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365 Czech Republic

Tasteless

On A Sunday (5/17/15)

The inevitable appears to have happened: Bethany got sick. She woke up this morning feeling stuffy like the rest of us and now we’re hoping here super pregnancy hormones will allow her to bounce back faster than we are (I don’t know if that’s scientifically proven or possible, but I can dream right?). Needless to say with everyone hacking, sneezing, and sniffling we didn’t make it to church today. I took NyQuill last night and was out cold so even when I woke up I was pretty groggy. Bethany can’t take anything really because of the baby so again we’re just hoping she doesn’t get it as bad. To further complicate things, Avery threw up tonight at dinner which means she’s still battling. I ended up buying three boxes of tissues at the store last night and I’m pretty sure I already single-handedly used up a half a box. It’s just been one of those sick days that have become oh so common for us.

On A Sunday (5/17/15)

Something that’s kind of new for me is whenever I get sick I have been losing all sense of taste. I say new because it’s only really been in the past year or so that I’ve experienced this phenomena. I’m pretty sure it’s just related to how congested I am, but for the past three days I have been unable to taste anything. It’s very strange to bite in to a banana or eat a salad with dressing and taste nothing. My brain has the memory of what it should taste like, but there’s just nothing there. I hate it. You realize really quickly the incredible grace of God that exists in your sense of taste when you don’t have it anymore. God didn’t have to make food taste different. He could’ve just made it tasteless and only allowed food to give your nourishment. Instead He made food taste different and internationally we have some many different varieties to enjoy. That’s a grace of the Lord that I’m missing today.

On A Sunday (5/17/15)

We did manage to make it outside for a bit today. Titus and Avery love all the dandelions growing right now and at one point Titus just laid down in the long grass near the park where we walked to tonight. I took this photo of him because he looked so happy. It’s nice to see such joy in spite of sickness. That’s the heart I want to have right now. It truly remind me of the words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. This is my prayer this evening,

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

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365 Czech Republic

A Really Long Week and a Godly Wife

Bethany and I both agree that this has been the longest week, or at least it feels like it is never ending. Maybe it’s because we have basically slept for half of the normal waking hours and our schedules have just been way off, but whatever the reason it’s felt like the last five days were equal to a month’s worth of time.

Tonight I feel like I might be over the hump of the worst sickness. By no means have I reached the bottom of the hill, and I’ve been genuinely surprised how long it has taken me to recover. Through all the sleeping, the intake of juice and liquids, and now antibiotics I’ve still had a rough day today which included a new addition of a headache most of the day. My voice is still a little raspy from all the congestion, but I’m hopeful that another good night of sleep tonight will bring it back.

Despite all the sickness, I think we’re doing alright thanks to God’s grace which was seen this week through my wife. Bethany has been incredible even when I’ve literally just been stuck in bed for three or four hours during the day. She has made us meals, worked with the kids, done the dishes, done laundry, taken Titus to school, picked him up, and all this while being pregnant and even sick herself! I don’t remember her complaining (although I’m sure in her humility she’ll contest that statement). I’m constantly amazed at her and her willingness to lay down herself for me and our family. She is an example to me of someone who loves Christ more than her own life because I see it in her example to us and her faith. I write this tonight as way of building her up and in the vein of Proverbs 31:28, “Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her” (my emphasis). As sick as I’ve been this week, I really don’t know what we would’ve done without her self-sacrifice. I have more than once this week been reminded in my own heart of the vow we made, “…in sickness and in health…” and that Bethany is a woman of her word. Thank you, wife, for your love and care of this broken man. I love you. You are a helper suitable and I am blessed beyond words to call you my wife.

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365 Czech Republic

“Bye Bye, Ty Ty”

I feel about as sick as I’ve felt while living in Czech. I slept for four hours this afternoon and still feel exhausted. Those who regularly follow our story know that we have not been very healthy since moving here, and the past week has been no different. It’s hard to distinguish between what is just the normal cold season stuff and what is our bodies adjusting to a new climate. The weather has gone from cold to somewhat warm, so that could be affecting us. We don’t get nearly as much sun as we used, so that’s a theory too. And then of course there’s just the normal sickness that goes around and right now we know a lot of people who are sick, so that could definitely be it. Maybe I am saying this because of how I’m feeling at the moment, but I think sickness has been one of the most difficult things that we’ve experienced over. It seems like whatever we get is worse and lasts a lot longer that what I remember having in the States. Yet, I know God is using it to sanctify us. I just wish the sanctification process required less Kleenex.

There’s not much to write about when you spend most of the day sleeping, but there is a story from when Bethany picked up Titus today. He had last week off because of some normal holiday break, and today was his first day back in a week. One of the hilarious things about his class is that everyone calls him “Ty Ty” (I think they picked the nickname up from us because we often call him that when we’re talking to him). As Titus and Bethany were walking out of the coat room there was a little girl standing near the walkway who saw them, stopped what she was doing, waved, and said, “Bye Bye, Ty Ty” in English. Bethany was so excited that the girl spoke to him in English and so she made sure he said goodbye to her as well. It was a cute moment and something we want to remember.

I’m off to bed. Pray for us as we try to get healthy and get our energy back.

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365 Czech Republic

Making Us More Like Jesus

Only seconds after publishing last night’s blog, I heard Avery cry from the room her and Titus were asleep in. They had been a sleep for a few hours by that point and I really didn’t think much of it. I closed the lid of my laptop and heard her crying again and then I heard Bethany’s voice calling for me. “Avery just threw up all over the bed,” she told me as I entered the room. That was around 11:30pm.

Before Zach and Kara left the flat we were staying in last night, we made plans to join them for church. Zach was going to meet us around 9am today and help us manage the trams over to their church. But as soon as we began to get Avery out of bed and into the tub where we could clean her up, I realized it was going to be a long night. I texted Zach that church was probably not going to happen, and I’m honestly glad I did. It took us about 30 minutes to get Avery cleaned up, her hair washed, and all the bed coverings taken care of. Avery was in a better mood and said she was hungry. We had some bananas and pretzel so she ate some of that was happy. She laid back down and went to bed but we still had all these dirty clothes that we were hoping to wash. It was now just past midnight.

Last half-day in Prague (3/1/15)

Since we were in downtown Prague I figured I would go down to the little shop at the bottom of the building and buy some laundry soap. Amazingly, it was open and so I purchased the soap and ran back upstairs. Upon inspecting the German packaging some more (and translating it on my phone) I realized I had actually purchased fabric softener. So went spent some time researching shops near us where I could find a brand that I knew was actually soap. I went back outside and walked down a few different streets and blocks and nothing else was open so back to the little shop I went. I spent a good amount of time staring at the bottles and trying to figure out which one was not fabric softener, made my selection, and bought a second bottle of soap. I went back up to the 5th floor where I did more research only to find out second time that I just bought another bottle of fabric softener! A little defeated and sad we decided it was just time for bed and we would deal with it in the morning. That was 1am.

Avery threw up again at 2am and then at around 4am. We repeated the same process at 2am that we did the first time with a clean up but at 4am she didn’t have much on her stomach. Titus and Avery were both awake for the day just after 6 and I honestly think the most sleep we got was from 6-8am when let the kids watch something on the iPad because we were exhausted. When I did wake up I went back down to another store that I recognized, bought the soap that I knew was correct, and we started washing everything this morning. The lack of sleep hurt my cold sickness recovery and I just didn’t feel well at all and went back to bed for another hour.

Last half-day in Prague (3/1/15)

We made plans to have lunch with Zach and Kara as well before we got our train back to home today (I’m actually writing this post while on the train). I wasn’t feeling great, and we missed our first tram, but we did end up joining them. The food was delicious and I was really glad we got to spend a little more time with them. This afternoon they helped us get packed up, played with our kids, and then get checked out of our flat on eventually on to the train that we’re now enjoying.

Last half-day in Prague (3/1/15)

The day is ending much better than it started and for that I’m grateful. It was a hard night but for now it’s over. I’m sure I had nights like Avery’s when I was little. By God’s grace we make it through and you spend a train ride thinking about how hard it was, but also how gracious the Lord was. We had a great weekend and really sweet time with our friends and for that we’re very thankful. You never know how the days will go, but I guess that’s part of the “fun” of life! We’ll be home in a few hours and maybe another long night is ahead of us, only the Lord knows? What I do know is that God is using it all to sanctify us and make us more like His Son. And when I think about it like that, it makes it all worth it.