It's All Grace

a journey with the Thomason family

We’re Coming to America

That’s right. Amazingly, on Christmas Eve we are flying to Washington state for just a few weeks. We really weren’t expecting to be returning this soon, but Bethany’s brother is getting married and our family is part of the ceremony. Since we’re flying all that way we decided to spend the holiday there with Bethany’s family and flights out of Prague were much more reasonably priced on Christmas eve. We’ll be there for about two-and-a-half weeks and coming back in January.

I don’t know how all missionaries do trips home, but we’ve been keeping a list of things we want to bring back with us from the States. You know, things like: ranch dressing mix, salsa, green chilis, coffee beans, and even hand soap! Oh sure, you can get hand soap here in Czech, but we’re just used to the smells of the kinds we would buy in America. It’s so funny how you miss the little things you have grown up with your entire life. We just got done video chatting with Bethany’s parents about the trip and we were dreaming about American food that we might be able to enjoy. Call us silly, but sometimes you just miss that good ole’ Tillamook cheddar cheese.

With the help of Bethany’s parents we’re also going to be able to get our annual letter out in the mail this year. We worked hard on it the past few weeks and it’s all printed and ready to be shipped. Bethany’s family is going to help get all the envelopes stuff and shipped out which is a huge blessing! Hopefully you’re on our mailing list because something special is on it’s way very soon!

Finally, please pray for us as we travel in less than two weeks. It’s a long way to go and it’ll literally take planes, trains, and automobiles!

December 12, 2014
Small Fridge, Small Post

I walked with a few teammates to lunch today and while we were on the path there were some older Czechs pushing a small refrigerator down the street. Often we’ll see these little carts being pushed around of even tiny trailers hitched to the back of little two door cars. I snuck the photo below as we walked by, but I’m realizing more and more that I see this stuff a lot and am starting not to think about it much. Maybe what used to be new and different is starting to become normal? I think that’s bittersweet.

There’s a lot of different projects coming to a head at Josiah Venture as we get close to the end of the year. Our team has been working hard on a lot of different things, one of them being a book that I am personally taking the reigns on. It’s a 20th anniversary photo book that celebrates the many things God has done and continues to do in the lives of young people across Central and Eastern Europe. Even though I have seen the book many times as I have been working on it, I continue to be struck by the quotes and photos inside from young people who have heard the Gospel because of the ministry of Josiah Venture and our missionaries. It caused me to worship the Lord today and reminded me of where I once stood before Him until I heard the truth of Christ. Praise the Lord for His kindness!

December 11, 2014
Language and Lower Temps

We have been having regular Czech lessons on Wednesday mornings which are going great. Tamara (our teacher) has been very gracious and helpful, especially this morning when I couldn’t pronounce the Czech word that basically means “middle” in English. Above is a photo of our books out on the table and below is a photo of us studying direction words in relation to the town square or center of town. As a bonus, it’s nice to know how to say “hospital” just in case we need it!

It was much colder this morning than most mornings. I’m not quite sure, but I believe the fog was freezing and falling to the ground. All around it was white, but I don’t believe it was snowing. I saw nothing but white as I drove this morning as well. Below are a few photos of the white, along with a photo of the car telling me it’s -2.5 degrees Celsius (or 27 degrees).

Later in the afternoon the sun broke through the clouds and fog and it was very beautiful outside. Even though it doesn’t last long, it’s always a joy to see the sun. You kind of forget how many days it’s been since the sun was shining, but you definitely feel it when it does. I walked to the window today at the JV office and looked out at streaky clouds and took the photo below.

This evening we enjoyed a dinner with our friends Jenny, Landen, and Martina who all serve with Josiah Venture. Jenny and Landen moved here from Santa Clarita (where we moved from) and Martina is from Czech (well, to be clear, Jenny is Czech but has been living in the States for about many years). Bethany made a family favorite, Cheddar Corn Chowder Soup and we had a fun time laughing and talking about our new lives here. It’s great to serve with all of these wonderful people and are so thankful for their friendship.

December 10, 2014
Who Would Have Dreamed

Back in September, I wrote about about Sovereign Grace Music’s newest Christmas album called Prepare Him Room. Since then I’ve probably only listened to the entire album a few times through, but I have listened to one song at least a dozen times. The song is called “Who Would Have Dreamed” and as I listened to the chorus the other night I was struck by the depth of the words. It says,

And who would have dreamed or ever foreseen
That we could hold God in our hands?
The Giver of Life is born in the night
Revealing God’s glorious plan
To save the world

The entire song is worth a listen. Here’s a more unplugged version that they posted to YouTube, but I recommend buying the entire album on their site.

Tonight we had our friend Misa over for dinner. She’s a young Czech girl who’s part of the youth ministry at our church and who we have gotten to know better. Misa has been a blessing to us many times when we needed the help of a translator and evening helping us around our house. Tonight over dinner she was filling us in on a lot of Czech culture as she is learning our American culture. In March it looks like she’ll be going to the States to begin to study in English in Pennsylvania so she was excited to share that news with us.

Misa was also a big help tonight as she talked with our landlord about some paperwork that we have been unable to find. We had to change our rental agreement last week in order to apply for our long term visas and our landlord wanted us to return the original. Bethany and scoured the house last weekend trying to find it to no avail. As Misa was explaining this to our landlord, Bethany went back to the very first place we checked (where we thought we had filed it) and found it! Thankfully we got it all straightened out and were thankful for Misa’s help in communicating for us.

After dinner we made a quick trip to the store with the whole family to get ready for tomorrow. We’re having a few other friends tomorrow and just wanted to get all the shopping done tonight to save Bethany a little time. Above is a photo of Avery pushing our cart all the way out the store and to our car by herself! She was very focused and did a great job. These kids crack us up…what a joy.

December 9, 2014
Strange Things I’ve Seen and Kid’s Questions

This past week I have collected two photos of things I saw while driving that I have found are a little strange. The first is the image below of a cement truck. It’s completely pink and with flowers painted on it. Personally, I think cement trucks are manly. They are not supposed to be painted pink or have flowers painted on them.

The second thing I saw this evening is this weird wood thing in the back of a little trailer. Maybe someone knows what it is and it’s purpose, but I am confused. But I digress.

Other than the strange things we’re seeing, we kept Titus home from school today. He was sneezing a lot this morning and we don’t want to spread anything among his class. Our health as a family is slowly improving, so I was a little bummed that Titus might be coming down with something. We’ll track of that and see how it goes.

Tonight as I was laying the kids down, and after reading them their Bible, Titus asked me, “Dad where’s God?” Before I could answer he said, “In heaven?” I said, “Yes.” Then Titus asked, “Why can’t I see Him?” I tried to explain to him that the Bible says we can’t see God, but that He is spirit. This led to more questions and Avery cut in to the conversation from her bed and said, “Titus, we see God in the Bible.” I believe she’s actually talking about the pictures we see in her “Big Picture” Bible, but it still sounds profound and she’s absolutely right. We can’t see God, but we can see Him in the Bible.

I’m thankful I get to have little conversations like that with my kids. I left the bedroom smiling with hope that our kids continue to ask questions, even the hard ones like why we can’t see God. My hope is that they would one day truly see God in the pages of their Bibles, in the creation around them, and in the lives of Bethany and me.

December 8, 2014