As 2019 continues forward and Spring quickly approaches, we want to take the opportunity to share all that has been happening in our lives since our last update.
Our biggest news, by far, has been the birth of our daughter. She arrived healthy and beautiful on April 26, 2018. We named her Madeline Elizabeth, Maddie for short.
Now she is (already!) 9 months old. We have been fascinated and amazed watching her grow. We are newly aware of a depth of love and affection we never knew possible before entering parenthood. Maddie is saying “mama” and “papa”, loving solid foods (her favorite is a toss up between sweet potato and banana), and very recently learning to crawl. No teeth have poked through just yet, but they are surely trying.
As we had been hoping and preparing for in years prior, Hannah transitioned into mothering and managing our household full-time after Maddie was born. This was quite a deviation from her Accounting Coordinator role at Love 146, something she found very enjoyable and fulfilling. After a short time, she came to settle into this new pace of life. Well … mostly … apart from the sleep deprivation. In all seriousness, we couldn’t imagine life any other way, and we are all very grateful for it. Her time at home has allowed us to increase our time spent with friends, family, and guests around our dinner table, and in providing a place to stay in our guest room – things we have always desired to do more of. She continues to do bookkeeping for a few small businesses and for International Help, a non-profit founded by a close friend. In her (very sparse) free time she has been honing her sewing skills and experimenting with baking.
Evan has continued much of what he has been doing for the last several years with a few changes. He is completing his third year as a Research Analyst at CloudGenera, a Charlotte-based software company. He really loves the challenging yet fulfilling work he is doing there, plus the flexibility they provide for him to serve at Grace Life during the work week. That has truly been a blessing. At Grace Life, he is counseling 6 to 9 hours each week and is now serving as Director of Technology. He is also managing the renovation of our new home, building websites, and even writing marketing video scripts for a tool manufacturing company. This year, for the first time since childhood, thanks to the generosity of a good friend who owns a farm in Huntersville, NC, Evan was able to participate in deer hunting season. Watching the sun come up those quiet mornings in the peaceful solitude of nature was a welcome retreat from the busyness of life.
Perhaps our second biggest news: toward the end of 2018 we unexpectedly discovered a home for sale in Iron Station, NC that caught our eye. Although we hadn’t planned to make a move anytime soon, we liked it so much that we decided to pursue it. During inspections we discovered severe termite damage that caused us to seriously consider opting out of the purchase. Evan was sharing this with a co-worker at Grace Life and another co-worker overheard the conversation. As it turns out, this person had a close friend that specialized in repairing termite damage to homes. It sure seemed the Lord worked that out for us. He was able to provide expert guidance to us as we made our decision, and based on his estimates, we were able to negotiate a very fair price. We miraculously closed just before ringing in the New Year (shout out to our legendary realtor, Lauren Rocco). We plan to move in by Spring 2019 after repairs are completed, and we will then begin renting our current home in Charlotte. If you know anyone who might be interested in a newly renovated 3BR/2BA home in a quiet and established neighborhood very convenient to Uptown Charlotte, we’re on the lookout for a wonderful tenant!
We want to wrap up by taking an opportunity to share a few glimpses into the remarkable life-changing moments that Evan has been a part of during the last few months of counseling with Grace Life. Names and details have been changed for privacy.
After being challenged for his pattern of drinking to excess on a near daily basis, Kevin, a husband and new father, found freedom from alcohol addiction. Recently, he celebrated 90 days of sobriety, his longest in 15 years.
After sharing my personal testimony with a married couple, unbeknownst to me, Madison was inspired and encouraged to confess to her husband about an affair she had with a coworker many years prior. She had been carrying that as a secret only to herself for a very long time. Her and her husband were able to walk through forgiveness together and find healing for the hurt.
During our history taking process, Tiffany was able to open up for the first time about repeated sexual abuse that she experienced as a child. She was able to come to terms with how it had affected her throughout her life and now seeks God’s healing.
We hope these stories help you see how your support is helping to connect hurting people to the hope that Jesus has for their lives. To date, Evan has seen nearly 80 different individuals in counseling. Your support funds the help he provides to these hurting people, plain and simple. Thank you for that. If you want to know more about how to partner with us, please visit www.evanandhannah.com/donate.
Please forgive the lengthy update, but as you can see we had quite a lot to share. Until next time, please let us know how you are doing and how we can be praying for you. We would love to hear from you, and if you’re nearby, we would be glad for you to join us for a meal and some catch-up conversation.
We love you and are grateful for you,
Evan and Hannah