5 Minute Monthly: December

Writing these blogs has become a great time to reflect over the past month and as I sit to write our first post of 2026, I find myself not only thinking about the past month but also revisiting the ups and downs of the past year. There was much that happened in 2025 - new baby, new friends, new home, new way of living - and through it all the Lord remained faithful. We have learned and grown in many ways this year.

One year ago today - January 11th - we were stepping off a plane with a few suitcases and a jet-lagged one-year-old, really clueless to what the Lord had planned for us. And here we are now one year later with a little home and little boys, living the British life and ready for whatever the Lord has next.

December of last year was a bit hectic as we packed up our lives and celebrated Christmas and Josiah's birthday with no place to call home. In contrast, this December was quiet, simple, peaceful and oh so special.

Life Happenings

As soon as the month of December began we were ready to embrace the holiday spirit. We found a Christmas tree, crafted decorations, started advent, baked cookies and introduced the boys to Christmas movies (Josiah's favourite was Frosty the Snowman and Silas mostly just fell asleep). We wanted to be intentional about creating special memories throughout the month that emphasised the anticipation of Christmas Day to come.

Tyler was home a bit more during the month and we used the time with him to go on little adventures. We went window shopping and enjoyed England's Christmas markets. We also completed some cleaning projects around the house and Tyler even built me a shelf unit.

My hobbies this past month included making homemade presents, crafting Christmas decorations and trying to perfect my sugar cookie recipe. Of course I also took care of the boys every day and enjoyed watching them grow in so many little ways. Josiah turned two on Christmas day and never fails to make us smile. He is an inquisitive learner and patient observer. Seeing Christmas through his eyes was so special. The joy of eating an advent chocolate, pointing out "twinkle stars" everywhere we go, the awe of unwrapping a "guitar" and realising it's his (it's really a ukulele). These were Josiah's Christmas pleasures.

Silas also enjoyed the Christmas season with the same enthusiasm he has in every month. He also grew a ton. This past month Silas started sitting, got another tooth, learned how to sleep through the night (again) and discovered how to yell. He is still our happy little baby most of the time but teething can cause him to be a bit grumpy. Silas also liked unwrapping gifts and his favourite toy is the one Josiah got for him-- a miniature rainmaker/shaker.

We had loads of family time this December but we were also thankful for our friends and the church here in Portsmouth and how special they made Christmas feel. We felt welcomed and loved in so many ways from Christmas Eve dinner at the pastor's house to receiving Christmas gifts from friends. We also celebrated Josiah's birthday days before Christmas and even though it is such a busy time of year, his little friends and their families made time to come and make him feel special.

I am so thankful as I look back over our family life in the month of December. Of course there were sad moments of missing our friends and family back in the States, but it really was a wonderful Christmas season in the Mann family household.

Ministry Update

Due to Christmas festivities, church ministry looked a bit different this month. The routine weekly programs stopped halfway through the month but there were some special events at the church that created great opportunities for inviting unbelieving friends. We had a carol service at the church (singing Christmas songs with a few bible readings) which many new people came to.There was also a Christmas Day service that we invited many people to; although sadly not all the people we invited came, we expected that to be true to some degree. All we can do is be faithful and let the Lord do the rest. One other event was the all-age service that Tyler co-preached on the Christmas story. It is meant to be understandable for children and still thought-provoking for adults. I invited two of my non-christian friends from our toddler group to this service and they came with their whole families, which was so encouraging. We are praying that they felt welcomed at the church and have a desire to know more about the Christian faith. I also had a fun Christmas craft night with a friend from church and another mom from toddler group. We had some interesting conversations about faith and what we believe. This mom is not a Christian but open to discussing our faith. We are planning on having more craft nights and hopefully more of those conversations.

December is that time of year when everyone seems to be more open to having faith conversations usually centred around the birth of Jesus. I am thankful for the opportunities that both Tyler and I had to talk to unbelievers about God this month.

Tyler had some more meetings with the same man from our last post who has been asking hard questions about Christianity. He remains skeptical, but still agrees to meet with Tyler and always has more questions which Tyler is glad for.

As far as Tyler's school life goes, he was happy to have a big break after spending the first half of December writing a rather difficult paper on the early church fathers. He is now gearing up to start a new class in mid-January.

Later this week, Tyler is going to send another blog post out of what our year has looked like in ministry and what our hopes are for the coming year. On a day-to-day, and even month-to-month, many of the ministerial things we've been a part of sometimes feel small. It's been helpful for us to look back over the year and see all that we have learned, been a part of, and how God has worked in and through our lives.

Pray with Us

Requests

• Pray that our faith conversations with people would continue into this new year

• Pray for our family's health as we are all slightly ill

• Pray for those who don't yet know Christ that the Lord would work in their hearts

Praises

• Thanking God for a wonderful year and so much growth

• A simple one but: thankful that the days are getting brighter and longer

• We are praising God for our Church here and the people making us feel loved this Christmas season

We hope you have had a joy-filled Christmas season and are starting the year resting in the Lord. Thank you for taking a few minutes to read our blog and pray for us!