It's All Grace

a journey with the Thomason family

Galatians and Army Men

I’m not a great Bible study leader. I really want to be, but I just haven’t had a ton of experience at it. There are some guys I know who are masters at leading small groups and forming questions from the study and just have a knack for fielding those questions and watching the ebb and flow of the group. I’m not that guy. I usually prepare for Bible studies the way I have prepared for preaching. I realize that they are quite different, but they are very similar in that you still need to study the Bible to understand what is being said and then you have to teach it. All that to say, I had the opportunity to teach the international team Bible study today and I didn’t feel like it went amazing, but not terrible. This team is used to hearing Dave Patty, one of those master small group leaders, and I felt kind of like they called a Minor Leaguer and gave me an at bat. I fouled a couple off and hit a dribbler down the line. Despite my efforts, I do hope the truths of Galatians 2:20 were clear and the staff was encouraged by God’s Word.

There were some great discussions after Bible study amongst my team today and that was a blessing to continue to talk about God’s Word together. Things are going pretty well at the Josiah Venture office and there will be a lot of staff going to Israel at the end of next week. Everyone is gearing up for summer ministry and our Spring Conference coming the first week in May. My team is prepping a lot of different materials for upcoming ministry events so we have had full, but fun days.

When I got him this afternoon Titus was playing with some Army guys that the kids had dug up. Bethany and the kids were cleaning up their room today and they found a bucket of todays they haven’t played with in a while, so the kids were kind of rediscovering them. I hadn’t really ever seen Titus playing with Army dudes so I got down with him and we were having a “battle” together which mostly consisted of his men knocking my guys over. During the “war,” Avery was busy pulling tiny animals in a tiny toy wagon (also toys she found in the bucket). At one point the animals got caught in the cross fire and she wasn’t super happy about it, but we brought in a medic and all was well in the world of tiny animals.

I got some resources tonight on the doctrine of the Trinity which I am excited about working through. My friend Landen asked if I could teach on the Trinity to the youth group at our church on April 18 and we finalized that today. I’ll be speaking through a translator, so that will be different, but I’m excited to get up in front of the students and teach some of these core truths. Please pray as I study and prepare that I would be clear and it would be helpful to the students.

It’s past midnight now so I’m off to bed, but here’s a little video of me jumping over a creek today.

I Believe I Can Fly from Shay on Vimeo.

April 7, 2015
Easter Monday and Why I Hate Self Checkout

Today was Easter Monday here in Czech (and other countries). It’s a normal holiday, so Titus was out of school and the Josiah Venture office was closed today so we were all home together which made it very nice. But check out how Wikipedia describes the traditions,

All countries practice a unique custom on this day. In Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic traditionally, early in the morning boys awake girls by pouring a bucket of water on their head and striking them about the legs with long thin twigs or switches made from willow, birch or decorated tree branches.

I’ve heard mixed reviews from Czechs here about these traditions so I can’t comment with any kind of authority on what they really think about it. However, for us, this meant that Avery and Bethany didn’t leave the house because getting hit by a branch or group of branches just doesn’t sound like fun. I think for most Czech women, the weather worked in their favor because it snowed on and off all day today so there weren’t many people walking about the town.

Even though I was home, I spent most of the day studying the book of Galatians as I’ll be teaching the international team Bible study tomorrow morning. I pretty much studied straight through from 8:00-3:30pm today, with the exception of the half hour the power went out this afternoon. Normally Dave Patty (the president of Josiah Venture) teaches, but he’s already got a lot of teaching commitments through the next month or so. I joked with another friend that they decided to call in a minor leaguer for the day so we’ll see how it goes. Speaking of baseball, I’m excited that today is opening day at Dodger Stadium! We’ll be rooting for the home team from 6,000 miles away and hoping they’ll beat the San Diego Padres. Go Dodgers!

Despite the snow and rain, the sun did manage to peak through the clouds again this evening and I took the kids outside to play with the bubbles they got in their Easter baskets. Above is a video I got of Titus doing a good job making bubbles. It was still in the low thirties, so we weren’t out there long, but they had fun pretty much emptying their little bottles.

It’s been a longer weekend, so I decided to hit the store for Bethany tonight because we were low on food. Since it was a holiday, I actually called the store before I went to see if they were even open to my surprise they were. Titus and I left the house and Bethany texted me her list. When I pulled in to the parking lot it looked like a ghost town. In fact, I had a hard time believing they were even open. Again, to my surprise they were. Titus grabbed a cart (you know, the one with the little car on the front for kids) and off we went. I was so excited how few people were there because it felt like we had the entire place to ourselves.

I loaded the cart up, got everything on the list except for two things they were out of (strawberries and pear water) and headed towards the front where I was sure to find a lonely cashier waiting for me. Upon arrival I looked down the aisles and saw no such cashier. Then I looked further. Oh no. The only lanes that are open are those things they call “self check out.” You know the ones. They have beady eyes and a digital voice with a mocking tone. I rolled our completely full car-cart to the lane. The helper lady just smiled at me and I began the long process of unloading and scanning each item, one by one. About half way through things got worse. It didn’t like my bags, it didn’t like the weight of the items, it didn’t like that I chose an orange pepper and not a red one, it didn’t like that I was male, it didn’t like the clothes I was wearing, it didn’t like that that I’m a foreigner living in Czech and trying to buy groceries on a holiday for my wife! AHHHHHHHH!!!

After a few sessions of counseling I will be fine, but I hate those self check outs. They are of Satan. The work of the Devil is in them to deceive us in to thinking that machines are more efficient than humans. This is a life from hell itself. But I digress.

On a happier note, when we got home Bethany had things ready for the kids to do a little egg coloring. They did. It was a really fun. Here’s some photos to finish off the night and this blog.

April 6, 2015
Our First Easter in Czech

“Mom…Dad…” whispered a little voice from Bethany’s side of the bed as we were asleep early this morning. The voice continued, “…it’s Easter!” And with that proclamation we were awake. The voice was that of Titus and he was pretty excited because he knew today meant a “party” at our friends house after church. We got out of bed and made our way to the living room. I looked out the window when, “what to my wondering eyes should appear,” but freshly fallen snow (minus the sleigh and reindeer). Yes…snow on Easter Sunday. Such was the start of a really fun and joy filled day.

Bethany had put together the kids Easter baskets last night and set them out for the kids to discover them this morning (shown in the photo above). Inside each were a few eggs with some candy and just a few small presents that Bethany had picked up, including new placemats for the table, shoes, socks, and some stickers. Other than the candy and stickers, I think the other things were mainly just those things you know you need so you turn it in to a present and everyone wins. The kids really loved opening everything and discovering what was inside the eggs (gummy bears and chocolate).

We made it to church this morning and were dressed for the occasion. Bethany had the kids all dressed up with Avery in a dress and Titus in a suit. I had actually ironed different clothes but when I saw Titus in his suit I decided to do the same and made a wardrobe change. At church there was a lot of special music, a lot of which was done by this women’s singing group. They were actually really talented and sang a bunch of different songs, including an old Stephen Curtis Chapman tune that had been translated in to Czech. Someone actually brought us a translation headset so we got to listen to the message in English, which was a great blessing because the message was really good and focused on Christ. There wasn’t any Sunday school for the kids, but we enjoyed having them with us. Here’s a photo of Avery and Bethany–Avery’s face is classic.

Church actually ended early to our surprise which was the Lord’s blessing because we needed to get back to get the food prep done for our lunch with friends this afternoon (which was at the Yorman’s house). Mostly, the party and lunch consisted of a bunch of Josiah Venture families getting together. Bethany made a green bean dish, deviled eggs, and fresh salsa! They were all delicious. Everyone brought different appetizers and parts of the meal so it was one big potluck. Here’s a couple photos of some of the meal. We ate like kings!

We enjoyed sweet fellowship this afternoon together with the other missionaries and even had time to talk about Jesus with all our kids, as well as enjoyed a time of singing worship songs. Casey and Kristin asked if I would be able to bring my guitar and sing some songs which turned out to be a really fun time. Our friend John actually brought a small hand drum and his accordion, so we had a small band. While we were singing it started to snow pretty good outside, so we ended up singing two Christmas songs. Why not celebrate Christ’s birth and resurrection in the same day?!

The women had planned to do a egg hunt for the kids, so everyone pitched in to put eggs together and hide them. This was probably the highlight for the kids so we I got a ton of photos of it. They are below and I’ve put captions beneath ones that need more explanation.

This is Titus deep in thought over where his eggs might be. All the eggs were divided up by kid and Titus’ were “sports” themed while Avery’s were all pink in color.

Some of these hiding spots were pretty tricky.

There’s a pink one under there for Avery!

And another one!

When it was all said and done every kid had ten eggs. There’s was a little confusion for a bit because everyone thought they had hidden eleven eggs, but we think it was just a miscount. Each egg had either a sticker or a little toy inside. In the photo above Avery is enjoying discovering each little toy and you can even see on the ground that she lined them up as she opened them. Great times! What a fun day celebrating the risen Lord, Jesus Christ (even though the snow made it feel we were celebrating His birth)! It stayed pretty cold all day, but we definitely felt the warmth of friends and fellowship all day.

Finally, here are a few shots I got of the kids in their Sunday best. He is risen!

April 5, 2015
Opening the April Envelope

It has been on our agenda this week to open up the April envelope which is the second to last envelope we get to open. This one was signed by our friends the Millets and it was full of lots of fun things. As you can see in the photo above, the wrapping itself was something special and the kids loved trying to figure out how to get in to it. I took a lot of photos of the process today, so here’s the story in pictures (with captions beneath some photos).

It took the kids a bit to unravel the string and the large white plastic table cloth that the envelope was wrapped in.

Alongside the envelope was a big frame celebrating both Titus’ birthday and our resurrected Savior (Titus’ birthday is on the 24th). It was really fun to open this on Easter weekend!

Avery was pretty excited to find some colorful Tic-Tacs at first grab in the bag.

Titus found a present with his name on it and immediately got to work opening it. We were proud of him because he opened the card first and tried to read it, as well as asked if it was OK for him to open it even though it’s not his birthday. Since we were having so much fun, we though an early birthday present would be alright.

While Titus was opening his present, Avery was finding all kinds of things in the envelope.

Insides Titus’ gift were special markers with Bible story books! We love these kinds of books because the markers are special for this kind of paper and usually don’t cause a big mess. Titus was definitely excited about this one.

Titus got right to work coloring. I had been distracted by the other books that Avery had pulled out of the envelope and Bethany nudged me to take a photo of him coloring all by himself. He was very focused and as usual he picked the color red (his favorite color) to start with.

There were a ton of books and stickers inside, along with a sticker pack for the Passion week and Easter. The kids spent a lot of time working with their stickers and we had fun talking about Jesus and the tomb. We are so blessed to have friends from the States who were willing to sacrifice their time and resources to bless us like this. As always, thank you!

Beyond the envelope, the only other thing we did today was take the kids to the play place at the mall. This has become more of regular thing, but it made a lot of sense today because the weather was cold and mixed rain and snow. We talked about going to the zoo, but I’m glad we didn’t because it was just miserable outside most of the day. The kids had a fun time at the mall and we were able to do a little grocery shopping while we were out. Tomorrow we’ll have the Easter service at church and a bunch of missionaries are getting together for a pot-luck style meal in our town. Bethany is cutting veggies and prepping food as a type and I’m looking forward to celebrating the risen Lord tomorrow!

April 4, 2015
A Good Friday On a Snowy Day

We woke up this morning to a winter wonderland and the sound of Titus saying, “Mom! Dad! It snowed!” Getting out of bed I wiped my eyes, blinked a few times, and couldn’t believe all the snow that had fallen last night. Knowing this would slow down the morning, I hurried to get dressed and try to get out the door to get Titus to school. Instead of walking, I decided to dig the snow around the garage doors and get the car and drive Titus. Bethany needed it for Avery’s doctor appointment today, so I figured it would be best to get it out for her. As we drove Titus was giddy about the falling snow all around and said, “It’s Christmastime!” Not quite, pal.

After shuffling through the snow with Titus we made into the school where we got our shoes off and then it hit me–I don’t think there’s school today. Looking around I didn’t see very many jackets hanging in the little cubbies and there were only a handful of shoes. I took Titus upstairs to his class and sure enough the doors were locked. I think this is the third time Titus and I have experienced this. What’s really strange is we thought Titus was going to be “tested” today to see if he can move up to Kindergarten next year. In fact, we had prepared Titus for his teacher to question him and were trying to tell him to be ready and make sure and listen and obey. Come to find out tonight after retranslating the email we got from his teacher, she was actually trying to ask us to “consider whether we should send him to school today.” It’s hard being lost in translation. I told Titus there wasn’t school today and said “let’s go,” and he stopped and said, “Daddy, I want to stay.” He has never done that, but we think he was just excited about something different and what we had prepared him for. We found out later that there’s no school on Good Friday and there’s no school on Easter Monday (the day after Sunday). Oh, the life of a foreigner.

The day wasn’t a complete lost as Bethany was able to take Avery for her check-up which is required for her entering preschool next year. I had a few big meetings at the Josiah Venture office and carpooled with another missionary which allowed Bethany to have the car. The Lord was definitely working behind the scenes on that one because we didn’t know it was going to snow like it did and it was great that Bethany had the car instead of trying to walk.

Tonight we attended our church’s Good Friday service. I don’t think there was anyone doing English translation, so that was tough, but it was a really full service and we struggled to find a place to sit at first. Above you can see a photo I took and we were way up high in the balcony. They didn’t have any kids program tonight, so we had Titus and Avery with us which was a challenge. The service was long and since it started at 6:00pm it pushed into their normal bedtime. We actually ended up leaving a little early because the kids were restless, but I was glad to be there even though we couldn’t follow what was going on. We were blessed as well tonight by the music of Keith and Kristyn Getty which we listened to before and after the service.

I think I was especially blessed by listening to the song “The Power of the Cross.” It’s a wonderful song with amazing truths, and a perfect song for Good Friday. Here’s a recording of it I found on YouTube and I’m putting the lyrics below the video for you to read. I will echo what many Christians will likely say today, “It’s Friday, but Sunday is coming.”

Oh, to see the dawn
Of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.

CHORUS:
This, the pow’r of the cross:
Christ became sin for us;
Took the blame, bore the wrath—
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh, to see the pain
Written on Your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Ev’ry bitter thought,
Ev’ry evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow.

Now the daylight flees;
Now the ground beneath
Quakes as its Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two,
Dead are raised to life;
“Finished!” the vict’ry cry.

Oh, to see my name
Written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death;
Life is mine to live,
Won through Your selfless love.

This, the pow’r of the cross:
Son of God—slain for us.
What a love! What a cost!
We stand forgiven at the cross.

The Power of the Cross
Words and Music by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2005 Thankyou Music

April 3, 2015