On May 31, 2010 the first graduating class from Brashier Middle College Charter High School began their commencement ceremony just after 10:00 AM. Cherith was one of the graduates in that very first graduating class. We are so proud of her.

Congratulations Cherith

Cherith’s senior project was a collection of thirty-six Bible lessons for five year olds that she wrote herself. Each senior had a mentor for their project. Cherith’s was Pastor Ben Ice of Calvary Baptist Church in Simpsonville, SC. The senior project grade was the overall graduating grade. She with sixty-eight others made their passing grades and are now the first graduated class of Brashier Middle College Charter High School. We are thankful for her testimony in the two years she has been at BMCCHS and for the difference she has made. Again, for graduating from BMCCHS we congratulate you.

Been awhile since the last post. Was it because of inconvenience? Lets see… Labor Day at Bruce’s but some had other plans… Jesse’s birthday and outing to Chimney Rock, but not all the family was there because some had already made plans… Thanksgiving Day meal as a family on Sunday because Thanksgiving Day meal came and we were in three or four different geographical locations… Then Christmas… Two days before Christmas our white van died… possibly the fuel pump… the van Andrea planned to take to Wisconsin. Christmas eve evening after at time with family at Ricky and Karlyn’s new house on the way to Eunice’s new home our blue van quits in the middle of the road. Christmas day, when Eunice was planning on taking us to Michigan, was spent at Eunice’s home. The day after Christmas Jesse and I spent five hours fixing things that require fixing, but do not get the blue van running. And inconvenience?

And this is Christmas… That first, as we tend to call it, Christmas… Was it not inconvenient for Mary to be told she would be pregnant, not by man, but by God. How do you explain that? Joseph wanted to at least hide her shame as much as he could, but it was inconvenient to be told by God to take her without shame to be his wife in the face of all criticism they would face. It too was inconvenient to be nearing the end of Mary’s pregnancy and be required to travel on foot or donkey about a hundred miles to register for the Roman government. It was inconvenient to get there later than so many others and find room for birthing in a stable. Then within a couple of years to have to flee for the life of their son to Egypt traveling the same way. Was it not inconvenient for so many families to have their children under two years old to die because of that one child? that one child whose ultimate purpose was to die on this earth for the sins of all who would ever live.

So tell me, was your Christmas inconvenient for you?

Jesse's Birthday Limo Ride Home From School On His Birthday

Life is what you submit to God to make it to be.

I love you Jess. We all love you!!!

Our lives are filled with ‘incidents’. Some stand out more than others. Some require a lot more time than others. Some require people, hundreds of people, and time, lots of time. Then there are incidents that bring delight, i.e. I can stand it anymore it is so great. Other incidents bring heartache and sorrow, sometimes to the hopelessness of ‘when will this stop’.

We experienced an ‘incident’ within the last week that has brought cause to reflect, great cause to seek a greater family bond, and yet a need to learn to let go. Years ago I heard said when Jesus told the disciples to come apart and rest awhile that He as Creator of these men and Himself living in the form of man knew that if we do not come apart and rest awhile we tend to just come apart. It is not a pleasant thought, but experientially I know it is true.

To the hundreds involved in our weekend incident I can not imagine that I could speak to everyone in a way to convey the thanks and appreciation so very much deserved. It is interesting how far we can reach in prayer. We only need to reach God. He alone can put the circumstances at the exact time they need to take place.

Each of us have incidents that we gladly tell. Then there are THOSE… we have a feeling that everyone will know and have THEIR THOUGHTS about the incident. I have learned that sometimes no matter the situation people will have their thougths and opinion and you know, while there is no need to broadcast that type of incident there is nothing harmful either, only in the minds and words of others.

As I had for a time as my status on Facebook,

Mercy – not getting what I deserve. Grace – getting what I don’t deserve. I am thankful and humbled that God is both merciful and gracious to me and has given both to my family.

That is what I would say in response to our family incident. May only God be glorified.

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!