Christmas Letter 2020

 

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and shall call his name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14

700 years before Christ is born, Isaiah tells us His name. His name is Immanuel. God with us.

In a time when we have been quarantined and isolated, His name is still the same. GOD WITH US.

This is our story in 2020. We made plans to finally redo our kitchen and dining area. This reno would also give the front of our house a nice face lift. January and February zipped by! With much excitement, we started to tear down the right side of our house in early March. We had the midsection of the house “secured” with plastic and plywood and about 1/3 of our house GONE when (PSA: Plot twist!) the Pandemic was declared and lockdowns ordered. Would we be able to work? Would we be able to get materials? Now everybody is coming back home and we are missing part of our house!

God with us.

Fortunately, we were able to continue working and surprisingly, 2020 has been our busiest year yet. We had more hands to help and more time since our kids did not have to go to school. Sounds wonderful right? The plot thickens because we quickly tired of working on the house and we were definitely tired of each other.

God with us.

Our favorite contractor, aka Dad, became overwhelmed with paying jobs, so he wasn’t very available to work on our house and tell us what to do. Although Saimon might run Evermon Homes someday, even he will admit (sometimes) he isn’t quite ready to run the remodel project. So the good news is that we hired many of our subs to come get the work done (Or at least get it substantially complete….by Christmas).

This was the kitchen window over the sink

We tore out the kitchen and moved it to the right

And made a new front entrance

Welcome!

And here’s the climax: As I reflect on 2020 and our remodel, I can’t help but think that we have had some demo and reno in our hearts too. I didn’t love it when we tore out sheetrock from the ceiling and old insulation and rat poop fell around us. Just like I don’t love it when the walls I put up are ripped away and the selfish ambition and pride is revealed. We saved some of the original shiplap from the roof and had to carefully pull each piece apart, remove nails, and clean it up. Jeremy hung it in the new breakfast room. It’s not unlike our family this year as we had to learn to talk through some hard things, give space and reaffirm the importance of sticking together always—especially as our kids get older and move on. We still have knot holes and splinters but as we fit together, we have a story to tell--kind of like that wall in our breakfast room.

Looking into the new breakfast room from the back

God with us.

Katerin graduated from UMHB on December 11, and she is looking for a job (get in touch if you know of something!) 

Emily is making it on her own in College Station. 

Marian just moved out to her first apartment and is working full time and starting Fire Fighting training. 

Wes is thriving in his Sophomore year at College of the Ozarks. 

Omar is happy to be the only Evermon at THS this year as a freshman. 

Saimon and Savannah look forward to joining him there next year. 

And all of us adore our two new additions to the family, Cocoa and Hiccup, the cutest boxers you will ever know.

Conclusion: Through the good and bad, and we have had a lot of good this year, God is with us. We hope you recognize His presence in your 2020 too. How have you experienced God with you this past year? His name is the same, from the first time Isaiah told us, to Matthew’s reminder when Jesus was born, today, and tomorrow.

That’s what makes Christmas so merry!