jason evans

My wife Brooke has made meals for hundreds of people. And those people can attest to her amazing culinary ability. People often come to me asking how we developed our little community, called Hawthorn House. On my most honest days, I admit that much of it has been built on my brides hospitality and cooking more than anything else. It is her gifts and abilities that have made our house a living home (a term we used on our old co-blog and she currently uses for her email address). Yet, for the last five years, her office–her workshop-has been a beat up, awkwardly pieced together kitchen. As we've worked on making this old property livable she's made due with this space. Needless to say, I've been very excited to start my current project: a kitchen remodel. I've tweeted about this and to my surprise, many former Hawthornistas and folks that enjoyed my wife's cooking were eager to see the progress. Below are a few pictures of the evolution of the kitchen remodel: phase one. Our budget, and early Christmas presents from my lovely in-laws, only allows us one wall at a time. And, it's not done yet! So, hopefully we can post some more photos on completion. That said, the photos don't capture much. Our kitchen isn't very big, so it's hard to get a good angle. Guess that means you'll just have to come by and check it out for yourself. If you're lucky Brooke will whip something up for us!

a night at the hawthorn house from Jason Evans on Vimeo.

Last night, the Hawthorn House welcomed our little friend, Biruk. Meggan and Tim just returned from Ethiopia where the adopted Biruk. The little guy had a thing for me. So, I had the privilege of playing with him most of the night. He stole my glasses and demanded a photo in exchange for my glasses back. It was really nice outside so, we held our gathering on the patio. We also had our first "dedication." We adapted a prayer from the Celtic Daily Prayer book. It was a beautiful time. We surrounded the family, laying hands on them and several us prayed these prayers over them:

To Be Said By A Friend To Meggan and Tim:
The blessing of Christ
comes to you in this child.
This blessing is mercy
and kindness and joy.
Blessing comes to home
and to family.

To Be Said By A Friend To Biruk:
Welcome, Biruk,
child of love,
God is here to bless you,
And blessed are you,
beyond telling,
to be brought to parents
who love you
and love each other
servants of the great King Jesus.

To Be Said By A Friend To Biruk:
Grow gently, Biruk,
in love of God.
We bless you,
and pray
Christ be near you,
now and each hour
of your life.

To Be Said By All To Biruk:
God be with you
in this your day,
every day and every way,
with you and for you
in this your day,
and the love
and affection
of heaven
be toward you.

To Be Said By A Friend To Biruk:
As a tiny baby your parents cover
and clothe you
in their love
and with their faith.

As you grow
may faith grow with you.
May you find the presence
of Christ your clothing
and protection.
And year by year may the
knowledge of His presence
be greater for you,
that daily you may put on Christ
and walk as His own in the world.

To Be Said By Meggan and Tim:
Biruk,
may God make clear to you each road;
may God make safe to you each step;
should you stumble, hold you;
if you fall, lift you up;
when you are hard pressed with evil,
deliver you –
and bring you at last to His glory.

To Be Said By A Friend To Meggan and Tim:
The blessing of Christ
comes to you in your Biruk;
this blessing is mercy
and kindness and joy.
Blessing comes to home
and to family.

Amen

Almost 9 months ago, we planted sweet potatoes in our garden. Nothing seemed to be growing. So, after we got back from our trip in September I pulled them out. But the vine-like leaves that come up from a sweet potato came back. Andy, Matt, Greg and I were working in the garden today–weeding, training and pruning the grape vines, raspberry and boysenberry canes–and I pulled up two sweet potatoes! Not the biggest, but I'm still excited to see that they are actually producing more than just the vines. We also planted organic mesclun, lettuce, beets, basil, chives, potatoes, oregano, and we transplanted volunteer tomato plants. All of us were pretty stoked to get so much done in the garden today and can't wait to see stuff grow... and it looks like rain tonight!

Good way to start the year off!