A Christmas Experience

(Easley, SC: 23-24 Feb 2010) I have known BC Christmas for almost 20 years, but had never met his family. And though we were both on active duty at the same time and were both Air Force logisticians what we have in common is bigger than that - - the core of our friendship is our faith in Jesus Christ. BC retired in the mid 90's and went to work as a DoD contractor. I kept up with him through mutual friends and then our paths crossed more regularly when he got work at Joint Forces Command where I was assigned. When Joy stayed in Alaska after Kylan was born, BC stayed with me at the house in Suffolk and we were able to deepen our friendship in Christ. BC is one of those few people I had in my professional life who could walk into the office after not seeing each other for months or years and nearly the first words out of his mouth are, "How's your walk with the Lord!" We need friends like that.
Joy and I had the privilege of experiencing the entire Christmas Clan in a brief visit to their home outside Easley, SC. When you visit a family with 5 school age kids you don't just visit you participate. That is, you just step into their events and activities and connect with them as life happens. We parked the big rig in a big parking lot in town where we hooked up with BC and his wife Kimberly. This was the first time I met Kimberly and BC met Joy for the first time. We drove with them to pick up their younger daughters Kari, and Katherine at school while Kimberly ran another daughter Kirsten to flute lessons. We then drove to a gymnasium at Bob Jones University (all the kids are enrolled in the Bob Jones school system which is a unique...perhaps one of a kind "K to PhD" program) to watch son Will play an exciting intramural basketball game (triple overtime!). The game ended being up being the family meeting place that afternoon and we met oldest child, daughter Kasey.
We were able to park the RV and camp in the front yard of the Christmas Corral, their hilltop homestead with majestic views of the Great Smokey Mountains. After surviving the greeting by their four, yes, 4 Golden Retrievers, we enjoyed a wonderful family meal and were introduced to the family tradition of reciting 1st Corinthians 10:31 before giving thanks for the meal.
We got up late and they had already taken the kids to school. Kimberly and BC cooked up a great breakfast and lingered over coffee (some of us drank lots of coffee) and we shared story after story of how God has worked in our lives over the years. BC had always bragged on his talented and beautiful family and he has described his home to me many times before, but seeing was indeed believing. This was a Christmas experience which we will not soon forget.