hillsdale College. It has taken me a little while to settle into this new reality of not having nagging little deadlines always before me. Precalculus and Chemistry weren’t my most relished subjects, and being one of those people usually inclined to eat my brussel sprouts first, it was strange to end my education on such a note. I do love to learn however. I had more lack of purpose and confused restlessness after completing Precalculus than I have had now that I am really done. Now that I have obtained that little piece of paper I sought so diligently, I’ve been snatching up books with alacrity! One for girlish memories and old-times sake, one for theological insight, one for summer reading enrichment, another for family direction and personal insight, and I believe I’ve only just begun to cover all the bases.I don’t intend to neglect my precious charges. I almost regret that Joel will turn four this week! It has been such fun answering peoples questions about my children’s ages with simple counting 3, 2, and 1. Everyone tells me children grow up all too fast. I know it is true. Even little Aria is having her own occasional squabbles with her bigger siblings, realizing a squawk might earn back a toy. I so enjoyed getting to know Mrs. Wold’s fiance, Chris Peeler, while attending his parenting seminar. Sadly, it was while David was gone in Portland, so I had to take extra good notes. The training was excellent. I realized how important it is to keep our children’s hearts while our children are small and to instill in them desires for those things which are truly important. Children are mirrors into our own lives–sometimes magnifying our own sins and personal hypocrisy. David and I cannot talk our children into really loving the Word and the Lord, without being truly excited about Scripture and our Savior ourselves. Chris said several times that good parenting doesn’t cost much, only our lives! I left the seminar wanting to banish the nagging motherly worries for my children’s safety with an excitement about watching our children grow to do eternally significant things for God’s glory. Soon after David’s return from Portland, we enjoyed an early morning Panera’s date full of rich conversation. I am so proud of my husband. He has been advancing his new A David Creation marketing consultant business and working much more from home. Starting up a new business is never easy, especially in this economy, but I feel so at peace because of God’s blessing and David’s diligence and powerful drive to provide for our family.

I typed this up about two weeks ago and never finished it….

Today I happened to glance outside and saw two teeny fawns skipping and racing around our back yard. A few moments later they were gone. It boggles my mind to think of all the natural beauty that no human ever lays eyes on. I can’t believe all the fulfilled longings I have experienced recently. I took my kids, Kirstie and Seth blueberry picking last week. Blueberries are one of the finest foods ever invented! I feel at last, I am enjoying God’s good gifts rather than fearing that the things I enjoy might be rudely snatched from me. There’s such a delicate distinction between fearing God, loving and serving Him, in a rightful sense and being wretchedly overcome with worries and fears of what God might do. God loves to give good gifts to His children. My soul thrills with that reality. Oh how I love my children! Life with a three, two and one-year-old is full. It has been something of a juggling act in recent days to keep everyone fed, clean and clothed, disciplined and dare I say happy, along with a tidy house, up-to-date homework, and on time for the many fun activities that summer days bring. J Some days I think, “It should not be this hard!” However my recent run-in with another driver made me yet again think how much I LOVE my husband and my precious children. If a reckless driver hit me head-on today and I went to Glory, my sweet little ones would not even remember me a few years from now, but they Need me. It is a joy to be needed. The type of service required as a mother of little ones is eternally rewarding. I am so thankful to God for all His good blessings on my life. I love this home we are living in. It is a present from God, complete with all the trimmings my heart could desire. I love seeing the wildlife that happen into the vast sea of greenness to frolic or munch on our mown lawn. I love discovering wild black raspberries around the entire perimeter of our yard.  I love meeting my friend’s and sister’s new babies and marveling at God’s gift of new life.

This weekend’s events of Jenny’s baby shower and Mrs. Wold’s bridal shower sent me into more sentimental reveries. I got to meet Mrs. Rodgers, my soon-to-be neighbor.  I can scarcely believe that my little flock will soon be playing in the same back yard that I spent so many happy hours playing with the Wolds. Mrs. Rodgers had just learned of Mrs. Wold’s engagement and was so happy that special home would still be filled with children after the Wold children move. It is so sweet to me that God would have us fill in that piece of the puzzle as Mrs. Wold begins married life anew and her home holds many special memories for scores of friends and family.

A week and a half has gone by since the a helicopter crashed onto the 70 freeway, near Frederick, Maryland. I was driving home with my family not far from the crash site but did not find out till the next day. It was one of the worst thunderstorm/rain storms I had ever driven in, so I was shocked when I heard that a pilot flew in such weather. I really did not find out if it had stopped raining when the crash took place, but I do know that 15 minutes before the crash, it was awful weather.

A new networking friend of mine called me the following day, Friday, to discuss a marketing project we were working on for Hallco. He then said, “Did you hear about the helicopter crash?” I said that I had not. My friend then said, “Well, do you remember Niall?” I knew at that moment that it must not be good news. Niall Booth, was another man I had recently met at a business networking meeting and was one of the passengers on board the helicopter when it went down. The last time I saw Niall, I had sat next to him and had a wonderful conversation about why he moved to Maryland, where he had been, his new contract with the helicopter company, and much more. We had a lot in common when it came to sales and marketing too, so after he left that day, I realized he was one person I had to stay in touch with in the months/years to come. To hear such tragic news of his death made me so sick inside. I do hope to attend his memorial service coming up and see how his family is doing.

One of the strange things about the crash too was that the guy who told me about the accident was supposed to be on the flight. He was invited to get on the aircraft and backed out because he did not like flying. I then told him that there must be a reason God still has you on this earth. I really meant what I said. It isn’t that God was judging those who died that night. I meant that God was just not finished with this man. He responded with a sarcastic remark of maybe needing to be religious or something “funny” to him. I am not sure what was or is going through his mind, but I do hope he will think more about eternity in the future. God has placed eternity in the hearts of men, and I know this man too must think about it at times: why did God spare him that day? Wow! That would cause chills to go up and down my spin for months! My heart weeps to know that there are those who don’t know Christ, even after a tragic event. They continue to go about their lives thinking that they can live in this World with out His grace and mercy. Lord willing, this will stir in my heart a boldness to speak about the love of Christ to this man an many others.

I wanted to give you a brief rundown of what the Chism family is up to in July.

• 2nd Men’s Prayer in the Park at our church (had about 14 men show up!)
• Birthday celebration for Michael Howard, Joli’s Dad.
• Enjoyed a wonderful Joli Fourth weekend: went to a family friend’s farm house about 30 minutes north of our place. It was a 40 acre spread! Beautiful! We ate, played v-ball and frisbee golf…came back and watched a late-night movie.
• Joli and Eden (Joli’s sister) were driving to Frederick Community College on Monday, July 6th and got in a car accident. Some young kid darted his car in front of theirs while making a left turn. My car was quite damaged and may not be repairable but Joli and Eden were untouched! God was so good to us all!
• Joli has 21/2 more weeks or so before she is 100% done with her college degree. She has worked so incredibly hard to finish, and I just hope Hillsdale College will still let her graduate from their school. That is the main reason she is finishing the degree. I am so proud of how hard she has worked. I do not have the same diligent drive my wife has for studying! However…I am SO glad we’ll be done with this chapter in life. It has not been easy for both of us.
• I am now officially into my first full-month of starting my new marketing management company: “A David Creation.” My new website is still being designed but the progress can be Viewed Here. I am very excited about diving into this business. I have about 6 clients and have a number of good quality leads I’m following up on right now. I am trusting that God will take care of our daily needs and that I can be a blessing to small business owners.
• I am headed to Portland, OR in about a week for a painting conference. I serve as a board member for the Painting and Decorating Contractors of America’s Residential Forum. We have our annual conference for 3 days in July. The exciting part is that I’ll get to see my Mom and Dad, who are attending. I’ll be doing a presentation on websites and the need for a quality site. I hope to pick up a few clients from my time there too.
• Joli continues to take the kids to a beautiful lake about 30 minutes from our house. I have yet to be able to go with her but hope that will change soon. Everywhere we go out here seems to be 20-30 minutes minimum! So if you want to live in the country, which we do, you have to drive…a lot. I have not gotten use to driving for painting estimates either. My average drive still is 45 mins to 1 hour one way!
• I am also working part time for Hallco Enterprises, a professional paint company near Frederick MD. I hope the owner with his marketing plan and work on his residential repainting estimates for him. It is good to get out of the office and in front of a computer and get to meet people! I love it.
• We will then end the month attending about 3 more Howard birthdays!
• In early August, we’ll plan an overnight trip to a nearby campground to celebrate Joel’s 4th birthday. We found some great cabins about 45 minutes away and hope to gather a few family members to join us for a couple of days!

That is the Chism brief update. Oh ya…and Joli and I still try to tip-toe away to enjoy a date night every 2 weeks or so.