Merry Christmas from the Byrne family! We pray for God’s blessing on you and yours as you prepare to celebrate Christ’s birth! We have enjoyed receiving updates and pictures from some of you and look forward to more in the coming weeks. Here is what has been going on in our family:

Sara and Eric moved to Columbus, OH this past summer. Eric graduated from law school in May and accepted a position as Assistant Attorney General for the state of Ohio. We really miss them but are excited for the opportunities that they have. Eric is enjoying his job, and Sara has also been enjoying her part-time work as a tennis coach at a private school along with teaching tennis lessons, substitute teaching for junior high and high school, and working at a racquet club. They will be here for a few days over Christmas and we are all looking forward to having our family together again!

Andrea has expanded her teaching schedule of trumpet lessons; she loves sharing her passion for music with her students and seeing them progress. She continues to play with the Houston Brass Band as well as doing some free-lance gigs, judging for contests, etc. She also had the opportunity to travel to Serbia to visit a missionary friend over Thanksgiving, and to Aguascalientes, Mexico in August. She enjoyed catching up with people she had met through her mission work with EFM, the Aguascalientes orchestra and the School of Music. The beautiful weather and great food of Aguas were a nice bonus!

Laura finished her Family Medicine residency in July and was invited to join the program as a member of the faculty. She had been praying for a part-time position to allow her more time with her family; her new job is 3 days per week which is a wonderful change after the grueling schedule of residency. She spends most of her time seeing patients in clinic and is gradually adding more responsibilities of teaching residents and medical students. Laura’s husband Jason is currently on sabbatical from his work with Servants to Asia’s Urban Poor and is focusing on finishing up his Master of Divinity degree as well as working on writing a book. Lord willing, he will complete both the degree and the book in 2015. Five-year-old Mika and three-year-old Luke are a joy to us; we are blessed to have them so close by and see them almost every day.

David’s parents, Dave & Ann Byrne, celebrated 60 years of marriage this year. We had a wonderful week-long celebration with the whole extended family at their lakeside home. We didn’t realize at the time that it would be our last family gathering at the lake; they recently decided to move to a condo in Willoughby and have the lake house up for sale. Joyce’s Mom, Renee Melrose, also sold her Ohio home this year and is currently in assisted living in Friendswood.

David has now been working with the Coalition for Hispanic Ministries for 20 years! Many things about Hispanic Ministry have changed during that time, but God’s faithfulness has been constant. Joyce continues to work as administrator at Friendswood Friends Church. Both of us have been busy this year helping our parents and kids through the various moves. We are so thankful for the blessings that God has poured out on our family and ministry. We are thankful for YOU and pray for God’s presence and grace to surround you this Christmas and in the coming year.

Love, Joyce and David Byrne and family