Christmas 2016
Hello dear friends and family,
Tis the season to catch everyone up on what’s been goin’ on in our lives. Below are messages from each of us:
Justus
Hey y’all! I am fixing to head into my last semester of high school as a senior! After I graduate my plans are to take a gap year and travel on a nine month missions adventure to five countries including Romania, Ukraine, India, Peru, and Chile.
Currently, I am working as a Boys Team Coach at Westwood Gymnastics, with children from 1st to 5th Grade. I could not be more joyful and blessed with a job that fits me so well after I stopped personally competing at the beginning of 2015. My life pretty much consists of school and work at the moment, but it’s great. God has provided so much for me in the last six months and He is continuing to move every day. I pray that your finale to 2016 is blessed and that the Lord leads and guides you safely into the new year! Merry Christmas!
Rebecca
Though the seasons change, His love remains, and that is the thread of truth I hold closest this Christmas. After living in Thailand, Cambodia, South Africa, and Nicaragua for nine months, my heart posture is forever changed. I see my relationships, priorities, education, and dreams through a new global lens with a call to action. I’m currently living in Lynchburg, Virginia where I’m majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies, a program that allows me to specialize in multiple subjects. I’m studying Sociology, Global Studies, and Women’s Ministry. Re-entry has been a hard season, and yet ultimately at the core of it all I’m learning that God calls us to Himself, the rest is just geography. Gratitude is a key, and it unlocks joy and abundance in all places. Merry Christmas! I’m thankful for a Savior who entered into all our brokenness and humanity and made it beautiful.
David
A couple of years ago, I started my own music services business, called LuminAire Studios, where I provide custom scoring and music production for film and digital media. You can listen to some of my recent works on my website. My business continues to grow as I continue to expand my client-base and gain more experience. I’m thankful for the inspiration the Lord and other artists give me. Perhaps my greatest joys are collaborating with other artists to blend different art to create something completely new and notably bigger than just “1 + 1.”
In the meantime, I continue to work at Emerson as a lead engineer in charge of automation projects for refineries and chemical plants. As you can imagine, it’s like having two full-time jobs at times, but I’m injected with the encouragement and support of my family, and that keeps me going.
But that’s not all! This year was also the beginning of something new: we are designing and building a house on our riverfront property in Columbus (TX). We’ve selected a custom home builder that specializes in vintage farmhouse aesthetics and style, and we’ve been working with them since May to finalize the construction plans. Mom and Dad (Hyde) will be coming to live with us, so our new home will include a sizable, private apartment with a full-size kitchen for them, and a spacious kitchen and great room to entertain our extended family and friends. We hope to be moved in by the end of next summer, just in time to get settled and enjoy our first Thanksgiving together. I’ll continue to post here on HydeTribe.org to keep you up-to-date on our progress once we break ground.
Lisa
Merry Christmas all.
Whether life is going great or full of disappointments and hurt, I pray for new levels of peace. The past two years have been full of changing seasons. We said tearful goodbyes to my beloved dad, Warren Brandau, but we rest in knowing that he’s free and rejoicing and jogging around heaven. I sure do miss his smile and his laugh.
Sending Rebecca off on her 9-month World Race travels was truly a journey for us all – one of surrender and trust and letting go. We sent off a high school graduate and welcomed home a young woman.
Meanwhile, we’re treasuring our final year with Justus at home and enjoying watching him grow in wisdom and stature.
I guess for me it’s all about the relationships. I enjoyed new friends and old ones during my year of teaching at Katy Classical Academy last year, but felt the Lord wanted me home this year to write and be readily available for the needs around me. Oh, and Rebecca and I got to travel to Mexico last summer to visit my Dad, Jim Phypers, and step-mom, Mindy. It was a truly a treasured trip.
David and I treasure each day as a gift and look forward to continuing new seasons in 2017. We anticipate celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary by moving into a new house!! Lots to celebrate. May your 2017 be full of new joys!!
From our family to yours, we wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous new year!
The HydeTribe
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