It's All Grace

a journey with the Thomason family

Spring Conference Day 2 and USA Hockey in Czech!

Today was the second day of Spring Conference and again I sit here tonight tired and worn out, but also super blessed. This morning was actually an extra special blessing because I had the privilege of leading music with my friend Zach. Zach and I have known each other since the fourth grade and been friends ever since. It’s an unbelievable blessing that we get to serve the Lord in the same organization and in the same country of Czech Republic today. It’s an even more incredible blessing that I got to serve with Zach this morning by leading music for the Josiah Venture family. In the photo above taken by our mutual friend Landen, you can see Zach and I playing guitar with another missionary, Christy. We did more of a “coffee house” feel for music today and it was a true joy to serve with Zach and to lead others in a time of worship.

But if that wasn’t sweet enough, I had the second joy today of taking Titus to his first ever hockey game here in Czech! Oh, and it just so happened to be Team USA playing against Belarus! I’m still energized by the fun we had this afternoon at the game and I honestly can’t believe that the USA was playing just 30 minutes from us. Above is a photo of us walking at the arena with Titus wearing a paper “helmet” that they were passing out to the kids. You can see how excited he was by the smile on his face.

The USA was playing Belarus today and sadly this was their first loss in this World Championship tournament. Despite the loss, however, we had a really fun time and it was quite the experience to see an international hockey game in Czech. Zach and Kara were the masterminds behind getting the tickets for us and putting the plans together and we had a ton of fun cheering for USA. Below is a little video I caught of the action and you see just how close we were to the ice!

USA vs Belarus in Ostrava, Czech Republic from Shay on Vimeo.

There were a surprising number of fans there supporting the United States, including two guys completely covered head to toe in American flags. I loved this guy sitting behind us that had an American flag draped across himself and the chairs.

Titus and I got up during the first period to get some food thinking we could just come back in and continue enjoying the game. But I guess the rules are different here because after loading up on hot dogs and sausage we weren’t allowed to take our food into the stadium. So we ended up eating and watching the game on the screens near the food area. Here’s a shot of Titus where I perched up on these standing tables.

I think the absolute highlight for us tonight was when we got this photo on the big screen at the arean TWICE! Look at Titus sporting his new USA scarf.

Here’s a couple more photos we got as we were leaving the game.

We made it back this evening to an excited Avery who literally ran down the hall to see us and give me a hug. We had an extra hat from the game that we gave to her and this is the photo I got.

What a fun day! So glad we got to make a memory like that today and enjoy rooting for our home country. Thanks to my friends Zach and Kara for inviting us with you today and for being awesome. It’s a joy to serve with you (and watch hockey games)!

May 7, 2015
Spring Conference – Day 1

Today was the start of the Josiah Venture Spring Conference, an annual event for all the missionaries to come and be together. The theme this year is “Family on Mission” and Dave Patty (the president of the organization) will be the main speaker. But as I sit here in my bed at the hotel with my family asleep around me, I’m just flat out tired.

We got an early start on the day because we needed to be out the door in order to make it here in time for music rehearsal (we live about 40 minutes from where we’re staying this week). Amazingly, we did leave on time and made it here but rehearsals didn’t go as planned today. I’m playing the drums and all in all it went just fine, but our music leader’s family all got the stomach flu so we had to improvise a lot of different things today to make music practice go well. I think we ended up rehearsing for a totally of five hours throughout today, plus we played the music during tonight’s session which as about another thirty minutes of playing. I haven’t played the drums in over a year, so my hands are hurting a bit and my legs are tired. However, despite my physical state I really didn’t enjoy playing worship music with a bunch of other missionaries. There are so many talented people serving in so many different countries. It’s pretty awesome.

It rained a ton today, so that put a bit of a damper (literally?) on things. If not a damper, it just made things a little more challenging. But tonight’s session was good and I felt like overall the conference is off to a great start. Above you can see a photo of Dave teaching and he mostly did an intro to his messages for the rest of the week.

After the main session and a long day, I ended up playing another hour or so of music with Zach and another missionary named Christy. We’ll actually be leading music tomorrow morning (yes, really) and I’ll be playing guitar. We’ll be there bright an early at 7:30am for rehearsal. I honestly hope I make it. My body is so tired at this moment that I’m not even sure I’ll have the energy to change out of my clothes!

I really don’t want my tired tone to affect how I felt about today. Playing music was a ton of fun and I’m so blessed to be able to serve that way this week. However, this has added some extra work to Bethany today which is double hard with her in the last weeks of pregnancy. The kids are excited to be here and for them a new place and new kids around is really exciting (I regret that I don’t have time to tell the story about how Titus got out of child care tonight and was running around the hotel crying).

So with heavy eyes I leave you in hopes that the next six hours of sleep will feel like ten!

May 6, 2015
Getting Ready for Conference

We have been on the go today and it really started this morning with Bethany’s doctor appointment. I decided to stay home and watch the kids because her appointment was a longer one which required her to lay back and relax while they monitor the baby’s heart beat for fifteen minutes. She ended up taking a book and headphones to stay relaxed because laying on her back this late in the pregnancy is never comfortable for her. The doctor said everything is looking great and she said Bethany is “really close” and that things are progressing. We’re still a few weeks out, but I have a feeling we’re going to meet this baby this month!

As soon as Bethany got back I was out the door headed for the Josiah Venture spring conference where we were setting things up and getting it prepped for tomorrow night’s first session as well as the rest of the week’s activities. There is a ton of work that goes in to getting things ready for the conferences and I’m so impressed by the team of JV missionaries that work and serve to get it prepared. Below are a few photos I got during setup today.

This evening we enjoyed an easy spaghetti meal at home with some IKEA Swedish meatballs mixed in! They are pretty tasty and this week was the first time we had tried them. For dessert we had little ice creams that we enjoyed in the back yard. I got the below photo of the kids and even took some video of them. They were just kind of cracking me up as they were eating and talking. They were like an old couple just hanging in the back yard. I love it.

Backyard Ice Cream from Shay on Vimeo.

I’m playing drums this week for a few session during the worship music sets for conference and even playing guitar for another set. I just got off the phone because the main worship leader who was supposed to lead tomorrow is sick with the stomach (actually, his whole family is!). So right now the team is trying to rearrange the sets a bit and make sure everything is good to go. It’s great to see the team pulling together and trying to make it work. That’s just one of those things you learn often in ministry: be flexible. We’ll be ready tomorrow night, even if it isn’t all as polished as we would like. I’m looking forward to it!

May 5, 2015
Late Night, Short Post

It’s 1:09am. If that doesn’t tell you what kind of day it’s been, well, I’ll just say it’s been full! From start to finish this day has been non-stop, but we’re doing good. Above is a photo of our kids literally climbing the walls of our apartment. I feel like this photo just kind of embodies today. Our friends Jenny and Landen had come over tonight and the kids found their way out of bed and ended up doing this (thanks Landen for the photo). This is the first time we know of that the kids did something like this and don’t think it’ll be the last.

I would love to expound on this glorious Monday, but my bed is calling me. Tomorrow is a big day with a doctor appointment for Bethany and then setting up for the Josiah Venture spring conference. We’ll be staying at the hotel that JV owns from Wednesday through Sunday so that should be a fun time! I apologize for the short post, but’s now 1:25am (yes, it took me that long to complete this post!). Bed time!

May 4, 2015
Playing in Fields of Yellow

To my knowledge, I don’t remember a time in my life where someone has tried to wake me up but couldn’t–that is until today. Bethany said I slept through my alarm four times and even tried touching me and talking to me to get me to wake up. I don’t remember any of it. She even told me that she had the kids run into the room to turn my alarm off because it was going off endlessly at some points. When I didn’t get up she assumed I had either stayed up late or wasn’t feeling well. When I did finally get up church had already begun! I had a headache and I asked Bethany what happened and she told me be the above tale. I’m still confused by it. My headache lasted most of the day and it wasn’t until I finally realized I should take some Tylenol around 3pm that I got some relief. Why I waited so long to take medicine is beyond me, but I digress.

One of the great joys in my life is being able to be able to bless people with photography. I had that chance this evening with our teammates and friends, John and Erin (and baby Shade!). We scheduled a dinner with them tonight along with a plan to take some photos of their family. Dinner was delicious and afterward we literally walked out their back door through a field of beautiful yellow flowers. The flowers you see in the photo above are what we get canola oil out of and right now the Czech countryside is completely covered in a blanket of yellow. I would love to show off a bunch of photos of John, Erin, and Shade, but they haven’t seen them yet so I’m holding off for now. Above is just one I got of them walking through the fields, but the yellow seems to go on forever. Below are a few I got of our family. Again, we have more of these too, but I have to same some for our family too!

We actually took a ton of photos and even ended up doing a few down by a lake near John and Erin’s house. As we drove back from the lake we saw a young deer in the field which we stopped to stare at. He was only a few yards from our car and had just some little antlers. I rolled the windows down so the kids could stare out and see him. He was staring back at us and finally bounded away. I regret not getting a photo, but it was fun to just enjoy the moment. But the yellow flowers and deer weren’t the only thing we got to enjoy of God’s amazing creation tonight. Out the other window of our car was an amazing rising moon! When we got back to John’s house, he convinced me to pull my camera out again and get a shot of it which you can see below.

In other news, we set up the baby’s bassinet today. Bethany is in her last month of pregnancy so the clock is ticking as we wait for the arrival of our daughter! This coming week is a busy with spring conference and then a few weeks after that Bethany’s parents will arrive in here in Czech to help with the new baby. God is good!

May 3, 2015