I guess you can figure out from my Headline that the Chism Family is making the BIG move to the east coast. If you could not figure it out or were troubled by it, well…don’t be! It is the honest truth to date. With much prayer, I, Dave Chism, have decided to move my growing family to be closer to Joli’s family in Maryland. Some of the fine details about the actual location and job situation is still in the works. In short, we hope to live 30 min to 1 hour from the Washington D.C. area near or around Frederick County. Everything is happening so fast, but it looks like we might be packing up our home here and driving back east around the end of August or the first week of September.

Some of you may be asking why such a big move, Dave? Whew! That is a tough question to answer! I still have many hours of doubts building up in my mind right now, so I might have a better answer in a few years when I look back to see what the Lord was/is doing. I will try to give you all the short and clearest answer: Joli and I have talked a lot about someday being on the east coast to either raise our family or after our kids were grown. I guess in more recent months the thoughts have been settling on the plan of raising kids back there instead of retirement. Joli was a trooper to leave her entire family and extended family to marry a west coast, native from San Diego. She left it all to follow me. It has been a wonderful 4 years yet still a challenge at time. I think now the tables have turned where I feel a longing to be near her family! It is very mutual! Her siblings are still very young, and we wish to see them grow up being near by if at all possible.

Another major factor in my decision to move east is to get experience as a leader of my home and in the business community on my own. I’m not necessarily trying to be independent. God has been SO good to bless me with one of the best jobs I can ever have: working for my father. He is an amazing boss and has given me the freedom and liberty to be creative in his business. Many sons tend to get experience outside the family business before committing to take over the business. One can learn a lot about serving a boss who is not his father, and I will now get that opportunity. My dad always thought it was a good idea to work for someone but I was too scared to branch out on my own or leave because of the stable and wonderful job I had. I grew to really like my job and put my whole heart and soul into it. I then began to wonder if I could work for another boss and be a good and faithful employee. Would I have the discipline and the determination to be successful? I don’t know! So, I have lacked the confidence to grow in my business and leadership skills and feel it is time to make the second biggest decision of my life: moving to the other side of America (1st big decision was marrying Joli).

The reason for leaving now instead of a few years ago probably has to do with our current situation at Chism Bros. The economy in San Diego has been getting worse every week, and we are now in the middle of a recession. For the past 10 years, we have been in a growth mode and have been richly blessed. With my uncle, Pat Chism, dying of cancer a few years ago, I could not leave, because my Dad had to take a lot of time off to be with him. The following year was even more busy and I had no one to replace me. I finally have begun to share my estimating system with 2 employees this past year, and I feel confident that I am more replaceable. So now is a better time to leave than ever!

So, we will continue to post our plans, thoughts, travel plans, prayers and updates of our new life in Maryland in the coming days, weeks and months! Please drop us a line when you can! Thanks for reading.