Christmas
Rumblings from the Lyons Den
Christmas 2016, Cincinnati, Ohio
Looking Back…
- In January, Michael transitioned to full time as Minister of Discipleship at our church. We are thankful for another way God has provided for our family!
- In February, we celebrated birthdays of the older two by a Knight and Princess party and an overnight visit to the Air Force museum, while Josiah turned 1 with a birthday blessing party.
- In March, we celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus with family; then Erin went to a Homeschool Convention to officially enter into the wild world of homeschooling.
- In April, we attended together a conference for those in ministry - Erin was particularly challenged by talks on the importance of her role in mothering. Michael then joined Erin’s dad for a pastor conference, Together for the Gospel. Few things are more encouraging than singing hymns with 10,000 men!
- In May, we took a brief trip up to the Great Lakes for a family event, enjoyed the beautiful sun as Spring came once again, and went camping joined by a family of raccoons and a morning rain-shower.
- In June, Erin enjoyed an outing with women from church to a Women’s Conference on 1 Peter and suffering. It was refreshing to worship with sisters and also have a break from mothering. Daddy was delighted to have her return! J
- In July, Jeremiah took to the pool for more lessons at swim ministry; this year he learned to swim without floaties and underwater with glee just like a little fishie! We enjoyed family swim times at our church pool as well!
- In August, we had a great opportunity to take a trip to Glacier National Park (Montana) for a week without children! We stayed with precious friends and hiked our legs off (including a 2-hr stint in a thunderstorm complete with hail!).
- In September, Jeremiah’s kindergarten officially began, a big deal for Mommy and son to learn a homeschooling routine for each day. Lydia and Josiah tagged along in their own ways. We celebrated 11 years of God’s provision for our family and tried another family camping trip—this time without the family of raccoons along.
- In October, Erin enjoyed teaching her Preschool Art class at co-op each week, and we took a little visit to a cabin with Erin’s family. And oh, guess what? We announced the expectation of our 4th little cub at the end of May.
- In November, Michael was (and is!) busy writing and working on a major chapter of his dissertation, taking time out to rest as we enjoyed hearing John Piper preach in Cincinnati.
- In December, we are baking cookies and the kids are doing their Advent readings- anxiously awaiting the coming of the promised baby- Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Year’s Reading Recommendations…
Reading shapes us, turns us upside down, and helps us see God and His
world afresh. Here are some of our favorites from the past year:
From
Erin:
A Lantern in Her Hands, Aldrich; Side by Side, Welch; Seasons of Waiting, Howard; The Pastor’s Wife, Furman;
The Invisible Woman, Johnson; Managers of their Homes, Maxwell; Taking Time To Quiet Your Soul, Berg.
From Michael: A Lantern in Her Hands, Aldrich (yes, he admits to enjoying it
and even tearing up...); Discipling, Dever; The Robe, Douglas; Patrick
Henry, Kidd; The Wingfeather Saga, Peterson; The Bible and the
Dead Sea Scrolls, Elledge; Pearl Harbor, Nelson (audio book!); Persia
and the Bible, Yamauchi; The Letters of Jerome, ed. Wright; Let
the Nations Be Glad, Piper; And many more books for his dissertation!!
From Jeremiah:
The Boxcar Children, Warner; The Three Tales of My
Father’s Dragon, Gannett; Dolphin Adventure & Dolphin Treasure, Grover; Keeping Holiday, Meade; any Dinosaur
books!; Little House on the
Prairie (audio books).
From Lydia: Princess books; any books we read
to Jeremiah or she gets from the library.
From Josiah:
Ten in the Bed and Sondra Boynton books. Occasionally he likes to study the Semitic
languages and reorganize Daddy’s shelves.
On Our Minds this Past
Year…
This year we are thankful
for the many ways God has provided for our family; he continues to show his
faithfulness around every bend. We are thankful for having had the opportunity
to get away, just the two of us, for a week long retreat to the mountains. We
are thankful to the Lord for wisdom in picking curriculum for Jeremiah’s
schooling and great support at our church in homeschooling and from many sweet
friends. Erin is thankful this year for the opportunity to be informally
counseled by a mentor
from church who graciously comes to our home during
nap time to meet and pray with Erin. We are thankful for the prayers of the
people of God and the Word of God. Erin is also thankful for many sisters she
is able to connect with near and far and pray for one another.
News from the Lyons’ Den…
The Parents:
Michael has enjoyed this year having his first full-time
job in our 11-years of marriage! The
church has been so gracious to us; he likes his expanded new role of adult
discipleship, teaching, occasional preaching, and supervising youth and
children staff. He loves most spending time one-on-one with the men in the
church. Michael also continues to teach at school, enjoying the
relationships he has there. Meanwhile, he is working on his dissertation and
hopes to finish in maybe 1 ½ more years (is there an end to this
thing??). His dissertation examines famine in ancient Near Eastern literature
and the Bible. Erin has enjoyed taking on the new role of homeschooling
Jeremiah this year. She still enjoys
running/walking, hiking, getting out with friends, mowing, gardening and doing
any yard work she can get her hands on (even taking on her neighbor’s yard and
the church’s flower garden this year! We all think she has a secret dream of
becoming a farmer…). The Lord taught her
a lot this year as she struggled with some depression last winter. She has enjoyed meeting with a mentor friend who
has encouraged and counseled her with the series Quieting a Noisy Soul (Berg).
The Lord is still at work teaching her contentment and satisfaction in Him,
stripping away her idol of self, and teaching her to trust that He is more than
enough in any situation we face!
will soon be 6 in February. He loves his homeschool Kindergarten year, though he really wanted to ride on a bus! He loves to have mommy read chapter books with him and is picking up reading simple words. His favorite subject might be math as he enjoys counting and trying to add things. He has a soft, tender heart to the things of the Lord. Jeremiah also enjoys his co-op classes on Wednesdays and he loves to sing in Joyful Noise on Sundays. Oh, and just in case you are wondering: he still has more energy than 10 kids put together. He could wrestle all night with Daddy. Lydia is 3 going on 4. She says when she is 4 she will be a big girl! Lydia loves to look “pretty” and pick out her own clothes. She loves princesses, baby dolls, purple, and anything “girly.” She loves to follow her big brother and do everything he does and is deeply in-love with her best friend, cousin Anna! Josiah-well, he just follows the others! He loves to read books, play with balls, and wrestle with daddy and the others. He is easy-going, though lately he likes to exert his desire
to be
King of the Four Corners of the World. Oh, here comes the “two’s”…
Church:
We
are grateful to remain part of Evangelical Community Church, where Michael
serves full time. Our church is full of godly men and women who help us live
out following Jesus in community. Erin continues to mentor and lead the Youth
Girls’ Study in our home as well as helping with a mom’s group twice a month.
Our kids are learning much about the worship of God through Sunday School, the
worship service, and various children activities. This year, in the Joyful
Noise choir school, the kids are learning about the gospel and missions.
Seeing and Savoring Christ
in Christmas…
Three
kids, with one on the way, has a way of making us more dependent upon God each
year. Things we once thought we knew, now we realize we don’t; each day is a
new day to discover God’s plan for our family. Life as a family is not as easy
as they portrayed it in Leave It to Beaver! Let’s be honest, our
Christmas letters tend to show the ups more than the downs. But don’t be
deceived, we too struggle in the great quest of treasuring Jesus above all
things. We look forward this year to praying for you as you pray for us—that
God may mold all of us through the ups and the downs into the image of his
Incarnate Son, the Baby King born in Bethlehem.
Treasuring
Christ,
Michael,
Erin, Jeremiah, Lydia & Josiah Lyons
5684
Colerain Avenue Apt. 3, Cincinnati, OH 45239
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment