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
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