Shay Thomason – Page 19 – everything beautiful in it's time

Good Times and Playing Outside

Post author By Shay
Post date January 6, 2015
No Comments on Good Times and Playing Outside

The weather in Yakima today was amazing. For the past week it has been below freezing and today it shot up to 60 degrees which meant Titus and I could play a little baseball outside! We played a little outside, but you can only last so long before your hands are frozen solid, so today was a nice change. Titus loves baseball and I always announce the game as if it’s a major league playoff which Titus thinks is hilarious (OK, I think it’s funny too).

As we approach our final week here, we did some final shopping today just to make sure we’ve covered everything we’ve been hunting for. We browsed through Costco today and while we were just hanging out the kids and I found some sweet leather chairs to sit on. I was pretending to lay in the chair when the kids jumped in and joined me, so Bethany got the above photo of us. Too bad you can’t fit leather chairs on airplanes…just kidding.

Titus got in on the leather chair action too. Here he is testing out another option.

If Costco wasn’t enough America to take in, we also enjoyed a little Asian-American cuisine and had Panda Express for lunch. The food was a little disappointing (maybe it’s our changing taste buds), but it’s one of those weird things you miss when you’re in Czech. Here’s a photo of Avery playing with one of Titus’ cars as we waited for our food.

Tonight I had the joy of spending a little FaceTime (video chat) with my friend Matt. I don’t know how long we chatted, but it was really special to be able to catch up and just talk about our new lives overseas. Matt and I used to meet regularly for coffee and I think often of those times and miss them. That is definitely one of those things you sacrifice when you move across the planet…close friendships. Matt and I will be friends for years, I’m sure, but it’s hard to be in a different time zone on the other side of the world. I’m thankful for the time we got tonight and hope for more in the future.

Tags friends, outside, weather

365 Czech Republic

Blessed on a Sunday

Today we had the privilege to worship at one of our supporting churches, Harvest Community Church in Selah, Washington. It was a pretty special morning as we had time to share during the services, but more importantly, to hear from some of the people about how God has been working in their lives this past year. As a church they took some time today to have an open microphone where they could share and we heard incredible testimonies of God’s goodness. One testimony was from a lady who talked about how her brother who was born deaf was able to hear for the first time in his life at age 53 because of medical advances and a surgery he was able to get. Another was from a young man who talked about a friend of his who was contemplating suicide. By God’s grace, the friend called this young man and he was able to talk him out of it and he asked for prayer for his friend to come to Christ. That young man knows what his friend truly needs, a relationship with the One who can save his soul.

Along with the blessing of being at church, we had the chance to video chat with close friends of ours who live in California. Since we’re on the same time zone right now, it made connecting with them a lot easier. It was a sweet time just catching up and seeing each other’s kids. It meant so much just to spend time chatting about life, even though it was over video. I’m thankful for the friendships God has provided us and the technology to keep up with them, even if it’s from a distance.

I got the above photo tonight of Avery trying to get every last drop of her ice cream dessert out of her bowl. After she tried this for a few minutes she said to me, “Daddy, can you help me?” Somehow she wanted me to scrape more out of the bottom of the bowl for her. I did my best and she was happy. It was a cute moment.

We watched more home videos of Bethany and her family tonight and it was a lot of fun. Our kids love watching one in particular of Bethany when she was about 3 years old sledding in their front yard. I’m glad our kids get to see the footage of Bethany as a kid. But it’s also a reminder to me to make memories for our kids. As I watch Bethany’s family react and talk about what’s on the screen, I’m challenged to think about how I can lead my family and make sure we’re just enjoying life together. It’s so easy to get caught up in the work of ministry or even pursuing language learning that I can forget to take time for us to enjoy family and make memories. By God’s grace, we’ll make sweet memories together in the years ahead and one day we can look back and enjoy talking about them (or watching them!) together.

Tags church, Sunday

365 Czech Republic

Brunch, a Puzzle, and Home Videos

Post author By Shay
Post date January 3, 2015
7 Comments on Brunch, a Puzzle, and Home Videos

This morning we enjoyed a nice brunch at (stay with me) Bethany’s sister’s in-law’s. There were two food items on the table we just can’t find in Czech 1) bagels 2) English muffins. You would think us being closer to England we could get English muffins but that’s just not the case. But I digress. The food was great and we had a fun time talking about Czech and answering lots of questions about what we’ve been doing and how God has been working in our lives since moving over there.

Mostly we had a leisurely afternoon. I actually spent a few hours reading and everyone decided to work on a puzzle. When I made it out to see their progress, I found Avery sitting with Bethany, Nana (grandma), and Bonnie (Bethany’s sister). It cracked me up to see all four them hard at work on the puzzle. Here’s a photo I got.

I ended up helping with the puzzle later and we finished it this evening. Not bad!

As I write, Bethany’s dad is putting another reel of film on the super 8mm film projector. We’ve been watching old home videos in the living room tonight. It’s kind of mesmerizing to watch the film being projected. It’s like I’m being transported into another life time. In a day when we can make HD videos with our phones and post them online in seconds, it’s kind of amazing to watch videos that haven’t been seen in many years and which also require a special, noisy machine to view them.

Watching old home movies really does make you think about how quick time goes by–not just time, of course, but life. Each reel of film is only a few minutes long before it ends and Daryl reloads another one. There’s a box of reels that he’s pulling from and every time we watch one, another big span of time (life) goes by. You can record life, but you can’t stop it. It makes me want to make the most of each moment of time I get. We only get so much anyway, so why maximize the little we get. The Apostle Paul didn’t have a projector, but he definitely knew what he was talking about when he wrote to the Ephesians to “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time…” As I begin a new year, I hope I make the best use of the time this year.

A video posted by Shay Thomason (@shaycam) on Jan 1, 2015 at 6:41pm PST

Tags family, home video, memories, movies, puzzle, time

365 Czech Republic

Relaxing in the New Year

It’s nice not to have too much on the schedule right now. I know these days won’t last long, so we’re enjoying the time of relaxing while we can. This morning we went over to where Bethany’s sister and brother-in-law are staying and played a little Mario Kart with uncle Andy. Titus has literally been talking about doing that for months and totally his dream was finally realized. Uncle Andy actually works for Nintendo so he has all the best stuff to play on, so above you can see me, Titus, and Andy playing.

This afternoon we had fun playing in the living room with all the different toys that Nana and Papa have. Above you can see the wooden train set, Lincoln logs, and marble track. We tried building a log cabin with the Lincoln logs, but they didn’t last long until the kids destroyed them. I love that the kids are playing with all of these older toys that have been enjoyed by kids for years. I also think it’s just good for them to not always be enjoying the “screen toys” (iPad, computer, etc.) which are and will be a big part of their lives.

Bethany and I began packing for our return even though it’s over a week away. We have an extra suitcase that we’re packing all the Christmas gifts and American goods in, so we want to see how much room we actually have. In total, we have 4 large suitcases that we need to keep down to 50lbs each. So far, so good, but we’re still buying a few last minute things. Hopefully I can bring all my books back!

Tags fun, kids, relaxing, toys

365 Czech Republic

Ringin’ in the New Year

We made it 10:30pm last night. That’s the latest we’ve been awake in over a week because, well, you know…jetlag. You’d think we would be in the clear by now, but we’re still getting up pretty early. So we were up early enough to set things up on the TV to watch the Rose Parade this morning which was pretty fun. Even though we could watch the Rose Parade on multiple channels, I found a way to watch the KTLA5 (local Los Angeles broadcast) online–the same one I grew up watching. It’s the little things in this life…

We had to do some more shopping today, but I think we’re just about done. We’ve been trying to find shoes, shirts, and sweaters for the upcoming wedding next weekend. I was able to find some shoes that I’ve needed for Czech. I’m not use to all the weather over there, so now I have some leather shoes which should help on the wet, cobble-stone streets.

American cuisine has been widely enjoyed on this trip and today was no different. We went to a local favorite, Miner’s of Yakima, and had burgers and fries. There was a really fun college football game on, Michigan State versus Baylor, which we ended up watching while enjoying our meal. America! At one point Bethany’s dad and I were yelling at the screen which brought a little too much attention toward our table. Honestly, I’m not a football fan, but that game was really fun and Michigan made an unbelievable comeback.

American football has been a little bit of a theme this afternoon as we’ve continued to watch the bowl games. Bethany and her mom continued to shop later in the afternoon, so her dad and I took the kids back to the house where we’ve been playing in the living room and enjoying some college football mayhem.

One more thing I want to mention is about my Bible reading program. For the past three years I have been enjoying a daily Bible reading program that has been challenging but life changing. It was actually created by one of our professors at The Master’s College and it’s aptly named the Professor Grant Horner’s Bible Reading System, after Prof. Horner. I recreated his printable bookmarks to make them a little more visually appealing, and here’s the link to the PDF that I made: click here to download the PDF (I suggest printing the bookmarks on photo paper). It’s a serious commitment, but I can tell you that my understanding of God’s Word has increased exponentially and hopefully, by God’s grace, I’m becoming more like Christ each and every day.

Tags America, Bible, football, reading

365 Czech Republic

The Last Day of 2014 and the Best of the Blog

Post author By Shay
Post date December 31, 2014
No Comments on The Last Day of 2014 and the Best of the Blog

Even though it’s the last day of 2014, it felt very much like a normal day here in the States. It definitely doesn’t feel like New Year’s Eve, but I’m thinking that’s mostly because I’m getting old. But here’s a few highlights from the day.

First, Titus shaved. Yup. He got a little kids shaving kit in his stocking and he was really excited about trying it out. The razor is just plastic, but it comes with foaming soap that we had fun playing with today.

The kids played dress-up in their new Buzz Lightyear and Jessie outfits. We ran around the house for an hour which was also a lot of fun.

Later in the morning we went out and did a little shopping and ran some errands. We came back home for lunch and then took a nice afternoon nap. When we were all awake again we went out for more errands which included getting Avery’s dress for the upcoming wedding tailored. We arrived at the shop at the exact time they were closing today but they were kind enough to let us in and get Avery measured. Avery was a little scared and cried, but the lady who did the measurements was really nice and sweet. Here’s a photo of it.

Finally, I thought it would be fun to include some of the “best of the blog” for this last year. All the blogging began back on June 24, but here’s the top 5 posts from the blog in 2014 (based on views):

1) Applying for Visas and Paying for a Ticket in the Middle of the Freeway – July 8, 2014

2) From Sour Milk to a Spaghetti Meal – June 26, 2014

3) Literally Stuck in Frozen Czech – December 1, 2014

4) Driving East and Foreign Police – June 25, 2014

5) Hanging With the Millers in Poland – October 10, 2014

Tags America, family, normal

365 Czech Republic

Christmas in Yakima

Today we celebrated Christmas in Yakima with Bethany’s side of the family.

I’ve been writing for the past few days that there’s been a bit of a delay with Christmas as we’ve been waiting to get the entire family together. Everyone was here this morning bright and early, and we enjoyed breakfast and cinnamon rolls on the floor by the tree. Bethany’s dad read Luke 2 and we enjoyed opening presents and giving gifts to each other. We had a great time together and we were blessed to receive lots of new books, clothes, and toys as a family.

We alway start the present opening time with stockings and work from youngest to oldest. The process takes a few hours, but it goes quickly and is great to watch all the responses. Everyone in the family keeps a wish list active that the rest of the family can pull ideas from, so it’s always fun to open presents and things that you may have added to your list a while back. I’m especially excited about the new books that I got this year. Everything from new Bible commentaries to business books to poetry, all of these will keep me busy for years to come. The kids were also blessed with books, along with a Buzz Lightyear costume for Titus, and a Jessie (from Toy Story) hat for Avery.

After presents we took a break (and naps!) and rested in the afternoon. Besides some snacking, we skipped lunch and planned for a big meal out together at a local restaurant in the late afternoon early evening. We reconvened about 3:30pm to take a family photo together. For all I know, it’ll be a few years before we get to do another photo like this again.

Dinner tonight was incredible. We haven’t had a big, American style dinner out in six months. I was so excited to eat a cheeseburger with real American cheese! We had fun being loud and enjoying the family time out. The restaurant is a new place that’s only been open for a few weeks here in Yakima (shown below). The food was delicious and I ate way too much. On the bright side, I shouldn’t need to eat for a couple of days!

Our time here has been sweet, restful, and fun. For me, I think this has been a recharge and a God-ordained trip to just think and rest. Czech is not the easiest place, but I’m so thankful for what God is doing in that part of the world and how he continues to stretch and grow us in order to use there. Tonight as we were driving home from dinner I actually missed Czech. It’s our new home and even though we have had a lot of fun here, I look forward to being back there and continuing to pursue all God has for us, good or bad.

Tags Christmas, dinner, food, fun, laughter, presents

365 Czech Republic

Small Town Fun

We woke up this morning to what I was calling powdered sugar snow. There was the lightest dusting of snow overnight that was still on the ground when the sun came up, but it was mostly gone by the afternoon. For the kids it really didn’t matter–it was snow, and as Titus put it, “It’s Christmas time!” Tomorrow we’ll be celebrating Christmas here at Bethany’s parents house in Yakima so that meant we were doing some last minute Christmas shopping today. I realize this is December 29, but we’re doing our Christmas together on the 30th because of work schedules and everyone being able to be together.

As has been true all week, we were up early with the kids this morning and out the door by 8:00am ready to hit the stores. What we found out quickly was that most stores aren’t even open until 9. After the third place we tried to go to was closed we decided we would try and get some breakfast out. Bethany’s dad directed us to the place in the photo above, but when we arrived we found out they had no power. Apparently the wind hand blown down some power lines nearby so all of the part of town we were in was without electricity. At this point the morning was a bust, but we trekked on.

We ended up finding a classic down with power down the road a bit and enjoyed a really great American breakfast. Just being able to order biscuits and gravy was ministering to my soul. Titus got the kid’s pancake and when it came it out was a happy face with a piece of bacon for a smile (shown above). They also had classic car benches that the kids thought were great. Here are they are playing on one that was near our table.

After breakfast and after all the shops opened, we did finally get some shopping done. One place we went to is actually 114 years old and has been owned by the same family for five generations! It was a really fun store and the people who worked there were really helpful. It was full of paper goods and speciality office supply items, including some archival ink pens that I was needing for marking in my Bible. If you ever find yourself in central Washington, head on over to “The Bindery” (as the locals call it) and get yourself some small town charm and a nice pen for your Bible reading!

On one of our other stops, we hit a jewelry store to have my wedding ring sized down. It has gotten really loose and we finally decided it would be best to have it resized to fit more snug. When I bought the ring nine years ago, it was a little big and they were telling me that it would eventually fit. The jeweler said to me then, “You will get fat!” Well, some time has passed and it’s flying off my finger! So we found a place today that we resize it and when we were walking in the door I loved the hours that are listed on Sunday (photo below).

Tonight we had a fun and kind of wild dinner with the whole family. Mostly we were just eating leftovers, but the scene in the room with seven adults, three young kids, and two dogs running around was something out of a movie. Later, when things quieted down, “Papa” (grandpa) read The Night Before Christmas to our tired kids (show below). It’s been a long time since I’ve heard the whole story read and the first time our kids had heard it.

Tomorrow Papa will read Luke 2 before we open gifts and we’ll have a traditional meal on the floor by the tree. I look forward to celebrating with everyone and enjoying the time with family here. Until then, “Happy Christmas to all! And to all a good night.”

Tags errands, fun, shopping, Yakima

365 Czech Republic

Church, English, Mexican Food, and American Football

Post author By Shay
Post date December 28, 2014
No Comments on Church, English, Mexican Food, and American Football

For the first time in six months we attended church in English. I was struck by this reality mostly while we were signing this morning at West Side Church, the church that Bethany grew up in and where here family still serves. I think I’ve talked about this before, but there’s just something about singing worship music in your own language that ministers to your heart. I think that’s especially true for me since I have spent many years ministering in our church through the music ministry. Music is just a big part of my own, Christian heart as I’m sure is true for many others. No doubt it’s been important to Christians since the beginning of the church. I was especially blessed to sing “In Christ Alone” as the closing song today after listening to a message on God’s grace from Hebrews. I haven’t asked her about it, but I thought I saw tears coming down Bethany’s cheeks as we sang. Needless to say, we were blessed.

Although it’s not on the same level, we were also blessed today to do a little shopping at the grocery store. I say this because we secured two kinds of salsa and jalapeno chips! That kind of spice is not readily available in Czech and it was actually fun to have my nose running from all the spice I enjoyed lunch today!

This afternoon we have all taken naps and spent time watching the Seattle Seahawks play on TV. It’s funny to watch a live sports event since we don’t have this kind of television in Czech, and of course no American football. I’m not a huge football fan, but Bethany likes it, along with the rest of the state of Washington. As I write, the Seahawks have just won the game so I’m sure the good people of Washington are breathing a sigh of relief as they look for a postseason run.

Things continue to be restful here in the States which is nice. We’re happy to be spending time with family and just enjoying a little break from life overseas. I’m excited for what God has in store for us when we return, but we’ll enjoy the rest while it lasts.

Tags church, English, football, language

365 Czech Republic

Christmas (Part I)

“Go big or go home.” It’s a phrase I use often, mostly joking, to describe certain situations or even little things like ordering lunch. But I guess when it comes to Christmas it’s “Go big AND go home.” I only say that because today we celebrated Christmas 1 of 2 here in Yakima. That’s how we’re describing it to our kids who by Tuesday will have celebrated Christmas 3 different times. Today’s Christmas was at their great-grandmother’s house where we opened presents and shared a big meal with Bethany’s mom’s side of the family. I remember being at it last year and us saying goodbye to family with no intentions of seeing them for at least two years since we would be moving to Czech. Little did we know that we would be back this Christmas celebrating together once again.

The format is simple: eat and then open presents. Bethany’s grandmother always goes big on the gifts and I think she spend a certain set amount on everyone, though this still remains a mystery to me. I am pretty excited about my new pocket knife, shirt, and three more volumes that will be added to my MacArthur commentary set! Bethany was given a new necklace, salt and pepper shakers, and some clothes. Avery got some kitchen toys, including a working cash register and a stand mixer (think Kitchenaid) which she calls her ice cream maker. And Titus was pretty pumped about his big play ship thing that folds up. We’re definitely thankful for the wonderful gifts and kindness of our family!

Overall our energy levels were better today and we were all up at 5am. I think we’re gaining an hour of sleep every night. It’s such a bummer to have to turnaround and flip back to Czech time in just a few weeks, but that’s just part of the life we live right now. Christmas part 2 will be on Tuesday will complete the triple Christmas celebrations we have had. It brings excitement for gifts, but a little anxiety as to how exactly we’re going to get all of this stuff back to Czech!

Here’s a few more photos from the afternoon.

That’s Titus and Avery with their second cousin Savannah.

Tags Christmas, family, gifts, meal, Yakima