Category: Czech Republic

Every post I wrote while we lived overseas.

The First Saturday in Spring

Post author By Shay
Post date March 21, 2015
No Comments on The First Saturday in Spring

Even though the weather people are forecasting rain and snow for tomorrow morning, we had incredible weather today! It really felt like a beautiful spring day so we spent a lot of time outside enjoying the sunshine. You’ll notice in the photo above that our kids are wearing jackets and that’s just because it’s what we’re used to doing, but they probably didn’t need them. We enjoyed the park this morning and Titus and Avery love going down the big red slide together. There were definitely a few more people there than normal because everyone agreed it was the perfect day to be outside.

Our friend Romi and Michal needed some help with a little video they were making. Michal is making a short commercial for a company that makes these stretchable laces for shoes. They are actually really convenient here in Czech because you have to take your shoes off often. In the above photo we actually went back to the park with Titus to get some shots of him wearing the laces on the playground equipment. If you look closely you can see he had special colored ones that he said were like Lightning McQueen (you know, the main character from Disney’s Cars). I also was part of the filming and we re-laced my shoes and I rode down the street on my skateboard. It was a fun little afternoon event and it was great to see our friends, especially on such a beautiful day.

I didn’t take any photos tonight, but I attended our church’s youth group which meets on Saturday night. It was a good night and Landen preached from Ephesians 4 on being part of the body of Christ. His wife Jenny translated for him, but for me it was nice to be able to hear some preaching in English. Afterwards we had a small group time that was a lot more challenging because of the language barrier. It’s always just another reminder to keep pursuing the language as hard as I can. One of the guys in our group translated for us which was nice, but it feels so awkward to talk about spiritual things and have to keep translating and listening that way. But overall it was a great night and I enjoyed being there.

After youth group I went to the store to get some things for tomorrow and I couldn’t believe my eyes when I turned down the dairy aisle and saw Philadelphia cream cheese! We have only heard rumors that it exists here in Czech and today was the first time I had seen it. Bethany says she may have seen it one other time, but I was excited and it was a double blessing because it was on sale. Bethany uses cream cheese in a few Crockpot dishes we like and of course in dessert so I bought a few of them. Sadly, there are no bagels in Czech to spread this creamy goodness on, but maybe we’ll have to dig up a recipe and start making our own?

I still can’t believe I’m writing this, but we continue to battle sickness in our house. This entire week both Bethany and I have struggling with sore throats and now the kids are starting to sneeze and have runny noses. Depending on how they are in the morning, we may just take them to the main service with us as opposed to going to their classes. With the weather going up and down, that definitely doesn’t help but we’ll just continue to pray and trust the Lord with these challenges.

Tags kids, outside, park, Saturday, sunshine, youth group

365 Czech Republic

An Eclipsing Start to Spring

Post author By Shay
Post date March 20, 2015
1 Comment on An Eclipsing Start to Spring

I almost always work from home on Fridays and today was no different. Except at one point I walked to the kitchen to get something to drink and when I looked out the window I was confused at what I was seeing. I’ve probably looked out that window hundreds of times, but today was a bright sunny day and the window looked as if it was tinted. Like most Czech and European windows it swings open so I went to it and opened it and looked outside. Thats when I realized it wasn’t the window, but rather it was the sky that was tinted. We were experiencing a solar eclipse!

I confirmed this with another missionary online and then checked the news and sure enough Europe and parts of West Africa were witnessing a pretty amazing solar eclipse. For us in Czech, we were seeing about 75% of the sun being covered by moon. One of our windows had sun shining through the blinds and the tiny holes were showing the crescent shaped sun spots on the floor and table. Above you can see them in both photos. It was pretty fun and I’m glad we had clear skies today to witness it on this first day of spring.

Titus went to his second full-day of preschool and it was another day where he took the bus to a nearby preschool for the entire day. While he’s gone I’m always curious to watch what Avery does at home. Today she did the USA puzzle we have again and then later she was drawing on the white board in her little blue chair (shown above). It’s actually a little sad to see her search around for things to do because she’s just not used to having Titus out of the house so long during the day. Normally they are inseparable and play together all day, so I think in a small way this is a transition time for her as much as it is for Titus.

When I picked Titus up from the bus this afternoon he was really excited. He had a necklace on with a picture of Donald Duck (it actually read “Kačer Donald” in Czech) and it had a piece of candy stuck to the back. He also had a fruit cup snack and a little treat in his hand which he quickly handed to me to hold for him. I actually tried live streaming the entire thing to Twitter today so Bethany could watch from home and below is the video that I captured. It’s a little choppy, but you can get the gist. In the beginning you can hear me speaking English with the lady that I met on Wednesday. You’ll see how happy he is, but it doesn’t change how strange it is to be picking up my four hear old from the bus!

Tags bus, eclipse, preschool, solar eclipse, Titus

365 Czech Republic

Cuddles and Haircuts

Today has been full and it’s late so I’m going to make this post shorter than usual, knowing that I have more to do still tonight. Above is a photo Bethany got this morning of me and the kids laying on the couch. I don’t really remember how the kids started climbing on me and cuddling, but Bethany caught the moment with my iPhone and I’m thankful. As I stare at that photo tonight I’m reminded just how gracious the Lord is. I love those two little ones so much and I’m thankful to the Lord for the gift of children. Every day is not easy with them and parenting is hard, but the joy they bring us far outweighs the struggle to train them.

This afternoon Titus and I got hair cuts and Titus has been doing such a good job holding still and letting the hair dresser cut his hair. He kept asking me, “Is this the last part, daddy?” as if to find out how much longer he would need to sit there. I love that little guy.

Other than cuddles and haircuts it’s been a relatively uneventful day. I worked from home today, but had to run to a meeting after our haircuts in a nearby town. One of the big projects I’ve been working on is a 20th anniversary book for Josiah Venture which includes photos and quotes from various ministries. I met with the printer today to work out some details for the cover and I can’t wait to get one of them in my hands. It’s going to be a beautiful book and one that stands a testimony to what God is doing in this part of the world.

With that I’m out. Good night!

Tags cuddles, haircuts, joy, kids

365 Czech Republic

A Big Boy on a Big Bus and Answered Prayer

Post author By Shay
Post date March 18, 2015
No Comments on A Big Boy on a Big Bus and Answered Prayer

Today was Titus’ biggest school day to date. I say “biggest” because it was packed full of new experiences for him and for us. Before I talk about that I want to say that the entire day was an answer to prayer from start to finish. If you read our blog yesterday and prayed for this then thank you! God was so gracious today.

Titus was really excited about school this morning which is in and of itself an answer to prayer. Considering how he was on Monday, this was a huge blessing. Bethany took him to school early so he catch the bus for his field trip to another preschool today. What made today different was that he was going to be gone for the entire day until 3pm, as opposed to us picking him up at noon. In the photo below you can see his little head and stocking hat peeking up in the center as he gets read to board the bus.

The bus left sharply at 7:45am and took the kids to a nearby village for a “school swap” thing where they just basically have a normal day but at a new place. We don’t really understand why exactly they did it, but here’s a photo of Titus on the bus as they were about to pull away. I think the school charters a city bus to make this happen because I don’t think the schools have their ow buses like in the States. And I didn’t ask Bethany if she cried, but I’m operating under the assumption that her eyes were just a little teary as she took this photo.

While Titus was away on his trip, I worked from home and Avery was hard at work too on her USA puzzle. She did the entire 50+ piece puzzle by herself today with no help from Mommy or Daddy. She was really proud of it and so I took a photo of her “big girl” moment. Admittedly, she has done this puzzle with us many times so she has it almost memorized. But instead of state names she always, “Where’s the one with the cow?” or something like that. It’s great.

Also while Titus was at school, we had an appointment at 1pm to sign both him and Avery up for the next school year in the fall. Our friend Martina was kind enough to come help translate and talk Czech for us which was a great blessing. It ended up being a really quick appointment and we actually met with Titus’ teacher (this is also strange to me because why wasn’t she on the field trip?). She was really nice and we were in and out of there in just a few minutes. Here’s a few photos of us walking over to it.

This photo below is of Bethany, Martina, and Titus’ teacher finishing up.

About ten minutes to three I walked down the road to pick up Titus from school hoping for a good report about his day. It only take a few minutes to walk from our place to his school so I was there early and as I stood there a woman walked up to me and said, “You’re an American, right?” in perfect British accent English. I was surprised, but I calmly replied “Yes.” Then she told me that her son and Titus are in the same class and that her son speaks English so we should get them together outside of school. This was actually an answer to prayer because we have really wanted to have more relationships with Czechs. She went on to tell me about herself and that her husband is from the U.K. and he only speaks English. We were talking for a while and finally said, “Am I supposed to go some place else to get my son?” She told me the bus was expected to arrive until 3:10 (which I didn’t know). If you want my opinion, it was just the Lord getting me there early so I could have this conversation.

She was very kind and gracious and thought that just letting Titus speak English to another kid would be a blessing to him (which we totally agree). We ended up exchanging phone numbers and we might try and plan to do a walk or go to the park with their family on a weekend. Just thinking back on it now I’m smiling because God is so good. She didn’t have to walk up to me and introduce herself and talk for a while, but I was really thankful just to have a normal conversation with a stranger. It has a very long time to just have a full, open conversation like that in English with someone I don’t know. I know that might sound weird, but man was it encouraging.

While finishing up my conversation with the lady at the school, the bus pulled up right on time. There were a few cars blocking the street that the bus honked at and when I looked over I could see Titus’ face light up and he waved to me. I waved back and just smiled at him. He looked so big, but still so small. I was going to take video of him getting off the bus but since I was still kind of in conversation with that lady I only got the above photo.

All the kids got off and Titus ran towards me and I said, “Dude! Did you have a good day?!” He said, “Yeah, dad. It was awesome!” He told me all about the bus ride and the slide at the school that “doesn’t have any grass.” I asked him about nap time (which he’s never done at school) and he said, “I got my dinosaur pajamas on all by myself!” He told me he cried for us a little bit while they were walking, but I’m not quite sure where or how long, but I assume it wasn’t too bad because it didn’t seem to bother him. All in all, I think he did alright. The funny thing, if he didn’t do well, I probably wouldn’t even if we’d find out. The teachers don’t speak English and Titus isn’t always the most reliable source of info! I’m just happy that he was smiling when he got off the bus and overall he was exited about his day. He’ll be doing it all again on Friday and when we talked to him about that tonight it didn’t seem to bother him.

It’s weird to watch him grow up. Seeing him on that bus was surreal. I have memories of being on the bus around his age and I’m realizing he will probably remember this too. This is whole process is part of entrusting your kids to the Lord. He has to watch over them and I have to trust that God is taking care of them. The Lord is sovereign over everything including school bus rides! And I can’t and won’t always be there for everything Titus experiences, but I’m happy to be there to pick him up.

Tags preschool, school bus, Titus

365 Czech Republic

St. Patrick’s Day, Playing Outside, and a Prayer Request

Post author By Shay
Post date March 17, 2015
No Comments on St. Patrick’s Day, Playing Outside, and a Prayer Request

It’s St. Patrick’s Day. I’m sure you saw many people today walking around wearing something green and tonight people around America (not so much Czech) will celebrate by throwing parties and drinking beer (on a related note, I have an entire story about witnessing a drunk driving accident on St. Patrick’s Day that I’ll never forget). It’s sad to me that this is how we (as Americans) celebrate on a day that is supposed to remember a Christian man who loved gospel of Jesus Christ (for more on that, see Kevin DeYoung’s excellent, short post today).

At the Josiah Venture office today there were a few people wearing green, and our Norther Irish friend, Rachael, brought green clover cookies for us to enjoy at our our meeting. They were (magically) delicious–sorry, I couldn’t resist. We had a great meeting a Bible study this morning from Philippians. I’d much rather be spending my St. Patrick’s Day around God’s Word then doing just about anything else!

Bethany took the kids to the park this afternoon and they said that had a great time. In fact, when I got home today the kids came running to the garage to tell me all about it. Above is a photo that Bethany got of the flowers near the park (and hey, there’s lots of green!). While they were there they even saw some kids from our church. Titus even found a new friend who was riding a little play motorcycle and Titus was just running around alongside him for a while. It’s been really nice to play outside and enjoy the warmer spring air. Here’s another photo from the park with Avery enjoying the sand.

Tomorrow Titus will head off to a longer day of preschool because they are doing a “school swap” thing where they bus the kids to another school in town about 10 minutes away. Normally we pick him up around noon but he’ll be staying until 3pm. I can tell that Bethany was prepping him today because he kept telling me all about what he’ll be doing tomorrow. He loves riding on the bus so I’m sure he’ll enjoy that. Below is a photo of the announcement about it at the school and we normally just use Google to try and translate it all. Thankfully this time around his teacher emailed Bethany directly about the trip and what she should pack for him. As I’ve been writing this, she as hard at work trying to get everything together for Titus’ backpack.

Our prayer request is simply that Titus would do well and not be scared. We have been memorizing a verse on fear together and we are continually reminding him of the words. He’ll be going tomorrow and Friday on these little trips so we’re hopeful that it will go well and that he would do alright. Thank you all for praying and for continuing to encourage us!

Tags outside, park, playing, preschool, St. Patrick's Day, Titus, trip, weather

365 Czech Republic

Titus’ Hardest Morning at School

Post author By Shay
Post date March 16, 2015
1 Comment on Titus’ Hardest Morning at School

I always have meetings on Monday morning and today I was running just a few minutes behind so instead of walking Titus to school I actually drove the car around the block. It’s ridiculously close to our house, but I just wanted to leave as soon as I dropped him off. On our way he kept trying tell me that “there’s no school today, dad.” I said, “Yes, there is.” Then when we parked he said, “See dad, the lights are off.” I looked up in to the second story window and indeed the lights were off, but I told Titus, “Bud, the sun is out today so they are probably not turning the lights on right now.” I didn’t really know if that was true, but based on the number of cars around I was pretty confident there was actually school today. When we got inside, sure enough, all the kids shoes were in their boxes and school was in session. Titus looked around almost bewildered and just began to cry…a lot.

Of course I did whatever I could to calm him down, but he just wouldn’t. I don’t know what was going on his mind exactly but he had at some point this morning decided that he wasn’t going to school if he had anything to do with it. I took him upstairs to the room where he puts his jacket and he wasn’t calming down. A grandma dropping off her grand daughter tried to console him, but that only made it worse. She said something in Czech which I didn’t understand but I just smiled as if to say, “Thanks for trying.”

I carried him to the classroom where he kept saying, “Daddy, I’m scared. I want to go home. I don’t want to go to school. Will you pray for me?” We prayed, but he was still struggling. His teacher approached us and tried to console him too but he was still crying. Bethany told me tonight that he has been struggling more of late, but not this bad. Specifically, he has been asking us to pray for him every time we drop him off. Finally, this morning, I sat with him on the ground and started playing with some dinosaurs. His teacher brought over some little knights and army guys and he brightened right up. He started talking to his teacher about something in English and I just got up, said goodbye and he was fine. From start to finish the whole was probably fifteen minutes and I’m still kind of scratching my head about it. Bethany said he came home happy today and was fine, so I’m thinking it was just a morning thing.

As a parent I realize what we’re doing. We are regularly dropping off our kid at a place where he doesn’t speak the language and the people there don’t speak his. It’s not easy for any of us. We trust the Lord is working in Titus’ mind to both help with the language and the process, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. This week especially will be a challenge because he’ll be going on a little field trip to another school and staying for a longer day away. We’re going to see how this goes and would covet your prayers this week. We trust the Lord for our kids, even when it’s hard.

Tags hard, school, skolka, Titus

365 Czech Republic

The Sunday Shredder

Today was a another great Sunday at church with our kids. I think it may be one of the last Sundays that I stay in Titus’ class, and we’re trying to figure out what to do about Avery and her class. In the States we would normally just let her cry a little when we leave the room, but it doesn’t seem to be allowed that much in her class here. However, we’re having fun spending time with each of our kids in their classes.

Below is a photo that I took of a board game that Titus got out during the play time after they had their Bible lesson. I have no clue what the game is, but the kids gathered around Titus when he started getting the pieces out and helped him set it up. It’s always fun to see him playing with other kids, even if they have no clue how to talk to each other.

Traditionally Sunday is a day of rest, but today our shredder was working over time! This past week Bethany and I realized the amount of paperwork that we have just lying around has gotten out of hand and we wanted to make space and clear out old files. So this afternoon we spent a few hours just separating the recycle versus shred piles and let the kids go to town putting paperwork through the “shrinker” (as they were calling it). Spring is only five days away, so we really felt like we were getting some Spring cleaning done! As I type Bethany is still going through files and I think we’re going to have a few days of this left, but it end we should have cleaner desks and a little more space.

That’s all from us today. We hope you had a blessed Sunday!

Tags filing, kids, paperwork, shredder, shrinker, Sunday school

365 Czech Republic

Play Place

Post author By Shay
Post date March 14, 2015
No Comments on Play Place

Today Bethany and the kids had fun with our friends the Yormans at a new play place we had never been to. I stayed home because I haven’t been feeling great the past two days and we also had a lady cleaning our windows which our landlord hired. Above is a photo of the play area that they went to and Bethany said there were only two families there, ours and the Yormans. Titus and Avery haven’t really had a lot of time experience playing in a ball pit, so this was really exciting for them and they loved it. When they came back Titus couldn’t stop telling me all about the ball bit that “had two slides!” An indoor play area like this is really great on days like today where it just basically rained all day. I’m so glad they had fun. Here’s another angle of the facilities.

While they were out I spent my afternoon working on our next support letter email which I’m hoping to send out this weekend (if you’re not on our email list you can sign up here!). We have been trying to hard to make time for that important piece of communication in between sickness, languages lessons, and other things, but it has proved harder this time around. I also spent some time writing thank you cards to our supporters which is also something we try and make time for every week. Every time I write a card I’m reminded just how thankful I am for all the people who support us and desire to the gospel brought to Czech. If you are one of them, thank you!

While sitting at our dining table tonight, I was putting some final edits on our email. Avery was sitting across from me and diligently working with Playdough. She was so content to sit there and make things and finally I peaked my head over my computer and took the above photo of her. It seems like lately she has been growing so fast and continues to be more independent. It’s bittersweet to watch our kids grow. I love that they are maturing and are more independent but so often it feels way too fast!

Tags ball pit, friends, fun, kids, play

365 Czech Republic

A Language Day

The last couple days have been wet and dreary. Even though the weather had warmed up a bit last week, it was really short lived and is currently just above freezing. Us southern Californians aren’t used to that because usually when it warms up it stays that way for a while. As I walked to Titus’ school this afternoon to pick him up I took the above photo to give a little bit of an idea of how it looked pretty much all day. The rain is like an all-day light mist and everything just kind of stays gray.

As I approached Titus’ preschool today I realized just how funny the entrance is (shown above from the photo I took today). After you walk through the gate and up the path you come to a large door that for an American is something out of a movie. The doors are heavy and loud and if you didn’t know that there were a hundred little kids running around inside you would think maybe I was entering some kind of castle. I like it.

When I got to Titus’ class they had just started the Lego movie (dubbed in the Czech language). Titus was pretty excited and didn’t want to leave so I let him watch for a few minutes. Plus, it’s always a bonus to hear kids movies in Czech because the language is usually simplified and I can try following along. I also liked that Titus had his hand on his friend Denis’ chair. Also funny was that it was basically almost all the boys watching the movie while the girls were in the other room playing.

We had our biggest language study day to date and it was absolutely wonderful. Our language teacher Tamara came to our house today because she had a car available and was already running errands (normally we drive to her place about 15-20 minutes away). For two solid hours we worked through our Czech language textbook, and we also had a little time to review a Czech tourism book that Tamara brought us (below). What I really enjoyed about our time with her today was that Tamara will just speak Czech while we do things. For instance, while we were looking at the beautiful photos and scenery shown in the book she brought, Tamara was just simply telling us about the places all in Czech. She was speaking slowly and helping us in English along the way, but it’s an exercise of just listening and paying attention to the words you can understand while picking up new ones along the way. Oh, and by the way, this is a beautiful country.

Between 2:30-4 we had a little break before our second round of Czech lessons started with Jenny and Landen. We also try to have hot water for tea and some snacks on the table (which you can see below). I took this photo today because I realized this has become the norm now and we’re well prepared to get into the Czech language!

Today was kind of special because Jenny and Landen brought a young girl from our church who speaks both Czech and English (I also think she speaks Polish!). Her name is Miriam, and she became a little bit of our “Czech helper” (it’s like a teacher, only she doesn’t have to prepare) and we had fun listening to her speak and laughing at all of our mistakes. I think this was the first week we have done five straight days of language time with Jenny and Landen in the afternoon so it’s been a really fun and full week. I can already tell that with how much studying we’re doing that things are starting to click in my mind much faster. By no means are we great Czech speakers yet, but we’re definitely making progress! Here’s a photo of all of us (minus me, of course) sprawled out on the table working on our lesson.

Since we had such a focused day of language, and because the kids did pretty well during all of it, we decided to take them out to eat tonight. It’s bit of a drive to find a place we can all enjoy, but it’s just nice to get out. We went to a newer mall about 20 minutes from our place and enjoy an easy dinner and just walked around a toy store together.

Bethany has been talking a lot lately about how much baby #3 has been kicking and hiccuping. I believe she’s officially entered her third trimester and she’s starting to feel a little more uncomfortable. In the next month or so we have to begin to figure out which hospital Bethany will deliver at and put together a “birth plan” with a Czech speaker to try to minimize the surprises when she does go into labor. You can be praying for us as the due date gets closer and closer and as we begin to finalize our plans of having a baby in another country.

Tags language, preschool, school, Titus, weather

365 Czech Republic

Cold Water and Czech Spa Wafers

Post author By Shay
Post date March 12, 2015
No Comments on Cold Water and Czech Spa Wafers

“Daddy, the hot water is gone!” Avery exclaimed to me while I was in the middle of an important phone call this afternoon. I heard her, but I wasn’t listening. It’s one of those classic dad moments where I heard the words but I didn’t take them to heart and continued my phone call. A friend tried calling my phone, but I declined it because the call I was already on. I also heard Bethany’s phone ring and still ignored it (lets just pause here and thank the Lord that nothing dangerous was going on because no amount of warning would’ve alerted me unless I was actually on fire or something). Fifteen or twenty minutes later I hung up from my call and Avery said again, “Daddy, the hot water is gone!” Confused still, I said, “Where’s mommy?!” She pointed to the bathroom and that’s when I heard Bethany’s voice, “I’m in here!…There’s no hot water!” As she was showering the hot water went off and now she had been stranded in the shower for at least twenty minutes with soap in her hair. That explains what Avery meant!

Why was the hot water off? Well, that’s a story in a story. Last week while the plague swept our house we got a notice regarding the gas meter being replaced. Mostly we understood it but were a little confused about the times and day they would come. I guess the gas company people did show up but our doorbell is broken so we didn’t hear them. Yesterday we got a phone call that was completely in Czech and I was so confused and did my best to understand. Could this be the gas company trying to call? I thought I understood the man on the phone asking me when we would be home, but my Czech just isn’t good enough to respond and I was already unsure what was going on or who I was even talking to. Finally, after a few minutes of frustration, the caller said “goodbye” to me in Czech. This morning Bethany got a phone call in Czech. Was it the gas company? Just like me she was confused and the caller hung up when they couldn’t communicate either.

Fast forward back to the cold shower. I ended up boiling hot water for Bethany so she could rinse off and no longer be stranded. I checked the hot water boiler we have and I could see the pilot wasn’t lit. It’s not a hot water heater, and doesn’t store hot water in a tank like most places in the States; it kind of heats water when you need it. That’s when I called back our friend who tried calling me while I was on the phone. Basically, she told me the gas company talked to our landlord and replaced the meter this morning thus turning off our gas while Bethany was showering, and she added they weren’t happy about all the miscommunication. She also told me that the water heater would be off and need to be relit which of course we already knew at that point. I was thankful for the clarity. I did finally get the boiler pilot light lit again. A little Googling and a lighter got us back in business.

We continued working on language stuff with Jenny and Landen this afternoon and they brought us a special Czech treat that we had never had before. It’s called “Kolonada” (shown above) and they said it’s a pretty traditional treat that Czechs give as gifts when visiting your home. It’s like a thin wafer with sugar and hazelnuts inside and it was delicious! Here’s another picture of it.

As for language, it’s coming along albeit very slow. We are putting together sentences and doing a ton of listening but it’s not fast and it’s not easy. Every day I’m amazed at our progress and continually am asking the Lord for His grace as we learn Czech!

Tags cold, hot, Kolonada, shower, wafer, water