HomeHome

Christmas Letter 2005

Saturday, December 10, 2005

Dear friends and family,

Mommy says it’s cold outside, but I’m warm and toasty in here. My life hasn’t been very interesting yet: I mostly just sleep, turn over, kick, and keep on growing. Once in a while I get the hiccups. I look forward to seeing the world that I hear so much about, but until late January I’m content to stay here inside where it’s warm.

Though I don’t have much to tell about my own life, I will tell you what I’ve heard about my parents’ year. It has been nine months since their wedding on March 19th and since then they have greatly enjoyed the married life. They’re always saying mushy things about how happy they are to be married and how they wouldn’t want to go back to being single.

Just the other day, they were talking about how much they enjoyed their honeymoon to Victoria, B.C. They remembered how lovely the bed and breakfast that they stayed at was and Mommy said she wished she could always live at a place where they bring breakfast up to your room and make your bed for you. Daddy said he liked the chocolates that they left on their pillows. They talked about how much fun they had wandering the streets of that quaint city, buying handsome hats from a charming hat store, touring the harbor on the little harbor ferries, and eating delicious steak dinners at “The Keg.” But whenever they talk about their honeymoon, they always say that their favorite part was Butchart Gardens. I hope they take me to Victoria someday.

I understand, from what I hear, that my Dad owns a bookstore called Exodus. He says that God has greatly blessed it this year. Daddy added and started stocking a small warehouse, bought beautiful wooden shelves to replace some of the old white particle board shelves that he had been using, and he has been working hard on updating the website (www.exodusbooks.com): giving it a new look, adding new functions, and writing more content. Mommy has been working at Exodus as well—helping Daddy pay bills, package orders, and answer questions, and she is fond of talking to customers. When I get bigger I’m going to help Daddy too: I’m the first product tester and it will be my job to find out how products work so that my parents can answer questions about them. Both Daddy and Mommy—and me too—look forward to seeing how God develops Exodus and uses it to help advance His kingdom.

The place my parents call home is an apartment they find quite comfortable. Mommy is very happy about the kitchen, the floor plan, and the fact that she doesn’t have to leave home to use a washer and dryer. They have an extra bedroom—which I will get to share with the library—and enough space that they could be content in it for another couple of years. It is their prayer that sometime in the future God will make it possible for them to buy a building for the bookstore that they can live in as well.

Another exciting piece of family news is that my Grandpa and Grandma Evans have adopted twin 15-year-old girls from Albania. They started the adoption process in August and have had to rush everything because the girls will be ineligible for adoption in January, when they turn 16. But God has blessed their efforts and my two new aunts should be home in time for Christmas. I hear that they’re looking forward to holding and playing with me.

When I’m not sleeping, I like to listen to what’s happening outside my Mommy’s tummy. Sometimes Mommy is at Exodus and she and Daddy are helping a customer make a decision about curriculum. Sometimes my parents are at church singing hymns with the rest of the congregation. I like it when they’re at home reading books like The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe or Cheaper by the Dozen out loud to each other. Even when they’re just sleeping, I lay there listening to my Mommy’s heart beating and I know that Mommy and Daddy love each other, and me, and they will do the best job they can—with God’s help—raising me and making a good home for me.

Eli, Amanda, and Baby Boy Evans would like to wish you a very blessed Christmas as we rejoice in the love of our Heavenly Father, the birth of His Son, and the loving support and fellowship of friends and family.

Back to Recent Journey Chronicles