So since I've been a terrible blogger for the past few months, I thought I'd write a virtual Christmas letter to detail a bit of our lives this past year, and specifically this fall.
October brought Sophie's 1st birthday, and with that came amazement at how our lives have changed so drastically over the past year. She truly is a huge blessing and a gift from God, and I pray daily that He will make me the kind of mother I should be to raise her in a godly manner. Now that she is 1 it's incredible to see how she changes daily. She's not quite walking on her own, but it looks like she'll take off whenever she summons the courage to do so. She talks constantly (lately she says "no no" quite a bit...perhaps because she hears it about 1000 times/day) and loves to wrestle, be tickled, play with anything dog-related, and go to church to see her best friends. We frequently find her in her room "reading" her books, which does my heart good (looks like I got a "Reader" Parks after all).
Erik stays busy with work, church and family responsibilities. He is enjoying serving in various capacities in our church, which we are constantly blessed to be a part of. The big project he's worked on this year has been a short film titled, "Life in a Waiting Room." He wrote, directed and edited it and is looking forward to screening it soon for those who were involved in the process. In a nutshell it's the story of a college student who has been accepted to law school and faces a critical decision that could drastically change her life. He made the film in cooperation with a couple from Chattanooga who are heavily involved in the crisis pregnancy center there and they have asked for copies to hand out to those who come to the clinic (so much for keeping the "critical decision" a secret). We are hoping and praying for open doors and funding to distribute copies at several pregnancy centers. It's such a blessing to see my husband using his talents to serve the Lord and others.
While I have no real excuse for the lack of blogging this fall, I have remained pretty busy. Some days it's hard to imagine how women with multiple children do it :). While my full-time job is being at home with Sophie and taking care of things around here, I've also done some other writing and research from home, although that has slowed down of late. I recently had the opportunity to join The Nashville Choir - a volunteer choir of about 160 vocalists here in town. The goal of the choir is ministry-related and the first performance I was a part of was on the stage at the Ryman Auditorium singing for the kick-off of the Salvation Army Christmas campaign. Last week we sang at the symphony hall here in town for the Debby Boone Christmas concert. The idea behind the choir is to serve the community (the Nashville Rescue Mission, Salvation Army, etc.) and to bring glory to God by singing, and it's an honor to be a part of that.
Finally, here's just a little glimpse into what we've been learning and what God has been doing in our hearts lately. Through various sources and circumstances we've been forced to consider our way of living and our use of the resources we've been given. It's hard at times not to get caught up in the "American dream" of health, wealth and happiness, and I've been convicted on many occasions lately about my idea of what we "need." We're still seeking truth and wisdom and learning a lot about this, but the following quote from John Piper's book,
The Dangerous Duty of Delight has been really helpful/convicting for me:
So the answer to how to store up treasure in heaven is to spend your earthly treasures for merciful purposes in Christ's name here on earth. [. . .] God is not glorified when we keep for ourselves (no matter how thankfully) what we ought to be using to alleviate the misery of unevangelized, uneducated, unmedicated, and unfed millions. The evidence that many professing Christians have been deceived by Western commercialism and materialism is how little we give and how much we own. And by an almost irresistible law of consumerism we have bought bigger (and more) houses, newer (and more) cars, fancier (and more) clothes, better (and more) meat, and all manner of trinkets and gadgets and containers and devices and equipment to make life more fun.
So maybe this isn't the most cheerful of Christmas letters, but the truth is that God is teaching me much about finding my joy and satisfaction in Him alone, and what could be better than that?
Thank you for your love, support, and encouragement to our family this past year. We hope we can love, support and encourage you in the year to come :)
