Christmas 2009

Well I know I am going a little backwards, but I wanted to catch up on December.

DECORATING THE TREE

BAKING COOKIES

CHRISTMAS MORNING

2009 CHRISTMAS LETTER

Merry Christmas from the Semlow house! We are much more full, much more loud, and much more blessed than we were this time last year.

The last sentence of our 2008 Christmas letter read “God has provided everything we have needed over the past 12 months, and we know we can trust Him to be just as faithful in the coming year.” And Faithful He has been!!!

I don’t have the words to adequately describe all that has transpired in our family over the past 12 months. From the agony and weariness of waiting week by week for 5 months in 2009 (plus 3 months of 2008) to find out if we were going to be able to get our kids home, to the joy of passing court and traveling to Ethiopia in May, to the difficulties of blending three new children into our family, to the frustration of breaking my foot and being on crutches for 3 months, to the peace of finally feeling like we are figuring life out – we have been through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in the course of 1 year. But through it all, we can testify that God has been absolutely faithful to our family!

As Hollie put it when she spoke at a church about our adoption a few weeks ago: “Adoption is the hardest thing that ever happened to me, but Adoption is the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Adoption and travel to Ethiopia have changed our family in so many ways, beyond numbers. We have not just found a “new normal” as a family of eight - we have been transformed by all that has transpired. We have been gloriously ruined, as one of my favorite books puts it.

We have seen first hand what utter poverty looks like.
We will never again buy anything without thinking about what those dollars could do in Ethiopia.
We have realized how much we take for granted.
We will never have anything to complain about again.
We know that the beauty of a smile and the joy of laughter transcend skin color.
We have experienced the joy of so many first through the eyes of three children.
We have learned that peace in a home comes from an inward spirit and not volume control.
We have been humbled, as God has stretched us to give beyond what we have to give to these three little ones.
We have learned that when we get to the end of ourselves, God can begin His real work.
We have learned how incredibly blessed we are by our friends and family, who were the hands and feet to help our family through a crazy year.
We understand God’s unconditional love to a new depth.
We wrestle with what more can we do – there are still 147 million children with no home – 5 million in Ethiopia alone.

We are beyond blessed that God chose us to experience the joy and blessing of adopting our three beautiful kids. It has been crazy hard, but it has been crazy good. We look forward to what 2010 will bring for each in our family.

I think the ending of last years letter is perfect again this year. God has provided everything we have needed over the past 12 months, and we know we can trust Him to be just as faithful in the coming year.


Christmas Blessings – Kevin, Sherry, Corinne, Hollie, Kaden, Isaiah, Josiah, and Lydia


“Once our eyes are opened, we can’t pretend we don’t know what to do. God who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act.” ~ Proverbs 24:12