It's All Grace

a journey with the Thomason family

Better Health Through Blogging

I saw a Czech doctor I’ve never seen before at the recommendation of another missionary friend. Her office is about 35 minutes from where we live and since I really wasn’t feeling great, Bethany drove me and we brought the kids. While I was at the office Bethany and the kids went to the store so I could just focus. I walked into a small building near some high rise apartments (photo above) and I wasn’t sure if it was the right place so Bethany waited in the car while I went inside. Sure enough, it was so off she went while I waited to see the doctor (photo of the waiting room below).

After seeing the nurse who took down my information from my passport, I walked in to where the doctor was. Here’s how the conversation started (I’m leaving her name out intentionally):

Doctor: “Hi.”
Me: “Hello.”
Doctor: “You’re Shay?”
Me: “Yes?” (a little confused as to why she used “Shay” when all my paperwork says “Sherman”)
Doctor: “I know. I read your blog.”

She went on to tell me that she reads our blog as well as Connie’s blog because as a Czech it’s interesting for her to see how we see Czech culture. She added that it’s also an “English lesson” for her as she reads. She told me that she was reading our blog last night and I mentioned that I would be going to a new doctor and she said, “That’s me!” We continued to talk and she was telling me that because she reads our blog she understands our health situation and that we have been sick a lot since we moved. This was actually a huge help to diagnosing what might be going on with us a family.

No doubt about it, she said I have a sinus infection and prescribed me some antibiotics. But we ended up talking more about our situation and what she thinks might be going on. As I gave her some medical history on me, she had some ideas on my allergies and how there may be new allergies here that we didn’t have in the States, along with different strains of sickness. We also discussed just the dramatic change we’ve made in moving here and how that too could be wearing down our immune system. In the end, I really appreciated her thoughts and insight in trying to really help us get back to better health overall. It was such a blessing, and Doctor, if you’re reading, thank you so much all your help and kindness!

If having a Czech doctor read your blog wasn’t surprising enough, I found a baseball stadium here in Czech! Amazingly, it is right next door to the doctor’s office. When I finished up I texted Bethany that I was done and had just a minute to walk over to it and take a few photos. I couldn’t believe my eyes because baseball is definitely not a sport you’re going to see much of here, but there it was in all it’s glory. It couldn’t be better timing as my beloved Dodgers begin spring training games today in Arizona. The stadium was pretty nice and even had an American flag flying in the wind. Behind the stadium is a restaurant called “Original Baseball Restaurant” (at least I think that’s what it’s called) and I got a photo of that as well (below). I wonder if they have Dodger dogs? Play ball!

When we got back I just wanted to rest, but the kids wanted to go to the park since the weather was nice. Bethany felt up for it and took them later this afternoon. Here’s a few photos of their little journey.

And finally, some signs of Spring are coming up through the grass at the park (below). These little flowers were popping up all over and there were yellow and white versions. If anyone knows what they are be sure and leave us a comment and let us know! Let’s just hope I’m not allergic…

March 4, 2015
Sick Bodies, Encouraged Hearts

I’ve lost count of how many hours we’ve slept the last few days. I feel sad for our kids who see us here, but can’t spend the kind of time they want with us because we’re so energy zapped. Titus kept asking me to take him outside to play and I told him while I was lying on the couch, “Sorry, pal. I just can’t.” He said, “But Dad, it’s sunny out!” “I know, bud. I’m sorry.” Above is a photo of me lying on the couch. Even though I pretty much reject the “selfie” movement in our culture, I couldn’t resist documenting how I was feeling today.

Bethany has been a trooper even though she hasn’t been feeling well and she’s pregnant. She handed me this bowl of soup shown above today for lunch as well as took care of the kids and provided for their needs. I don’t know if the wedding vows “in sickness and in health” meant really bad colds or infections, but Bethany was faithful nonetheless and I’m thankful for her. That being said, she also gave me some other concoction after lunch which was quite fowl. You can see the photo of it below and her caption with my thoughts (aka “witches brew”).

We're still sick so I made some "witch's brew" as @shaycam called it. Ginger, garlic, lemon, honey and a pinch of cayenne in hot water. He drank it down but not without complaining that it tasted "like rats." Praying we can all be restored to health soon. #czechlife

A photo posted by Bethany (@wifeyness) on Mar 3, 2015 at 2:45am PST

We’re sitting here tonight tired and still sick and I have a doctor’s appointment scheduled for tomorrow at 1pm. It was the earliest I could get and it’s a 35 minute drive from our place. It’s not the doctor I wanted to see, but I have a good recommendation from another missionary here. I’m hopeful we can get some clarity and hopefully some medicine that will help me get back on my feet.

Right now we’re watching the live stream of the Shepherd’s Conference which I had the joy and privilege of attending a year ago before we moved to Czech. I was extremely blessed to hold the kids on my lap tonight and we as a family gathered around my computer to hear the music of Keith and Kristyn Getty. Their modern hymns are a source of encouragement for these sick bodies and make me long for heaven. There is definitely something special about singing songs that reflect the very words of God found in Scripture. Praise the Lord.

March 3, 2015
“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.

March 2, 2015
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.

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.

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.

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.

March 1, 2015
A Little Trip to Prague (pt. 2)

Note: This is “Part 2” of our trip to Prague. If you’re looking for Part 1, click here.

Last night was a little rough. It was our first of two nights staying here in Prague and apparently this is a loud place on Friday night. The flat that we’re staying in is really close to some big tourist areas and we’re on the 5th floor, but I think there were a few party animals out and about because we could pretty much hear them all night. At one point we were awoken to the sound of maybe a dozen people singing “happy birthday” in the stairwell of this building. The kids slept right through it, but Bethany and I were wide awake.

Despite the rough night of sleep we actually had a really fun day today. Our friends Zach and Kara lead us around Prague a bit, but we also spent a lot of time just talking and catching up with them. It was really nice just to hang with some friends. In fact, I’d say I enjoyed their company more than Prague.

We took trams and subways around and just kind of visited a few random spots throughout Prague, but we also stopped in a coffee shop and talked for a while and spent an extended time in the park with our kids. Below are a few random photos of the kids enjoying all the fun and things we saw today (captions below each).

Here you can see Avery hanging on for her life while Titus and other kids peddle around on this different kind of merry go round thing.

A quick photo of Kara and Bethany at the park.

Titus has his “game face” on while we peddle around the merry go round.

In a section of the city there was a man making big bubbles and the kids loved watching it.

If you look to the left of “Le Patio” you can see Titus’ reflection in the glass of this store. He’s holding my huge camera because he was on a kick today of taking photos. He kept saying, “Dad, can I take some photos?” I said sure and he was really getting the hang of it. Here are two other photos he took all on his own (below).

The kids needed naps in the afternoon from all the walking we were doing so we went back to our flat and just hung out in the afternoon with Zach and Kara while the kids slept. As dinner approached we went out back on the town to see if we could grab some food at a Mexican restaurant. Sadly, it ended up being completely full and they turned us away. Kara knew of another place she likes so we enjoyed some of the best pizza I’ve had in Czech. Afterwards we took a tram (or “trolley” as Titus calls it) around the city and made our way to the Charles Bridge. Here’s a few photos form that part of our evening.

I believe this is the longest escalator in Czech. It takes 2.5 minutes to go from the bottom to the top if you just stand. It feels like you’re going straight up and I found myself getting a little dizzy when I looked up.

Above is the Charles Bridge at about 8:15 tonight. It was a cold, clear night and the kids loved seeing the river beneath us. In the upper right you can see the Prague castle all lit up on the hill.

On the other side of the bridge was a little town-like area (I don’t reall know what it was), but we looked down and I took this photo because well…I’m in Europe.

Above are the kids on the tram, just loving life. We probably could’ve just rode on the tram all day and they would’ve been happy.

What a fun day just to spend time together as a family and with friends. I just texted Zach to tell him we had a blast and just really appreciate him and Kara and our friendship. Zach and his family are such a big part of my story and testimony and I’m so thankful to God that He sovereignly placed them in my life. What a joy to now serve alongside him and his wife with my own family. The Lord is too good to us. As always, it’s all grace.

February 28, 2015