The Village

You know the old adage, "it takes a village to raise a child?" Well, here at the Park household, we are discovering daily how very true the saying is. From the time we entered the hospital, gifts of encouragement, food, baby clothes, feeding advice and acts of service have been pouring in, all of which have made this time of transition one where we can enjoy getting to know our little guy and not worry about so many little things.

Two friends did all of our laundry before we got home from the hospital. As in, ALL of our laundry, clean and folded. They also decorated our kitchen in fine style with a monster truck theme to say Happy Birthday to Levi. Two friends stayed with us the first night until my mom could arrive the next day, getting absolutely zero sleep and seeing firsthand what Team Park looks like in the middle of the night on our first night home from the hospital (one word: rough). Friends and family have texted and called to make sure I'm holding up alright, have provided amazing dinners night after night (and wow, can you folks cook). Grammy (my mom) spent a week with us, doing everything from the dishes to running errands to soothing a crying baby.

To each and every one of you: We're absolutely thankful to be doing life with you!

Here's a glimpse of a particularly gold-star village member. There really isn't anything she hasn't done this week to help us...

Welcome to parenthood!

I want to begin our labor story with the person who deserves far more praise or recognition than he'll ever get, the true hero of this past weekend, and that's my husband. From the moment our midwife told us that we were not, in fact, going back home on Thursday morning but rather to the hospital to get the party started, GP3 immediately became my hero in a completely new way. So, here is where he gets a HUGE shout-out: Gib, you are amazing. From perfecting the "labor playlist" to holding my hand when I cried out in pain, to spending time in prayer before any decisions were made, he was/is my rock and I am so thankful for him on a deeper level than I ever thought possible.

As I have the tendency to write novel-length things, whether they be e-mails or facebook messages, I'll try to stay on point here:

Our Thursday morning began with a normal trip (albeit it on icy streets!) for a check-up with our midwife, Leanna, who truly deserves a blog post of her own because she is so incredible. We learned that Levi was breaking an important rule of things not to do while in your mother's tummy by messing with his umbilical cord, which resulted in the news that we were going into labor that very morning. (Evidence that our baby was his father's son long before I knew what he would look like... oh, the mischief!)

Thirty-eight hours later, we heard the first cry of our baby, and I think I speak for both of us when I say our hearts completely melted. The entire medical staff we worked with was so excited that we didn't know the gender, and our midwife instructed all of them to wait to say anything until Gib had seen the baby and made the announcement, "It's a boy!"

One week later, it's amazing to look back and see how our lives have already changed. We've spent the last seven days learning our baby's cues, changing diapers (actually, I have to be honest here - I haven't had to change one yet, thanks to GP), napping whenever possible, meeting our pediatrician and staring with awe at this perfect little boy God has given us. He's a mini-Gib in so many ways and we are so, so in love with him!

Meet the newest member of Team Park!

Well, friends, today has been a momentous day in our lives! "Deuteronomy" Park became a reality around 1 a.m. this morning, weighing in at 8 lbs. even and 21.5 inches long, with his daddy's nose and mama's lips.

Meet Levi Blaze Park:

We couldn't be more thrilled to finally meet this baby! More details to come later, but for now, it's sleep and cuddling for Team Park.

Stretching leads to dancing

Can you look back on a time in your life when you have really been stretched? Challenged? Changed for the better in a significant way?

When I look back on the last few years, it's like I hardly recognize myself... in a really good way. It's hard to believe just a few weeks ago, we celebrated our six-year wedding anniversary. It seems like six years ago, we were just kids! (Maybe we were!)

Recounting all of the stretching and growing we've experienced in the last few years would take a novel to complete, so I won't attempt that. This week, however, I took a good look at one specific area of life that has changed significantly for us in the past year - worship.

Approximately one year ago next week, we were at a conference with some friends, watching other people worship. We were supposed to be worshiping, too, but it was so much more fascinating to watch the crowd. Although we had grown up with traditional hymn-singing in church, it wasn't the loud music that captivated our attention. It was the reckless abandon with which the people around us were worshiping Jesus. While it seemed a little strange, there was a part of me that wished I had that.

The change that began within us upon returning home started so subtly that others likely barely noticed. The swaying of the body to the beat, while first undetectable to the naked eye, felt like moving mountains inside. Clapping. Singing loudly. Hands raised, first just at hip-level, then shoulder level, then one arm up... from one month to the next, God was tugging at us to experience Him in a new way.

This week, nearly one year later, we danced. We jumped. We shouted. We praised the One who has changed our lives in the most incredible ways. And we weren't the only ones. In a room of 40-some people, 40-some people were right there with us, sweating, laughing, exalting our Heavenly Father.

What caused this change? The simple answer is really the truth: we found joy in His presence. It wasn't a matter of learning to worship the "right" way. It was recognizing that joy is not circumstantial. "The joy of the Lord is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10

Truly, that joy gives life. Jesus gives life, not only in worship but in every facet of life. And for that, we are so thankful.

Celebration of Discipline

As I mentioned in our first post, we began a 10-month discipleship training school this fall through our church. The school, called EQUIP, is not so much academic training as it is lifestyle training. We learn about the character of God, worship together and pray together, and each week we get to hear a different speaker talk about things like the Father heart of God, evangelism, spending time with God, authority of the Bible, and much more. To say that this training school has already been life-changing for both of us would be an understatement!

Reading is also a large part of EQUIP, which has been one of our favorite aspects. In addition to reading the Bible in 10 months, we are also assigned to read a different book each month. Herein lies the point of this particular post!

One of our most recent books was Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline. The title alone was enough to make me skeptical at first. Celebration? Of discipline? But, oh how quickly we learned what a gem this book is. I would venture to say that this is a must-read for all believers. At least, that's my humble opinion! If you are looking for a quality winter read, this book has our high recommendation.

So long, farewell...

This has been a bittersweet time of year for us. We love getting to know such amazing international students and families, but inevitably, they return home.

Last month, one of our host daughters, Maryse, finished her master's degree at OU. I had the honor of sitting in on her thesis defense and witnessing her brilliance. Yesterday, we had to say goodbye to our Turkish host daughter, Merve, and our "honorary host daughter," Gizem. And tonight, we said farewell to the Ahmad family, as they depart for the UAE for new job opportunities.

A bright spot in our week, though, was our Tuesday night dinner with Merve and Gizem. Since Merve was only here for one semester, we did our best to fit as many fun activities as possible into four months. In December, she and GP Christmas-fied our house and baked some delicious pumpkin bread to get us all in the holiday spirit.

Tuesday was a blast! Merve and Gizem cooked us a delicious Turkish meal of manti, followed by Turkish delight and Turkish coffee. We then set off on an adventure to help Merve purchase an iPhone from a Craigslist seller (success!) - and, as no Norman experience would be complete without Rusty's Frozen Custard, we made a detour for some dessert.

On Wednesday morning, we had to say goodbye. We know that Istanbul is lucky to have them back, but they'll be missed.

New Year's Resolution: And so it begins...

Welcome to the blog of Team Park! I realize it's more than a little cliche to start blogging a) as a New Year's Resolution and b) when you are about to have a kiddo, but here I am, jumping right on that bandwagon.

As we look back on 2010 and all of the adventures it brought, I sort of wish I'd started this gig on January 1 of last year, if for no other reason than for me to go back and re-live the fun all over again! And then I remember that I actually began 2010 with my head in the toilet of a German apartment, a direct result of consuming raw hamburger earlier that day. So, logistically, it wouldn't have been possible to start blogging around this time last year, right?!

2010 in a nutshell: three weeks in Europe/Central Asia with a carry-on size backpack and Gilbert III, being pregnant, starting our church's discipleship training school, getting to see some of our best friends getting married and having babies, and becoming part of the most amazing community we've ever experienced (shout-out to our life group!). But those are all stories for another time.

So, what home run of a message will we send into the world as part of our very first post of our very first blog? We'll start simple: Happy New Year! We can't wait to see what 2011 brings for Team Park, and we hope that you have one heck of a year, too.