Shay Thomason – Page 18 – everything beautiful in it's time

Captain’s Log: Jet Lag Edition

Post author By Shay
Post date January 15, 2015
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Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Thursday, January 15 2014

Tags jet lag, log, sleep

Back in Czech

We made it to the train that is taking us home. Other than the Lord’s grace, I have no idea how we have come this far. We are exhausted, the Paris airport was ridiculous, and the sparkling grape juice I just opened exploded on me and my computer as I was typing this.

It’s been a long and challenging day. To be balanced, our flight from Seattle to Paris was pretty nice. It wasn’t a full flight so we had room to lay the kids down in our seats and the kids actually did really great. But after landing in Paris, it just seemed liked things got a lot harder.

I originally started this paragraph by explaining about what happened to us in the Paris airport and how hard it was, but I stopped writing. Complaining is a sin. I’m writing that for my own benefit and as a way of reminder as I look back on today. My flesh really wants to complain right now, but I guess that’s to be expected when 1) I’m a sinner (saved by grace, but still battling that flesh!) and 2) I’ve been awake for almost 24 hours. No matter how tired I am or how difficult a situation, the reality is that God is still in control and He is good.

Yesterday as we were leaving Seattle, Bethany’s dad prayed for us before we got in line at security. He knew our situation and our anxious hearts and prayed specifically for our flights, my tooth pain to subside, handling of our luggage, connecting flights, and for a ride from Prague to the train station. God was kind enough to answer all of those with a “Yes.” Bethany’s dad didn’t ask the Lord to make it all easy for us, he just asked God for solutions and God provided. And that’s why I can’t complain!

At the end of the day I can praise the God of the universe for His kindness to us. We don’t deserve any of it. That’s just it…it’s all grace.

Tags complaining, heart, Paris

365 Czech Republic

The Big Trip Home

Post author By Shay
Post date January 13, 2015

Looking out the window of our airplane I see clouds, snow, and the orange glow of the sunset on the wing. According to the flight map on the screen in front of me we’re somewhere over Canada. That explains the snow, I guess.

The morning was a little rough for me. Not only was I in a lot of physical pain from my tooth, but we also had to say goodbye to family which is never easy. It’s been a wonderful three weeks in the States and as Bethany’s dad said on the drive to the airport, “We’ve made a lot of wonderful memories.”

We packed a lot of stuff. When we finally arrive in Prague, I’m not exactly sure how I’m going to get all of it from the bus to the train, and I’m hoping that God will provide some help for us. As it was, it barely fit in the car to get it to the airport! Lord willing, I will be reporting in the next blog that it all worked. If it doesn’t it’ll definitely make for good blog material. This may sound strange, but I’ve genuinely ha the hope that that airline loses our luggage just so I don’t have to lug it around Prague.

There’s about seven hours left in this leg of our flight, and when we arrive in Paris we’ll be making a quick connection to get us on to Czech. It’ll be morning there, but it’ll feel like the middle of the night to our now adjusted, West Coast body clocks. I’m praying for grace as we make the connection from the Prague airport to four hour train ride home.

Here’s a few more photos from the trip thus far:

Tags airplane, Czech, flights, trip

365 Czech Republic

Unexpected Toothache

I’m sitting here in a good amount of pain so I’m going to keep this as short as I can.

When I was nine years old I got hit in the face with a baseball. At that time it broke three of my teeth, including one on the bottom which needed a root canal and then emergency surgery for an infection about a week later. That was 21 years ago. I have had zero problems with that tooth until Saturday night when it began to give me a lot of pain. I got into a dental clinic this morning only to find out that everything looks good, but I would need to see an endodontist (a dentist who only does root canals).

The earliest appointment I could get was at 4:30pm this evening and I didn’t see a doctor until about 5:30. After a thorough examination it was decided I would need another root canal on that tooth because it was badly infected. I left at around 6:30pm after all the work had been completed, and still in a lot of pain.

All of this would be alright for me, except we have to fly to Czech tomorrow. We have been packing almost all day, constantly weighing our suitcases to make sure we’re under 50lbs each. It’s already going to be a long, hard trip, and I’ll probably still be in pain and tired from the meds. Even as I type, I’m not sure we have everything packed. I got a couple photos today so here they are to finish off this post. Pray for us as we travel and for me during the trip.

365 Czech Republic

Church, Snow, and Goodbyes

Post author By Shay
Post date January 11, 2015
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With the busy day yesterday it was hard to wake up this morning to get ready for church. But we were scheduled to share at West Side Church (one of our supporting churches) during both services, so I hit snooze a few times and finally pulled myself out of bed. We had also planned to say a quick goodbye to our friends Blaine and Kelsey from California who had flown in for the wedding. They were at the house around 7:45am and that’s when they told us it had started to snow. We spent a few minutes hanging out with them and said our goodbyes. It’ll most likely be at least another year and a half before we see them again.

The snow didn’t last long (it was too warm to stick), but it was coming down pretty good this morning. By the time we got to church it had subsided. During the second service I took the kids out to get them a snack and it starting snowing again. We walked outside and they were getting really excited so I took a little video (below).

We had another large meal for lunch today with Bethany’s family and the Harpels. It was kind of a time to say goodbye because Bethany’s sister is headed back today towards Seattle and we won’t see them again. There were a couple good football playoff games on so we all enjoyed watching those and even took some photos of Bonnie (Bethany’s sister) and of all our kids. Bonnie is due with their second child in a few weeks so her mother-in-law was hoping for a few shots of her baby bump. I think we got some nice ones of her, but the kids were a much bigger challenge. After a few tries, the moms ended up joining the kids for the photo since we couldn’t get everyone to behave. In the end we got something that will work (I can’t show the photo on the blog because the family hasn’t seen it…sorry!).

For some reason, last night I woke up in the middle of the night with a really bad toothache. Unfortunately, it’s a tooth that was actually damaged when I was a little kid (hit in the face with a baseball), but I haven’t had any issues with it for many years now. Tomorrow we’re going to try and have it checked out at a local dentist in Yakima and hopefully get it resolved, but it’s been painful most of the day and not something I’m excited about dealing with the day before we leave. Lord willing, we can resolve and hopefully it won’t be a huge problem. Please pray for me if you think of it.

There’s other things that happened tonight, but nothing I really feel like writing about tonight. It’s going to be a busy day packing tomorrow and dental work, so I’ll just end this one here. But at dinner tonight I added a little bonus to the chalk walk at the restaurant. Maybe it’s just shameless self promotion (see below)?

Tags church, snow

365 Czech Republic

Wedding Day And My First Time As A Flower Girl

Post author By Shay
Post date January 10, 2015
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Today was wedding day, the reason we flew to the States. Bethany’s brother Adam married his best friend, Taylor, and we had a blast celebrating with them.

Both Titus and Avery were part of the ceremony as ring bearer and flower girl respectively, so we were there early to take photos. Avery normally takes a nap around the time we arrived, so we were a little nervous about how she would do. Overall she and Titus did great during photos and were both in good spirits. Here’s a few photos from around that time (captions beneath each).

Bethany holding Avery while we waited for our time to do photos.

Titus with his uncle Adam (the groom).

Avery and Bethany looking beautiful.

Little Avery showing off her dress.

Titus laughing and watching the the bridal part out the window. When we arrived they were still doing photos outside, so we stayed in where it was warm and enjoyed the view out the windows.

While the bridal party came inside, uncle Adam (the groom) picked up little cousin Jude and Avery and Bethany said hi to him and the bride.

After photos were finished, there was a little down time before guests started arriving. Avery kept asking me for her basket of flower petals. When I found it, I figured this would be a good time to practice before “the big show” so we did just that. She did really great and I was excited about her attitude. Here’s a few photos of her practicing (in the second photo you can see that she’s only taking one petal at a time. Eventually she started taking handfuls).

When it was time for the wedding to start, I was given the job of organizing the family and bridal party and sending them down the aisle (as well as helping my own kids go down the aisle). We started the ceremony on time and everything was moving smoothly. Titus and his cousin Jude walked down together beautiful and now it was time for Avery. But then… all the heads turned. Avery took one look down that aisle and wouldn’t budge. Despite my prodding, she wasn’t moving. I tried to tell, “Do you see mommy? Walk to mommy.” That’s when she sat down. With all eyes on her and I, I made the quick decision to pick her up and carry her down the aisle. The place broke into laughter and clapping and that’s a new first for me and for Avery!

Other than that minor hiccup, the wedding went great. I really enjoyed the intimate feel of the entire event, and for me it was really neat to be just a participant and not doing the photography. I had my camera, of course, and I loved this moment (above) of Adam and his mom during their dance. But throughout the night Titus kept asking me, “Daddy, can we dance now?” We had told him there would be dancing and that’s all he could talk about. Eventually the dance floor did open up and Titus stayed until closing time. Other than a moment where he stopped for a water break, he spent the night jumping and dancing with his second cousin, Savannah. Here’s a little video I got.

When we got into the car tonight, Titus said, “That was fun, fun, fun!” I agree. It was a lot of fun and I’m so glad that we were able to celebrate with Adam and Taylor on their special day. It has been equally as special to be here with family and enjoy the time together!

Tags dancing, family, fun, wedding

365 Czech Republic

A Wedding Rehearsal

I must have been caught up in the moment, but I didn’t take any photos of the wedding rehearsal tonight. On the bright side, I did become the wedding line coordinator (at least I think that’s what I call it?). It’s the person who guides the people walking down the aisle. I guess all of those years of doing wedding photography comes in handy when you need someone to tell people when to walk slowly in a straight line.

I may have forgotten the photos, but that shouldn’t spoil this blog. On the really bright side, we had the blessing of seeing our friends Blaine and Kelsey from our church in California. We had a fun time catching up with them and eating dinner together and it was just really fun to see our friends, even up here in Washington. As a bonus, tomorrow at around 4pm we’ll be related. You see, Blaine’s sister is marrying Bethany’s brother. Don’t you just love when that happens?! AND… yes, there’s more… They came tonight bearing gifts. They literally brought an extra suitcase full of stuff for us to take back to Czech from our Bible study in California. It was packed with the essentials: chocolate chips, yellow mustard, baby clothes, and even little twisty plastic straws for the kids. Thank you, friends!

The rehearsal and dinner went really well. I think everyone knows where to stand and I appreciated the officiating pastor who kept reminding us that “this isn’t a performance, it’s a celebration.” So often weddings become more of a performance where it all has to be perfect and we lose site of the celebration. Dinner was delicious and we had a great time of sharing about Adam and Taylor (the happy couple). There were some tears shed as people shared, but of course it was all in genuine care and love. It was a great start to the weekend and I look forward to a wonderful wedding tomorrow. I’m especially excited about seeing Avery as a little flower girl and Titus as a ring bearer. I’ll be coaching them down the aisle, so we’ll just see how it goes!

365 Czech Republic

Camping in the Living Room

Post author By Shay
Post date January 8, 2015
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While I was on the phone, Titus burst in to room and exclaimed “Dad, we’re going camping!” Confused, I shook my head at him and finished my phone conversation. A few minutes later I came into where Bethany was and said, “What’s going on?” Apparently Papa (grandpa) came inside telling everyone, “We’re all ready to camping!” What Papa didn’t know was that the little three and four year old ears would take him literally. Now, Papa wasn’t really saying we were about to camping but he was excited about his new trailer hitch for his tent trailer that he installed. After the kids calmed down from their own excitement, Papa came up with a plan to camp in the living room instead. So he set up a tent in the living room, threw some sleeping bags in there, and the kids were camping in no time.

Unrelated to camping, here’s a photo of the kids with their younger cousin, Jude, while playing on the iPad. The moment didn’t last long, but I thought it was fun to see them all so engage in what was happening.

Tonight we had dinner out and outside the restaurant were some art pieces, including this one of a saddle. The kids tried it on for size. I think the stirrups are a little low, but overall Titus was a good fit.

When we got back from dinner there was a large box waiting for us on the doorstep. It was our new stroller! We only have one chance of getting the stroller back to Czech, so we had to secure one while we were here. This one will be much better for the sidewalks in Czech and with the baby due in June we’re excited to get him or her out on the town! The kids were excited too and climbed in to it and test it out.

That’s all from me tonight. Tomorrow is the rehearsal dinner for Bethany’s brother’s wedding and we’re all getting excited about the festivities. Good night.

Tags camping, dinner, stroller

365 Czech Republic

Making Little Memories

I don’t know what memories my kids will have when they are older. I think about that sometimes when I’m playing with them. Will they remember this moment? Like today, we were outside and I decided to have some fun with them and “go on a hunt for pinecones!” We were just in the backyard and there was a wheelbarrow and lots of tiny pinecones scattered on the ground. I told the kids, “Find as many pinecones as you can and we’ll put them in here!” So off we went. Will they look back on our time today and remember what we did?

Whether the memory sticks or not, we had fun. Pinecone hunting was a success and every time they found one on the ground I would get really excited which made the kids just want to find more. In the end we had enough to cover the bottom of the wheelbarrow.

Beyond the pinecones, we just played more outside today. You can see in the photos Avery wearing little “butterfly wings” (as she calls them). She was really attached to them (no pun intended) today and just wanted to wear them most of the afternoon. Here’s a few more photos of us playing.

Tonight we had dinner with friends who have spent about eight years overseas serving in Germany. It was fun to talk with them and swap stories about living in a different country and culture. The husband of the couple we were with is our main contact at one of our supporting churches so he keeps up with us on a regular basis over email. It was a fun and relaxing dinner that ended with a short time of prayer. What a joy to have such special people around us.

After dinner we brought the kids home, put them to to bed, and Bethany and I went out for dessert. We have the blessing of having grandparents who can stay at the house while the kids sleep and so we took advantage of that tonight and enjoyed a late night out. That time is so crucial and it was really nice to just talk and enjoy a little ice cream. We need more time like that!

Tags dinner, fun, kids, memories, pinecones

365 Czech Republic

Three Crockpots, Twister, and a Gospel Devotional

Post author By Shay
Post date January 7, 2015
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I joked with the family that it felt a little like Thanksgiving today. No, we didn’t eat turkey and to my knowledge there wasn’t a football game on, but there were three crockpots full to the brim with stew. Somewhere along the line, we (the collective family) decided to have a big meal for dinner. When the decision was made, the kitchen went into overtime peeling carrots and cutting potatoes. Someone had to run to another house to pick up extra crockpots and eventually everything was slow cooking throughout the afternoon.

While the crockpots worked over time, the kids found the game Twister and we did our best to have a family game. I joined a game already in progress and when I asked Titus if I could play he said, “Dad….it’s a kids game!” and abruptly me showed me the box cover adding, “See, it’s for kids!” (the cover had a picture of kids playing the game). I convinced them it would be awesome if I joined in and they obliged. The game lasted about 90 more seconds before Avery couldn’t reach across the board and Titus couldn’t figure which was left or right. Needless to say, I won!

Things are starting to heat up with the wedding approaching this Saturday. We picked up dry cleaning today and are working on getting Titus’ clothes hemmed to size. For Bethany’s family this will be wedding three of three and will marry off the last sibling, Bethany’s brother. The kids and I have been practicing our dance moves in the living room which mostly consists of flailing our arms and jumping up and down. By Saturday we’ll be ready to own that dance floor.

On a lot more serious note, we’ve been reading out loud from the book New Morning Mercies by Paul Tripp. The book is a daily devotional and it may be the best one I’ve ever read. I realize that throughout history there have been many such books, but I think Paul Tripp has a way of applying the gospel to all of life that is unlike any author I’ve read. We’re only a week in, but I have been blessed and challenged by the devotions and I can’t help but recommend the book to everyone. And as a bonus, the title of the book has caused me to have the hymn “Great is Thy Faithfulness” stuck in my head all day. I have been walking around singing “…morning by morning, new mercies I see!” and been contemplating that truth. Praise the Lord that His mercies are new every single day!

Such a helpful tool for preaching the gospel to yourself every day. Thank you, @pauldavidtripp, for this book

A photo posted by Shay Thomason (@shaycam) on Jan 1, 2015 at 10:01am PST

Tags book, devotions, family, food, game, Paul Tripp