Husband and wife. Partners in everything.

We're David and Lyn Thomason—husband and wife, best friends, and partners in just about everything we do.

We've been married for 41 years, and over those years we've learned that the best things in life are built together. We have both served in leadership roles in our church and in other ministries.

David is the technology side of our partnership. Lyn is the business side. Together, we created Thomason Network to support the projects, ministries, and ideas we feel God has called us to pursue.

But underneath all of those projects is something much simpler.

Faith. Family. Unity.

We believe our first responsibility is to follow where God leads us.

After God, there is nothing more important to us than our family. And in this season of our lives, that has taken on a very practical meaning.

Both of us have parents in their 80s. Like so many people our age, we are learning what it means to be adult children caring for aging parents—wanting to honor them, protect their independence, stay connected, and be there when they need us.

Scripture says:

"Honor your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise—"so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."

— Ephesians 6:2–3

We take that seriously.

We have made a commitment to each other that we will honor and care for all of our parents, together. We don't think of them as "your parents" and "my parents." We are one family.

That's how we try to approach everything else, too.

We believe marriage makes us one flesh, and that means one mission. We don't always have the same skills or see things the same way, but we work toward the same purpose.

Unity matters to us.

Why Near & Dear Exists

Near & Dear grew directly out of this season of our own lives.

We know what it feels like to love aging parents, to worry about them, to want them to remain independent, and at the same time to wish we could know when something isn't quite right.

We're not building Near & Dear for some abstract market.

We're building it for families like ours—because we are one of those families.

We want you to trust what we're building because we care deeply about the people it is meant to serve.

And we hope you feel a connection with us because we're not standing on the outside looking in.

We're in your shoes.