My family always said that I was a “stick in the mud.” To tell you the truth, I am not exactly sure how that analogy pans out; but we all know what is meant by it. Well, this time I was. I knew that the roads were going to be bad, so I decided that I would hit the roads early to avoid traffic, melting ice, and possible accidents. To test the ground a little bit, the Polish in me decided that our back yard was the best place to test (man! I’m a genius). Hannah requested that I turn the GPS on my phone so that she could tell where I was on my way to work. I had forgotten to turn my GPS on when an hour later Hannah texted me saying that she was disappointed that I had not turned on my GPS. I then turned on my GPS for her. She then sent me a text message asking where I was. I was still at home “testing” the traction of my tires on the ground. Needless to say, Hannah got really giddy and turned into a paparazzi in between her laughing and snide remarks. I finally got fed up and frustrated that I went inside to start working from home. I texted my boss and told him the situation. He said to come in whenever I could come safely. I went back a couple hours later to try to dig my car out of the mud. I was able to move the car, but I also got it further in the mud. With Hannah’s help this time, we were able to move the car to stable ground. This is where it sat till I got home that evening after deciding to take the other car to work. When I returned home, I tried one last time to try to get my car to the driveway. It took less than a minute to get it up there. It’s funny to look back, but it wasn’t so much then. Hannah and I have done several things the hard way in order to learn important lessons. This is just one more. As Hannah put it – we did not get to play in snow this year; we got to play in mother nature’s other beauty – mud (or clay).  Moral of the story is “never let Josh test the car out in the yard.”

Truly humbled,

Josh

PS – Not much has been happening on here for a while. I hope that everyone has not given up hope. I still enjoy family news and updates.

PS2 – Ricky and Karlyn will have to share with us how the conference went that they spoke at in MD. Karla might be able to be a guest writer and give us a sample of her trip to India (I haven’t asked her yet). Soon we will be having our Annual Income Tax Celebration Dinner. So, there is plenty to talk about. Love you all!

A familiar question, Are you moving? When are you moving? Whats going on?

Fair enough. We are still looking forward to moving to Wisconsin and we are right on schedule. I have been particularly challenged the last two nights driving home from work. On BBN’s Conference Pulpit Warren Wiersbe has been speaking on prayer. These are very applicable to us as we live on schedule. The first night (Tuesday) the emphasis was, Would you rather have an answer to your prayers? or Would you rather be an answer to another’s prayers? Then last night (Wednesday) was about James and John’s request (or their mother’s) of Jesus to sit on either side of him on his throne (they were still thinking of an earthly kingdom at that point in time). The prayer emphasis was, Is your character ready to handle the answer to your prayer? Are you capable to handle the answer for which you are praying? An illustration was, Would you hand over the keys to your automobile to your eight year old? The rhetorical answer is obviously, No, they are not capable of handling the answer to their request.

I cannot answer as to when we are moving because it is not my schedule. If the Lord will and we live we will. That is not my area of responsibility. We are only continuing in preparation. But God is too. And that brings the third question’s answer. We believe that God is continuing preparation in our lives that we too will be ready in character and capable of having the prayer of moving to Wisconsin and ministering there answered. What is going on? Well since my last post (after most of the sickness that swept through our family was over) many happenings happened (wasn’t that profound!). Let’s see, there was Ricky and Karlyn’s engagement (see the post, …white snow, red rose petals, and a diamond ring). Then not to be outdone Eunice had an automobile accident (hanging upside down in seatbelts isn’t bad, but having to cut your hair with a dull pocketknife because it is trapped under the roof of the car and you are smelling gas leaking takes all the joy out of it. Also, a couple weeks later Eunice became the grateful owner of a Camaro. (All on facebook. Eunice has set aside blogspot for now I guess.) But wait, Ricky and Josh are doing better at grilling out (the first time wasn’t so successful – ibid. fire, fire, fire…). So also is the praise of Andrea soon to be our third college graduate – May 10, 2008, 10:00 AM Northland Baptist Bible College, W10085 Pike Plains Rd, Dunbar, WI, 54119 (hint: Hope to see you there!!!)

So for now… continue in prayer, continue in service, but far above all, know God and love Him, first and foremost, the highlight of your day and your constant desire to Him and Him alone.

I have finished my trip to Nova Scotia. It was fantastic. I am going to write a more complete entry of my travels there on my blog at rickyblaha.com.

But now, I am in MI. Last Wednesday I caught a flight from Portland, ME, to Chicago, MI. There a good friend of mine picked me up, and we drove to my aunt Karla’s house in Allegan, MI. We arrived late Wednesday night. Yesterday, Friday night, my dad, Jesse, Cherith, Josh, and his girlfriend Hannah, arrived from SC. They drove through the night and got into town a little after 5:00 in the evening.

What’s the occasion? Well, my cousin Jessica is getting married. She is the daughter of my dad’s oldest sister. Jessica is marrying a guy named AJ. AJ, with his unpredictable hair styles and color, will add, once again, a distinguished variety to the Blaha clan look. He has been at other Blaha gatherings in the past couple years and has had an unofficial part in the family. Today, that changes. He will now be officially one of the elite – one of the Blaha fam.

We are looking forward to the wedding, only three short hours away. Blaha weddings are quite the event. There is very little dead time, and events can most times be spontaneous and unpredictable. However, one event that is usually spontaneous but predictable is the hack circle. As a family, we have enjoyed playing hacky-sack any time we get together. I think that it has become the official family game. It is at least the default game when we can’t we can’t play anything else due to time or location. Hack is very versatile; it does not require special clothes or a special place. We have already played a solid game last night at Uncle Len’s house with eight of us – representatives from four different families with in the Blaha clan. We have premeditated a place at the wedding reception where we will play today. It will be the highlight of the wedding, next to the wedding itself.

One other twist added to the exitement of the wedding today is that AJ, the groom, broke his arm this week. He wanted to have one last hurrah with his buddies before he got married. So he and his buddies went skateboarding (not knowing him that well, i guess that is his thing). Well, while skateboarding, he fell and broke his arm. Yes, he is in a cast, and we are hoping that he will still be able to fit his arm into his jacket. We will find out today.

Once again, another member, another chapter is added to the Blaha entity. We love to celebrate with our family the these events and special times of their lives. We praise the Lord for his sovereignty in fashioning this relationship into what we will today celebrate and take part in the rest of their lives.

OK ok…I know that things are going on and stuff like that, but there are no posts…what are some things that are going on?

Ok, we have been a little slack about the events of last week, but I finally felt compelled to inform our massive audience of a few accidents that have occurred recently. This post will be the sequel to the post that Cherith posted earlier.

On March 2 around 9:00 pm, I was at home alone studying for a rather large exam that I had the next day when I received a call from my sister, Cherith. When I answered the phone, I began a conversation that quickly turned into a jumbled dialogue. Cherith began to tell me that she and the rest of the family was at a play held in the Academy of Arts’ new auditorium when… That was about all that I understood before she began to cry. She tried to explain through her crying the situation there. After calming down, Cherith told me that Mom had fallen down a flight of stairs (12) and was lying unconscious at the bottom. She told me that the ambulance was there and that they were attending to her. That was all the information that she had at that moment. I reassured her that all would be well, and to remain calm. She told me that she was going to call Josh, who was at work, so that he would be informed of the situation.

Outside of the immediate situation, this was not good. A couple weeks earlier, Mom was at another play walking around on the stage when she fell also. She tried stepping out onto a moving turntable, when the turntable swept her from her feet and left her lying again on the ground. She was already in serious pain from that fall, so this fall definitely did not add to her recovering comfort.

A few minutes later, I called Cherith back to see if anything had changed. Cherith told me that Mom was doing better and that she was sitting up in a chair conscious. Apparently, she actually never was unconscious, that they were aware of, but she had suffered several minor scrapes and bruises. Beside these minor injuries and the bump on her head, she seemed to be all right. When she arrived at home she was in very pitiful shape. I helped her to her bed. I could tell that she would be in pain for a while.

Well, it has been a few days, and she is still suffering from fall. But she is doing better. As most things do around our house, this story is slowly morphing into a classic Blaha story and comedy. However, Mom is still hurting and could definitely use some prayer. So, for the millions out there who are reading, thank you for your prayers.