It's All Grace

a journey with the Thomason family

A Sick Day and Then Some

Our family has been severely under the weather this past week. We just spent the last 4 days at home together and really have done nothing but try to take care of each other. I (Shay) came down with this crazy sickness first and proceeded to pass it along to every other member. Though I’m working on my 6th consecutive day of feeling sick, I do believe I might be heading for recovery here. However, I can’t remember a time in any recent history of feeling as sick as I have this week–it’s been awful.

It’s very hard to keep your focus on Christ when you are having a 103 temperature. I’m thankful to Bethany for reminding me more than once that God had ordained in this for us and that He always desires our best. And I’m thankful that the Lord allowed this to happen during a time when we didn’t have any major commitments to keep as we were all literally stuck in bed.

If you think of us, pray for a speedy recovery for all of us. It’s hard to be sick, but it’s harder when you’re trying to take care of your family too so we could use a little break from the coughing and sneezing!

January 27, 2013
Is Jesus Enough?

This 30 minute message from David Platt is worth every minute.

January 10, 2013
10 Chapters a Day

I don’t think I’ve ever made a New Year’s resolution. You always read around the new year about how resolutions never work and how people break them with a few weeks…yada, yada, yada. Well call it a resolution or whatever you want, but this year I decided to start Professor Horner’s Bible Reading System. Prof. Horner was actually one of my professor’s in college. He taught many of our English classes at The Master’s College and both Bethany and I took him for World Lit. We actually had the same class together while we were dating! But his Bible reading system pops up every year on blogs around the Internet as a legitimate reading program and now that I’m full engaged in it I can’t recommend it enough.

The basic idea is that you read 10 chapters in 10 different books of the Bible every day. If you look at the photo above you’ll see my book marks which hold my spot in all 10 different places. But instead of being a yearly Bible reading program, you actually finish the entire Bible in 8 months and while you read there are some books you will read multiple times. It might sound complicated, but it’s actually very simple–it’s just not what we’re used to.

In his notes on the reading system, Prof. Horner says that “you’ll realize you were starving yourself from God’s Word” and honestly I think that’s exactly what has happened to me and it’s only been 8 days. This system is no doubt intense and requires discipline, but it engages my mind in a way I never thought possible and the more you do it the easier it gets. By reading in many different books I’m seeing how my mind is trying to put the pieces together of God’s story. If you believe the Bible is one cohesive story, then this system makes sense. All the parts can start to come together and you can see the story of God just unravel–it’s mind blowing!

If you’re interested at all in starting this kind of system, I recommend going to Tim Challies blog and seeing his review of it. I think you will be blessed.

And one more side note about Prof. Horner: he’s also written what I believe is the best book on film and worldview out there for Christians. The book is called Meaning at the Movies: Becoming a Discerning Viewer and it will greatly challenge your heart as we think about art, film, and in general how to use our movie watching to the glory of God.

January 8, 2013
Killing Sin

Not new methods, but only an understanding of how the Gospel works, can provide an adequate foundation and pattern for dealing with sin.

Read the whole article for a great short study out of Colossians on mortifying or killing sin by Sinclair Furguson (via TableTalk magazine).

January 4, 2013
Home For Christmas

This year we were home for Christmas. That may sound normal to you, but we’re usually flying some place and spending it with our extended family so being home is a nice change of pace.

As our little family grows it’s fun to start and/or continue traditions. One tradition Bethany grew up with was eating breakfast on the floor in the living room, beneath the tree. We have continued this the past 2 years and it’s a fun way to start Christmas day. This year we enjoyed sausage, bacon, eggs, and freshly baked cinnamon rolls! After that we broke open the stockings and started tearing into the wrapping paper. Since we have family out of state we open presents “together” over video chat which definitely saves money on airfare, but doesn’t replace actually being together in the same room. We still had fun giving and receiving gifts and our families are always very generous.

Bethany got some new everyday dishes, a few books, and some clothes. I got books, books, and more books. They are basically all I ask for so I’m stoked (more on this in another post). Titus got a bunch of toys but all he really cares about is the remote control car Nana got him. Honestly, it’s a pretty cool car so I totally understand his never-ending desire to run that thing all around the house. And finally, Avery got a real metal shopping cart (mini size), a few dolls, and of course some clothes–girls always get clothes.

We have been greatly blessed this year and it’s a great joy to celebrate the birth of Jesus. More than ever before I feel like I’ve been thinking about Christ’s death more than his birth. Christ knew his purpose and from birth he was destined for the cross. Praise God for his sovereign plan in saving us and for Christ’s humility in coming as a baby and paying for our sins on the cross!

Here’s a few photos of our Christmas day:

Not enough Thomason Christmas for you? Click here for more photos.

December 27, 2012