Wednesday, January 5, 2022

Year 2021 in Review- Lyons Happenings...

Christmas Rumblings from the Lyons Den

Christmas 2021, Cincinnati, Ohio

Looking Back… 

  • In January, we were getting acquainted with our newest little cub, Judah Lyons.  The month was full of lots of naps and getting back to a baby routine. 
  • In February, we spent some birthday time with Erin’s family as they rented a house to be together in Cincinnati.  Birthday fun, snow tubing and Narnia birthday fun is what the month did bring.    
  • In March, we plugged away with school and field trips and St. Patrick day things. 
  • In April, Erin gathered with ladies to stream the Gospel Coalition.  We enjoyed celebrating Easter and the Resurrection of our King. 
  • In May, finishing school for the year, Erin headed to PA to enjoy hearing Nik Ripken and the COD mission’s conference.  We headed south to Panama City, FL beaches to enjoy a family getaway.  We scoured the land for alligators, but they must have ran- we found no alligator, though we did find some roadkill armadillos in Alabama.  We ended our time with Michael’s birthday visit to the Air and Space Museum in Huntsville, AL. 
  • In June, we swam in the church pool, enjoyed picnics and hikes and time together with church friends and family.  We enjoyed hosting an International swim time at our church pool weekly. 
  • In July, Erin took a trip to PA with all the kids to visit her family.  She also planned some Friday Fun Adventure field trips with any families that came along. 
  • In August, we started school once again: Jeremiah 5th grade, Lydia 3rd, Josiah 1st , and Joel- the crazy 4 year old- now this boy is in full Pre-K- he is ready for someone, anyone to do school with him.  (“Are you ready to do school with me?”  Is Joel’s constant refrain- that and “is it snack time yet?”)
  • In September, we had the privilege of going to Frankfort, Michigan to a pastor’s retreat center for a full week.  We enjoyed the beach, hiking, canoeing and enjoying God’s beautiful creation and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park.  This place was such a treat! 
  • In October, we were supposed to go visit family- but the pandemic, covid, kept us from getting together with Erin’s family.  Jeremiah enjoyed a Lego team and taking karate.  The kids love their coop classes at Café coop. 
  • In November, we enjoyed serving and raking leaves for people in need as well as plugging away at school, enjoying fall Thanksgiving and treats.   
  • In December, we just celebrated the first year with our baby, Judah just turned 1 and brings us so much joy!  He just learned to crawl for his first birthday and is ready to explore!

Year’s Reading Recommendations…

From Erin: Steal Away Home- Carter and Ivey; Words on Fire- Nielson; Prayer in the Night- Warren; Gentle and Lowly- Ortland; Letters to Pastor’s Wives- Stewart; The Hawk and the Dove- Wilcock; Help!  I’m Married to my Pastor- Ortlund; Growing Together- Kruger. (Honestly struggling to read right now- so much noise in our homeJ)

From Michael: The Silk Roads, Frankopan; Live Not by Lies, Dreher; Thomas Jefferson, Meacham; Fierce Convictions, Prior; Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury; Jane Eyre, Brontë; Mother to Son, Holmes; Letters to Malcom, Chiefly on Prayer, Lewis; The Courage to Stand, Moore; Evangelism, Stiles; Prayer in the Night, Warren; Inferno, Dante; On the Church: Select Treatises, Cyprian; Words on Fire, Nielson.

From Jeremiah: The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle- Avi; Words on Fire- Nielson; Wingfeather Saga- Peterson; The Adventures of Robin Hood- Green; An Elephant in the Garden- Morpurgo; still loves and rereads Redwall series. 

From Lydia:  The Green Ember- SD Smith, Ember Falls & Ember’s End- SD Smith (Green Ember series) and Little House on the Prairie books

From Josiah:  Rattlesnake Dance- Jim Arnosky.  

From Joel: Richard Scarry books are his favorite by far. He loves sitting and looking at picture books.

From Judah:  I’m too busy right now to sit and listen to a book.  I am exploring and crawling! 

On Our Minds this Past Year

This year, the Lord is teaching us about waiting and trusting.  This has been a season of uncertainty for us.  As we turn a page to our 40s this coming year, we are waiting on the Lord for what He will do in this New Year.  We are learning to walk by faith and not by sight.  We never know what our year will hold and we are all in seasons of active waiting.  We rest in the fact that “many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord will stand.” (Prov. 19:21)  “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.  Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will act… Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.” (Psalm 37: 3-5, 7)  “What a blessed life the life of waiting then becomes, the continual worship of faith, adoring, and trusting His goodness.  As the soul learns its secret, every act or exercise of waiting becomes just a quiet entering into the goodness of God, to let it do its blessed work and satisfy our every need. (Waiting on God, Murray)”   We thank God for His faithfulness in this year and pray with expectancy for Him to work and act in this New Year.  May we “wait in his place and go at his pace.” (Battling Unbelief, Piper)

News from the Lyons’ Den…

The Parents: Michael’’s ministry this year included teaching the book of Job in Sunday School. A highlight this year also was two men’s hikes to the Red River Gorge area! Grief was an ever present part of ministry this year, with the sad loss of several saints we love and cherish. During the year, Michael has also enjoyed opportunities to teach adjunct at a few universities. He continues with writing projects that he hopes to complete soon. Michael’s childhood-dream-come-true came when we visited the Space & Air Museum in Huntsville. There’s a rumor he even got to put on an astronaut suit and do a virtual reality space-walk!  Erin’s days are still full. She has found it challenging homeschooling 3 grades as well as running after a four year old and little baby.  She loves hospitality and getting together with friends to walk, hike or get the kids outside.  She enjoys organizing field trips and getting to know people and helping people from different countries.  The Lord provided another sweet friend from Afghanistan she met at Aldi that lives 4 minutes from our house.  She enjoys taking the kids to help with yard work, work in the garden at church or bring meals to those in need.  This fall, the kids have been learning about European countries.  She and the kids have planned several ethnic dinners and invited various guests to our meals- some countries we have visited:  France, Spain, Italy, Holland, Sweden and Denmark.  Next semester we move on to South America.  We also have been enjoying learning about different animals with our science this semester. 

 

The Kids: Our home is busy! We are learning by God’s grace to love the little years.  Jeremiah is 10. He is now in fifth grade. Jeremiah loves to read and build legos.  He is currently trying to build a workshop in the basement.  He is enjoying mowing at home and church.  He dreams of his mowing business and plans on making flyers to hand out to neighbors over the winter.  Jeremiah is all boy and is dabbling his hands in power tools.  He is involved in karate and enjoys being on a First Lego League team this year.  He still loves his chickens and still dreams about a dog, but settles for pet visits at Petland.  Lydia is 8 and in third grade.  She has really enjoyed reading chapter books this year.  She has excelled at her motherly duties of taking care of baby Judah this year.  We joke that Judah thinks Lydia is his second mother.  She loves crafts and coloring and wants to learn how to sew and ride horses.   She loves building Legos as well.  Judah has just become her new roomie.  Josiah is 6 and in first grade. Josiah is slowly getting better at reading.  He has such superb handwriting.  He loves to play matchbox cars with his buddy Joel.  He enjoys drawing trucks and making snowflakes. Joel is 4.  He is very active and very imaginative.  He holds constant conversations with himself and meets no stranger.  He loves to play, pretend and ride his plasma car.  He begs for mommy to do school with him.  Judah is 1.  His accomplishment for his first birthday is crawling.  He loves to clap his hands and say “so big” and hold up his hands.  He loves to look out the window and say “what’s that”.  We love our littlest cub. 

Seeing and Savoring Christ in Christmas…

In this season of Advent, we wait.  We wait to celebrate the first coming of Christ as a little baby in Bethlehem to redeem a lost people from their sins.  We ultimately wait for the second coming of Christ when God will make all things right with this broken world.  Wars, coronaviruses, Taliban, famines, world hunger will be dealt with and judged by the ruler of all things!  God is coming to rule and reign and He is working all things for his purpose and plan!  As a family, we have been memorizing Psalm 96 this year, “Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of His salvation from day to day.  Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!” (Psalm 96:2-3) He rules the world with truth and grace and makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness and wonders of His love. (Joy to the World)

Treasuring Christ,

 

Michael & Erin, with Jeremiah, Lydia, Josiah, Joel, and Judah Lyons







 

No comments:

Post a Comment