It's All Grace

a journey with the Thomason family

Even Sundays Are in Jesus’ Hands
As much as I love Sunday, they have quickly become one of the hardest days of the week for our family. I don’t know exactly what it is, but it just seems like everything about the morning routine on Sunday here in Czech is really difficult. I believe I actually said to Bethany this morning, “Sunday is my least favorite day of the week here.” Mostly that was said in frustration with just trying get out of the house, but I also think it’s just a lot of change and adjustment to living here and doing church here.

That’s probably why I was so encouraged by a blog post that I read today that wasn’t even meant for me. Oh, for sure the Lord knew I needed this reminder, but the author of the article actually wrote it for missionary wives. The title of the post is “He’s Got Missionary Wives in His Hands” and I initially read it thinking I would pass it along to Bethany, but the more I read the more helpful I realized it was for my own soul. The entire article is bathed in Scripture, but her list of “…God’s particular, far-reaching, steadfast love, which he shows to us…” is so helpful, especially on Sundays. Here’s the list in it’s entirety:

You and your family are in Jesus’ hands.
Your decision to move is in Jesus’ hands.
Your ministry training is in Jesus’ hands.
Your ministry fundraising is in Jesus’ hands.
Your culture shock is in Jesus’ hands.
Your children’s schooling is in Jesus’ hands.
Your personal finances are in Jesus’ hands.
Your healthcare options are in Jesus’ hands.
Your family’s health is in Jesus’ hands.
Your living situation is in Jesus’ hands.
Your language learning is in Jesus’ hands.
Your travel and transportation are in Jesus’ hands.
Your food options are in Jesus’ hands.
Your homesickness is in Jesus’ hands.
Your family back home is in Jesus’ hands.
Your friendships back home are in Jesus’ hands.
Your new friendships are in Jesus’ hands.
Your opportunities to serve using your gifts are in Jesus’ hands.
Your husband’s ministry is in Jesus’ hands.
Your personal ministry is in Jesus’ hands.
Your ministry successes are in Jesus’ hands.
Your ministry failures are in Jesus’ hands.
Your marriage is in Jesus’ hands.
Your children are in Jesus’ hands.
Your growth in Christ-likeness is in Jesus’ hands.
Your teammates and coworkers are in Jesus’ hands.
Your suffering is in Jesus’ hands.
Your visits home are in Jesus’ hands.
Your safety is in Jesus’ hands.
Your future is in Jesus’ hands.

Isn’t that helpful? Every item she mentions is something Bethany and I have discussed and tried to work through during this process, especially as we have moved and been here for a few months. I’m so thankful that it’s all in Jesus’ hands. Even Sundays are in Jesus’ hands.

That simple reminder became a really big one tonight as my teammate Daniel called me on the phone. Unbelievably, he was robbed a second time in less than a week (photo above of the car with the window smashed in). The only difference is instead of taking cash like they did on Tuesday, tonight they stole about $5,000 in camera equipment which Daniel uses on our team. In fact, the camera still contained all of the footage Daniel took on Friday night when we were at the EXIT tour event. Daniel and his roommate have been working with the police again tonight to see what they can do, and Lord willing, the stuff will be returned. Either way, it’s another reminder that it’s all in Jesus’ hands.

This evening we went to a friend’s house to celebrate Rachael’s birthday. We had the joy of giving her the “gift of words” where we share about her and the things that we appreciate about her. It’s something the Josiah Venture team regularly and I always find it special. Rachael has been a joy to get to know and our family is thankful for her ministry here! Happy birthday, Rachael.

On our way home from the party tonight I literally got us lost. We live like one mile from where our friend’s house is, but it was really foggy tonight. After turning left on a road I couldn’t see, we ended up crossing the river into Poland. It’s the first time in my life I’ve taken a wrong turn that made me end up in another country–all of which happened with two minutes of leaving the party. This tells you two things: 1) I’m still learning where we live 2) We live literally next to Poland…it’s crazy! Well, it’s a good thing getting lost is in Jesus’ hands because found our way back and finally made it home safely.

Titus gives his thumb of approval on the day.
November 9, 2014
Little Czech Bakers

It’s about 3:30pm as I write this on a cloudy and rainy day in Cesky Tesin and the sky is already getting dark. According to Google, the sun is setting at 4:12pm here right now. I remember getting off work around 4:30pm in California and the sun being close to setting, but I don’t remember it being quite as dark as it is here. The whole family is back in the bedrooms taking afternoon naps, but I’m a little concerned they’ll just end up sleeping through the night with how dark it is outside.

With all the rain, we’ve been playing inside today. Titus made the word “Zoo” on his own and knew what the word was all on his own. This was a first and we were proud (photo below).

Like most Saturdays, we’ve spent the day cleaning up the house. I feel like we’re always playing catch up right now as we adjust to new schedules and our new life over here. You would think after four or so months here we would have a good routine, but I would say we’re still figuring some of that out. I think that will even have to adjust again this next week because we’re starting (Lord willing!) language lessons again with a new Czech teacher here.

Tonight we had fun making more cookies from the leftover dough we made the other day. On a whim I bought the kids these little hats and aprons for $2 at the store the other day. They were wearing them tonight and they’re starting to look like little Czech bakers. Here’s some photos of the them having fun.

Lastly, I shared last night about being part of EXIT Tour here in Czech and Kevin Dickson, the EXIT Tour director here, wrote a comment saying, “48 Bibles were given out last night with over 40 people saying that they want to know more about Jesus.” Those are incredible numbers and we praise the Lord for his work in the lives of young people over here!

November 8, 2014
EXIT Tour

UPDATE: Kevin Dickson, the EXIT Tour director in Czech, wrote a comment saying, “48 bibles were given out last night with over 40 people saying that they want to know more about Jesus.” Those are incredible numbers and we praise the Lord for his work in the lives of young people over here!

It’s late so I’m going to keep it short tonight. I had the privilege of being part of a ministry event tonight that is put on by the local churches called “EXIT Tour.” The Josiah Venture team helps put the event on and it’s an evangelistic outreach event that happens all week in public high schools and culminates on Friday or Saturday night. Throughout the week the EXIT team takes over schools doing music, teaching, ethics training, and just spends time with students. There are after school activities where they continue to build relationships with the students and the churches are involved. At the concerts at the end of the week the students hear the gospel, many of them for the very first time.

That’s exactly what happened tonight and I was there capturing photos and video alongside my teammate Daniel. We’re hoping to tell some of the story of what God has been doing at these events where over 60,000 young people have been able to hear the gospel since the tour began a few years ago. It’s amazing how music is such a universal language that can bring many people together.

Here’s a few photos from tonight, most of them of the band and the concert. A lot of great conversations happen after the concert, including passing out Bibles. If you think of it, please pray for this team and the churches here who will welcome many young people to church this Sunday.

November 7, 2014
From a Bear to a Boom

I shared yesterday that Titus was going to be part of some kind of event tonight that we honestly thought was a play. The directions we were given was that he was to have a mask or costume and have a paper lantern on a stick. Bethany actually ended up making him a lion mask because Titus wanted one and we thought there were two parts or something to the evening. For instance, maybe the kids come in masks and then they change into something else for a formal program. Either way, we weren’t sure.

Bethany commissioned me to go to the store and hunt for a paper lantern and a stick. I don’t know even know where I would find that in the States much less Czech, but we texted some friends here and they pointed us to the store that had it–a paper store in the town square. I found what we needed about thirty minutes before the program was starting, went home, and we all walked over to his school. When we got there everyone from the school was lined up outside and there tons of families still walking there. Below is a photo of a few pumpkins outside the school that were lit up which was a little confusing. Was this a Halloween thing? I also noticed the lights on the school were completely off which the made me seriously wonder if we were ever even going inside. As I looked around I saw kids dressed up as witches, skeletons, and had their faces painted. Are we trick or treating? What is going on? These are the questions that ran through my mind. When I saw Titus’ teacher she was dressed as a witch and had a broom. Oh boy…what have we gotten ourselves in to?!

After seeing some of the other kids outside we realized there was a little misunderstanding about having a light inside the lantern so I ended up running (literally) over to the store and getting a stick with a light for Titus’ lantern. I had seen them on my first visit and knew now what we were actually supposed to buy. We just wanted to make sure that Titus had what the other kids had because remember, we still think he’s going to be a bear in a play. While I was at the store everyone ended up walking around the town with their lanterns, including Bethany and the kids. Bethany took a few photos of their walk (below).

I met back up with the family as they were completing their walk around the park in the center of town. I put Titus’ lantern together with the light. Here’s a photo of him with it.

Mostly we just followed the crowd around which brought us back to the school at the end of the walk. We all walked into the school property and the all teachers were dressed up with bags of candy and wrapped treats. It was dark and very confusing for us so I stayed with Avery by the gate to the school and Bethany took Titus to the teachers with the bags. He got a little wafer bar with chocolate that he shared with all of us. The crowd began to move towards another part of the school yard so we followed behind. Everyone ended up sitting on the picnic tables and benches out in the playground area. Again, it was dark, so we just found a spot towards the back of everyone and just kind of sat there.

After a few minutes the teachers and kids started chanting something that we didn’t understand. This went on for a few minutes. How long will this last? I guess there’s no play tonight? Titus ran over to the slide and was playing because he knew his way around the school yard. He told us he played there all the time. Not 10 seconds after he came back to where we were sitting, we hear BOOM! and suddenly fireworks are going off about 30 feet from us. They were close and loud. The kids quickly covered their ears and Titus started crying and yelling, “I want to go home!” He’s not a huge fan of fireworks. I grabbed Titus and put him in my arms and told him he would be OK and that it would be over soon. Below is a photo of the slide he had just been on before the fireworks started to go off.

The fireworks show lasted about 2-3 minutes. Titus kept insisting we leave, but there really was no way for us get back to the gate with everyone standing around so we basically had to grin and bear it. I just started laughing. This is just not something you would ever see happen in the States: a bunch of preschool and elementary kids with their families standing a few feet from huge fireworks that are literally exploding directly above them…in the playground of the school. Welcome to the Czech Republic.

The fireworks ending signaled the end of the night and also confirmed that there was definitely no play or bear suits tonight. In the end it all turned out OK. Titus cried a little more on our way home, but we assured him, as we often do, that Jesus is always with him when he’s scared. We walked back to our place with some Czech friends from our church who have a son in the same class as Titus. They are a great family and that was actually the highlight of the night being able to spend a few minute with them.

I guess the moral of the story is we’re learning to trust the Lord in new areas. We have no idea what we’re getting ourselves in to sometimes, but we trust the Lord will lead the way as we walk by faith.

November 6, 2014
A Bear Named Titus

Bethany took the photo below of an announcement on the door at the preschool which we think has to do with school photos. It looks like you can sign up for a time and bring you kid in for some Christmas portrait? We’re not exactly sure.

You could say there is an ongoing dialogue with Titus about just what exactly is going on at his school. His teacher does a great job of trying to give us some explanation of what is happening, but Titus usually tells us the full story. Today the teacher said the kids are doing some kind of play tomorrow in the late afternoon. Titus, however, said that he’s dressing up like a bear. He told us his teacher helped get into this so-called bear suit and put a nose on him. I guess we’ll just show up tomorrow and find out if our kid is going to be a bear. Ironically, Titus is supposed to play a bear in the Christmas play at our church here in December. They even gave him a line to memorize (all in Czech). He must just have those bear like qualities?

I finished up my retreat with the Creative Communications team today. Mostly today we spent meeting on a lot of different projects and how we can improve our processes across Josiah Venture. We had some great conversations and I think the team left with a lot of clarity about what the future holds and how we can be good stewards of the time God has given us. I’m really thankful for this team and their hearts to see God glorified in their work and the quality of what we produce and care for us as a team.

Tonight I have had to fight fatigue and tiredness. I realized on the drive home this evening that I needed to try and push hard to be “all there” for Bethany and the kids as I was returning from being gone for two days. It’s so easy to want to come home and just relax because I’ve been busy for two days, but Bethany has had her own hands full with the kids and she too needs a break. She’ll have to evaluate how I did, but it’s amazing how much you have to fight to serve and care for your family when you’re just plain old worn out.

November 5, 2014