It's All Grace

a journey with the Thomason family

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

January 3, 2015
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!

January 2, 2015
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.

January 1, 2015
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

December 31, 2014
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.

December 30, 2014