Merry Christmas 2024

 

When I look at our photos from this past year, our lives could look very much like a fairytale. Most fairytales begin with "Once upon a time..." and end with "Happily ever after." I am not sure this year could fit in between those two lines but we do have so much to thank God for!

 

We welcomed new beginnings--new life stages for Emily and Wesley...

  

Omar and Saimon launched...

Marian moved to College Station...

Katerin opened up to new possibilities...

and renewed health for Savannah...

We celebrated 3 graduations--Savannah completed high school a year early, Omar graduated from THS, and Wesley from College of the Ozarks...

The biggest family celebrations included 2 weddings less than 3 months apart!

And in between those two weddings Omar pulled off a sweet surprise proposal for his now fiancé, Savannah. (Yes we will have two Savannahs!)

Wesley and Sarah's Spring wedding took place in Bentonville, Arkansas and was likely the most beautiful wedding in all of Arkansas! No kidding--their wedding made the pages of Arkansas Bride magazine this past month. What made it an even more special union was that it was the first family reunion where all nine of us were together since July 2023. The day of the rehearsal dinner was filled with storms and tornado warnings, which made the next day's plans for an outdoor wedding look pretty bleak. But thankfully the torrential weather moved out and their wedding day was dreamy. Rain and shine, we soaked in every beautiful moment. 

 

Emily and Zach's Summer wedding took place right here close to home. It was everything we hoped it would be--a true glimpse of God's glory as family and friends shared the weekend, and what this couple meant to them, with us. Their wedding provided a second family reunion for us. Emily had her 3 sisters in the bridal party, along with 4 sweet friends, and Savannah shared a lovely tribute to the couple in her Maid of Honor speech. I replay the photos and memories in my mind and heart and continue to be amazed at what God has done.

 

With all of these changes, we traveled over 41,000 miles in 2024. But what is more than the miles, accomplishments and life changes, is how we have grown in number and in relationships as a family. If I picked a word to describe 2024, it would be GROWTH. God restores our weary, tender hearts. He is still working, and I think because He is who He says He is, one day we will have a happily ever after.

 

Merry Christmas!

The Evermons

Wesley & Sarah's Wedding Photography: Emily May Photography

Emily & Zach's Wedding Photography: Shutterup Photography

The Most Unexpected Reunion

The past few weeks Jeremy and I have been delighted, no... ecstatic, to tell and re-tell this story to our friends and family. Some close friends have been with us almost each time we've shared it, and they are sweet enough to make us feel like they are not just enduring it, but actually enjoy hearing it one more time.

Recently, so many parts of our world collided in the most extraordinary, unexpected, amazing way and I've procrastinated in writing it down because I don't think I can do it justice.

The excitement we feel is the same excitement you may feel when you've opened a long-awaited gift. 

The encouragement we feel is kind of like that feeling you may have when your kids give you hugs, or your boss recognizes your hard work, or your parents tell you how proud they are of you.

So here's what happened...

On a normal Tuesday work day, Jeremy and I both got totally random messages from a stranger who says,

Hi there! Sorry for the totally random message from a stranger. I am at Pinecove in Tyler with a new friend named John. John was an orphan in an orphanage in Rwanda as a child, he said that he had a couple from Texas named Jeremy and Vanessa with a son named Wesley who came to spend time with him when he was an Orphan and he wanted to try and find them.

I am curious - is that you and your husband? Sorry if not!

This stranger was not the only curious one now! What did John look like? What orphanage was he from? What camp was going on at Pine Cove?

I asked him if he could send a pic of John and when he did, he mentioned John was blind and he had lived at the Noel Orphanage.

AWE of God drifted over me and settled inside softly.

John at Pine Cove

Jeremy and I knew exactly who John was. We had spent 2 days at Noel Orphanage on our first trip to Rwanda in 2010. I started this blog a month before that trip and posted about each day--this post includes Jeremy's thoughts about visiting Noel and a letter from another John at Noel.

Our time at Noel was so brief, but made a huge impact on us. We walked around the grounds of Noel with John and many others, but John spoke more English so it was easier to talk. He sang and taught Jeremy some songs in Kenyarwanda and they sung some American worship songs too. He had a beautiful voice. And he hardly left our side the entire time we were there.

John is on Jeremy's right shoulder

First trip in 2010

John and I in 2011 on our second trip

Fast forward to August 2022, John was at Rally Week at Pine Cove. Rally Week is an extra week of camp for ministries across Texas to bring their kids who would not otherwise have the opportunity to go. John met a guy named Wesley at camp (not our Wesley, although our Wesley had been there the week before!) and he asked him, "Are you the Wesley with Jeremy, Vanessa and Wesley from Texas?" He was not, but Kenneth (stranger who sent us the random message) listened to John explain why he asked. Kenneth began googling "Jeremy, Vanessa, Wesley, orphan, Rwanda" and he quickly found us and got in touch. He wanted to make sure it was us before telling John.

Meanwhile, Kenneth told the whole story to his co-worker, Autumn, and Autumn was like, "I know them!" 

WHAAAAAT???

Autumn is one of Katerin's BEST FRIENDS from college--they affectionately call their circle of 6 friends "The Gaggle." This photo was taken of Katerin and Autumn the weekend after Autumn met John at Pine Cove (One friend in the gaggle got married). 

Back at camp, Kenneth saw that John had left his water bottle at the lunch table so he took it to him. He had the confirmation he needed to tell John the news.

He told John he found his water bottle but that's not all....

he had found Jeremy, Vanessa and Wesley from Texas!

We got to Facetime with John at the end of the week and we soon made plans to meet in person. John shared how he would ask people he met at times if they knew us. He'd come to the States in 2014 and even to Texas and he would sometimes get frustrated and ask God, "Why can't I find them...I have come all the way from Rwanda to Texas!"

Now he lives an hour away!

Wesley stopped by to see John on his way back to school

Meeting John face to face again!

We can't get over all of the things! Our trips to Rwanda making it clear we would adopt older kids. Rwanda adoptions closing and God leading us to our kids in Colombia. Our daughter from Colombia going to UMHB where she met Autumn. Autumn working with a non-profit that goes to Pine Cove the same week John is there. John remembering our names and asking about us.

John has quite a story! God is so sweet to allow this reunion to take place on this side of Heaven. And how He brought it about just amazes us!

2021 in Review

2 - The number of times our family of 9 has been together this year. It's harder to get everyone in one place at the same time with Katerin working in Waco, Emily in BCS, and Wesley at CofO & Pine Cove.

0 - The number of things we have to complain about. God's provision and presence has been abundantly clear.

2 - Our 2 pups are quite the source of enjoyment for our whole family. Cocoa & Hiccup are well loved!

1 - True Story: Circumstances usher us into unwanted territory sometimes and it's hard to navigate in a new place. This year is full of stories that are not mine to tell, but what I can talk about is the assurance of who God is and His work in our lives that is unmistakable.

For this reason, we can enter this season with JOY and GRATEFULNESS.

Merry Christmas from all of us!

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!