This summer was one of the hottest and driest Amarillo has ever seen. However, it has been one of the wettest summer's in the Lyons history. Now before you get jealous, please know that most of our pool time was spent in an inflatable pool in the backyard. When there is no central air and the swamp cooler is no longer cooling in 108 degree heat, you do whatever is necessary. We pretty much lived, cooked, and swam out back every night. Which lead to my husbands and his friend Jesse's hidden talent of alligator wrestling or idiocy...
Yeah I know, there are no words for that. Summer of H20 also included a afternoon at Hurricane Harbor on a trip with the youth to a conference in Dallas. Jacob was obsessed with the big bucket that dumped water. Katie was there too, but not in any of the pictures. When you are 13 and at a water park with friends the last thing you want to do is hang out with your parents and little brother.
The four of us also journeyed to a small town nearby, Dumas, to enjoy their fun water area...
and spent an afternoon at Splash our local water park.
Combined with all the many church activities, camp, mission trip to Jamacia, marriage retreat, and the passing of Brancent's sweet Maw Maw....it was a wild summer.
Then the weekend before school started came the piece de resistance. My parents decided to take the 8 of us (my parents, the four Lyons and my brother and nephew) on a family trip to Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, TX. It was a blast! If you don't know what Great Wolf Lodge is you should Google it. Indoor water park and hotel with lots of activities The size of the whole thing was amazing. We had so much fun and were absolutely exhausted by the time we headed home. I must mention that Jacob is in a floaty even in the shallow water, because he is a crazy man in the water and has zero fear. We think he is trying to swim but it looks like he is trying to drown himself due to the fact he can't hold his breath yet. We love that floaty. Caution: Picture overload ahead...
We did sneak across the street to the Gaylord Texan and have a look around. Pretty Impressive!
I wrote the following about a year ago in my journal after seeing the above video on a friends blog. I was mesmerized by the song and Piper's comment at the beginning. At the same time we were getting ready for our women's retreat and looking at the lives of Ruth, Esther and Abigail.
"There have been a lot of things going through my mind lately so I'm hoping writing them down will help me sort it all out. I have learned a great deal about myself in the last few months thanks to a beautiful 12 year old girl and 2 year old boy. Many of the things I have found in me, I do not like.
I am learning that I need to allow my expectations of myself change. Often I become consumed by guilt that I don't always cook healthy (or cook at all), keep a sanitary home, have things orderly and organized, or feed my kids cute organic meals (wish, not happening). My traditional image of a family and household does not fit into my reality, and for so long to long I have allowed that to bother me. My husband is home a majority of the time and I work. To be honest he is much better at home than I am. He stays calm, doesn't get easily frustrated and is motivated to clean. So why is it so hard? Why does my expectations drive so much tiring guilt within my mind and heart?
Through all of this questioning of who I am as a wife, mother, daughter, sister, person in ministry...I have found a role that I did not know I needed to be. The role of a warrior.
I'm not going to paint my fave blue, sport a kilt and scream "FREEDOM!" at my poor neighbors or channel Joan of Arc and sport nothing at all while riding a horse down the street. But I am, in fact, a warrior. Everyday I must war/fight for my marriage and my children as the culture around us wars back. I have realized how much we are enemies of the Enemy and how the battle will always rage until Christ returns. When thinking of women of the Bible I often picture meek and mild women in robes. I could not be more wrong. Ruth, Esther, Abigail, Tamar, Rahab...these were warriors. My grandmother, beautiful, quite, noble meek, wise; has warred her own battles. I always say she is as gentle as a whisper, but as strong as an oak. I want that. I want to be loving, gentle, loyal, kindhearted, giving to those in need, an encourager....
and I want to be fierce.
So:
When it comes to the clothes and music society tells my daughther she should wear. I will war.
When the spirit of insecurity begins to cloud her precious heart. I will war.
When schools overstep their roles. I will war.
When the enemy attacks my marriage. I will war.
When religion threatens to dampen The relationship. I will war.
When authority is presented as an evil. I will war.
When the world and even church becomes tolerant of sin. I will war
When culture tells my son he must treat a woman in an ungodly way. I will war.
When my own flesh gets in the way. I will war with my own self."
So that's what I have been doing. Little did I know when I wrote this the very battle-lines would be placed within my own family and then even into my own home. Blows have been dealt that I fear will leave me reeling emotionally for some time. Why am I so surprised?? Didn't I declare war? I have been fighting, and losing. I told a friend recently it's like all the weak spots of my armor have been hit the hardest. I'm tired. I'm hurting. I wonder if I can go on. That's when truth hit me so violently the breathe was knocked out of my heart. I have been wearing the wrong armor. I'm going into the battle ill equipped. Because it is mine I have been failing.
The armor of God has a much better fit. Not only that, He leads the way. He wants declares and decrees, victory for my marriage and in the life of my kids for His glory, just as much as I do!
Simple divine truths. I'm a slow learner.
I began reading a book today on insecurity. I'm unearthing old roots that have been far to neglected and it. stinks. However, I am finding some of the issues that don't allow me to fight with victory as my banner.
All that to say, that's where I'm at. Not sure what will happen from here, but rest assured it is not for the faint of heart.
"Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." Ephesians 6:11-13
I am finally getting around to posting pics from this past Fall. Be warned of the picture overload that is ahead. I'll spare you any lengthy stories but maybe a comment or two...or five.
The middle school Katie attends has a history fair every year. I had always heard of it but never went until this year. The project she picked to do was the covered wagon. She also had to write a paper on it. Proud to say she got a 95 on the display and a 98 on the written paper.
Let me tell you wagon wheels are a pain to make.
Katie standing near her display. By the way that's Noni, Popi (my grandparents) and nephew Simon in the background and my dad way in the background in the blue shirt. History fair was a family affair.
This is our super smart friend Jadon. Not only does he have very cool hair he crafted a very cool project. He picked Petra as his project. He had to tell me what it was and I still didn't know until he related it to Indiana Jones. Sad, I know. His final display was AMAZING. He said the teacher's mouth actually hung open and he was speechless for a few seconds....pretty impressive. If you know a history teacher you know what I mean. Jadon got a ribbon and the teacher asked if he could keep Petra. Yeah, Jadon (and his mom) are cool like that.
There were so many cool projects by the kids and fun to see all the creativity. I have to mention my least favorite project: A Popsicle stick box with 4 black naked barbies that had their hair cut off....can you guess? It was slave quarters on a slave ship. Seriously. I really hope more thought goes into their project next year.
This is Simon in the tent talking to the Indian dude. This was right before Patty's cell phone rang and ruined the sacred moment, ha! There was so much to do at the History fair: a real buffalo, cow dogs, tee pee, fencing, guns galore, old toys (some that Noni and Popi recognized), WWII reenactment soldiers and war equipment from that time, glass blowing, butter making, dancers, crafts, food.....we stayed as long as we could and didn't get to see near all of it. There was also a modern milking machine. It milked a cow in under 1 minute. I asked Noni if she could milk that fast and she said she didn't think so. It was fun listen to her and the dairy guy talk about milking and making cream back in the day. If you live in the Amarillo area I definitely recommend going.SO FUN!
Aunt Patty decided the butter making at the fair wasn't enough and didn't have fun flavors so she and the kids went home and made some more. French Vanilla and garlic herb to be exact.
Also cleaned the church a time or four....never to young to get started.
This year at the deaf church the ASL honors club from a local high school and university helped host the Fall Festival. There were so many fun games and activities. They did a fantastic job! We didn't have a ton of kids show up, but those who did made out like bandits on the candy. The youth went to the corn maze during the Fall Festival and had a blast. I didn't get to go, but Brancent's and Katie's stories of the corn maze were very entertaining. Katie dressed as a fairy and Jacob was a Dyson salesman of the year. Yep you read that right. His highlight of the night was getting a new Dyson.
Summer happened. That's my excuse reason for lack of blogging. I missed it. I tried to keep up with reading other people's blogs and commenting but even that took a hike. Then school started and our schedules, which I thought might lessen, did not, they just changed. Speaking of change, here are some of the changes took place this summer.
1. Katie moved in with us June 25th...and she brought all of her stuff! She has more clothes than I ever thought possible, but as fast as she is growing it makes sense.
Going from one kid to two is always interesting. The two being 12 and 2...all the more so. The moments they snuggle and read or chase each other wildly through the house are so precious and I wouldn't trade them for anything. Katie is a 7th grader and attends a middle school near our house. It was a rough go at first but things have gotten better. She is in student council and dance and excited about all the upcoming events with those groups. October 16 is the schools big Texas History Fair so the crafting of a covered wagon is taking place at our house. Will be posting pictures of the finished product.
2. We finally got family pictures done by the fabulous Chriselda. Click here for a look-
3. I lost my camera card. Between taking it back and forth to work and home it got lost. So other than the pics above I have no other pictures of the kids from this summer. I recently commandeered a card from my mom's camera. So until she takes it back I'll be taking pictures!
4. My sweet dog Romeo, who I had since the spring of 1997 had to be put to sleep. It was the first of the summer when this occurred and was a sad day at our house. He had gotten worse health-wise and I didn't want him to suffer through another hot summer. He was obsessed with fetching a ball so I thought this last picture of him was rather appropriate.
Makes me wonder how different # 6 and #7 would have been if he was still around
5. July 13th we headed to the mountains with some of Brancent's family. (This was before the lost camera card so I have lots of pictures to post later.) It was fun and the kids had a blast 4 wheeling and playing in the stream. For me and my stiff neck it reaffirmed though I love the outdoors I am a hotel type person and am getting old.
6. July 17th after getting home late the night before from the mountains we got up and discovered someone had broken into our shed and stole Brancent's mower, edger, weedeater, table saw, air compressor and hoses, and Gene's Mitar saw. Yeah. (This was after we had already dealt with 2 break-ins at the church) I think the worst part was they took the things Brancent had been using to earn money this summer. So that was an unpleasant change.
7. Along those same lines....my purse (Hub of my life) was stolen out of my car a few weeks ago. I had several important papers in my purse along with church charge cards, all my ID's...wasn't fun. Included a long trip to the DMV where I was the only female in line and the middle age computer nerd in front of me dropped the "you look familiar, have we meet before?" line. No. No we haven't. After a swift page to my hubby that if my wedding ring didn't get re-sized soon...the awkwardness dragged on. Needless to say I have a bit of anger towards those who thieve. But it was a good reminder on what my actual treasures are and the 3 of them are safe and sound.
8. Our friends Jesse and Krystal are getting married in January! YAAAAAY! Brancent and Katie will both be in the wedding and we are all so excited. Jesse and Krystal were in the mountains with us for a few days so this is the most recent picture I have of them and it's not even of them together!
9. Jacob is now 29 months and his verbal side has taken off. He talks all the time. He has become fascinated with firetrucks, backhoes, police cars, ambulances, rollers, excavators, trains...typical boy stuff. One of the things that has not changed is his love for vacuums. In fact we are going to work that into his Fall Festival costume this year. He now is just as obsessed with kitchen mixers and coffee pots. He loves to help make tea or anything that involves a mixer or stirring and actually has become quite a little helper. He is getting closer to potty training and does well if he's commando. We haven't pushed it because I already know he will be one to push back. He still finds the washer a great source of entertainment.
10. Brancent has been staying busy mowing with a friend's co and chasing the kids. I hate to admit this but Jacob and Brancent are more of domestic divas than I am. I love that he gets to spend extra time with the kids that most father's don't. He will be tagging along with Jesse to Colorado this month while Jesse does some hunting. He will attend a Deaf Men's conference in November and hopefully get to see his Ark family for Thanksgiving. So much for things slowing down in the Fall!
11. As for me....I am unsure with how much I can share via the blogger world and how honest I can be here. Let me say this, I struggle. This summer/intro to fall was incredibly hard. I have felt like I fail in so many areas of my life. As I think about this I know any success that I experience is from God and all glory goes to Him. I have begin to re-evaluate where my standards of a woman/wife/mother have come from. My life is not perfect. I struggle to be the wife and mother my husband and children deserve, but find myself getting caught up in things and busyness that is really not important. Through it all I have been humbled, and I imagine I can use more of it. My hope is that God continues to show me how small, and blessed I am, and continue to use me....in spite of me. All in all...it's all good.
Thanks for reading the mammoth size post.
PS Pray for my parents who will both undergo surgery in the coming weeks. Dad-gallstones, Mom-torn meniscus
