Author: Shay

A little bit, a little bit more.

To the Skater Kid Who Asked To Borrow My Cell Phone

Post author By Shay
Post date May 6, 2008
3 Comments on To the Skater Kid Who Asked To Borrow My Cell Phone

Hey bro,

I hope you’re doing good and were able to find a ride. I’m sorry you hurt your leg on those stairs — that sucks.

The real reason I’m writing you is to say I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I let my pride get in the way of telling you about the best thing about me. I’m sorry I was too scared to tell you about a guy named Jesus who saved me from my sin. I know you may not know what sin is, but I should have told you about it. Sin is lame and will ultimately lead to your death which is why I can’t believe I didn’t explain it to you. I’m sure you’re not as lame as me. I’m sure if you could save one of your friends from death you would. But, I had a few minutes with you and I let fear dominate my heart. I feared you wouldn’t care what I thought about sin or about Jesus Christ. I honestly didn’t think you would care about spending eternity in heaven with God as opposed to hell. My selfishness got in the way of letting you know about the greatest gift that was ever given — that is, Jesus Christ. Of course it’s a lot easier for me to write it now because I feel no fear here. I don’t have to look you in the eyes and see you reject me, and as always, hindsight is 20/20. It’s easy for me to look back at our few minutes together and just think of it as an opportunity for you to use my phone and find a ride home, but it couldn’t of just been that. Why would God direct you to me — one of His children — just to borrow my phone? Why did I just happen to drive up at the exact moment with a phone in my pocket, which is what you needed and also with His Word on my heart, which you needed more. It just doesn’t make sense. I mean, I could’ve told you about His amazing love and how He can save you from eternal separation from him if you just accept his free gift in faith, again — the gift of Jesus Christ. I could’ve told you how He has transformed my life, heart, and mind and made me a new man — free from the penalty of sin and death because of my disobedience to Him. Oh I could’ve invited you to church, where we learn more about who this God is and how to follow him better and where we learn all about His work in our lives. Yeah, I probably could’ve explained it all to you in a few minutes, but instead I just let you borrow my phone and go right back to skating — and for that I’m sorry.

I really do hope you can forgive me. You may not believe me now, but Christ really is great. It’s a shame I didn’t tell you about him, but I got scared. I want you to know that I’m praying for boldness the next time I run in to you or someone else. I’m praying that I won’t keep this good news to myself. I’m praying that God would change your heart like He has changed mine.

Sincerely,
Shay

Photography

Announcing ShayThomason.com

Post author By Shay
Post date May 4, 2008
1 Comment on Announcing ShayThomason.com

Well, the people have spoken. Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of requests to post my photography portfolio — so, I did! You can view my photography portfolio at www.shaythomason.com.

Leave me a comment and let me know you think — I appreciate any feedback. Enjoy.

Music With A Message…

Dizmas’ new album came out today, and the best part — it’s on this thing called the internet!

Get your copy… $7.99 on iTunes. Beautiful.

And for the record… Zach used to wear those visors — trust me, I was there.

Photography

Life Is Full

Post author By Shay
Post date April 28, 2008
1 Comment on Life Is Full

I remember studying and learning vocabulary in school, and it was always best to try and use the words in real life to really learn them. So of course you spend the week trying to figure out how to tell someone there is “clishmaclaver” going around, but they have no clue what you’re talking about and you’re laughing because it’s about them! Well, I ran into a similar discussion this week with a friend about saying the words, “I’m busy” when asked “how are you doing?” Or you might rephrase it by saying, “I’ve been busy”, “I’m stressed”, or my favorite, “It’s intense right now.” But a friend and me were talking this week and he was saying he prefers the phrase “life is full right now.” His reasoning is that “I’m busy” makes it sound like you are out of control or don’t have order in your life, but by saying “life is full” you are giving off a more organized version of yourself. I guess it doesn’t matter which I choose at this point, it’s all semantics, but I guess you could say life is full right now for me.

As many of you know I’m doing a lot more photography of late. I spent this past weekend on the beach at a wedding and then I jumped around in a bounce house at a 3-year-olds birthday party. Both were great times and I thought you all would enjoy a few shots I got while I was living my full life:

Just a couple from the wedding:

A Birthday Party:

Personal

Mrs. Shaycam

It’s one thing for me to talk about my wife, but for someone else to say something about her is a different deal altogether.

This past weekend we spent some time away camping with the college ministry at our church. As we were eating dinner one night, one of my friends made a comment about Bethany and her beauty. The friend — a guy — wasn’t trying to hit on my wife or make a move, but he was seriously giving her and me a compliment on how Bethany presents herself. My friend even continued by saying that it must be a joy for me to be able to photograph her whenever I want and for her to always look so incredible. Of course, Bethany was blushing and I was stoked, but it was a really nice and genuine thing to say about her.

Just last night I found out about a blog that another friend had written about Bethany. This was actually from a high school girl that we know and it was a joy for me to read. This young woman calls Bethany “Mrs. Shaycam” which I think is hilarious. But the real crux of that blog is that Bethany is a true friend and companion. She genuinely cares about people and loves to love. Of course as I read this, it put a huge smile on my face and reminded me of the greatest blessing God has ever given me — my wife. You would think thoughts like this would only come around your anniversary — I mean thoughts about my bride. But for me, there’s no more important time than now. I can’t wait to tell you about her…

I can think of no other person on this Earth that cares like she does. It doesn’t matter if it’s the bug I squish for her or the family that is hurting in our church, she cares about everything. She has no scale for which to weigh what she will care about, it’s all the same to her. She cares for me the same way she cares for the high school girls she disciples. She loves my friends equally as much as her own friends. She hurts when I hurt and she hurts when others hurt. She is a model of compassion. My wife makes me a better man, and I don’t want that to sound clichÃ©. But what more could I say? Bethany is my true love. She is my true friend. She is a true helper to me. She is my better half. She is my favorite. She is my bride.