IT's a Girl!

We are having a little girl!!! This post is a little late. but here is a picture of her. Right now the leading name is Lydia Tate Parmer. But we still haven't decided for sure.

Our Baby....boy or girl

Well, today we go to the doctor and find out if we are having a boy or a girl. Some like to wait until delivery. We figure it will be just as big of a surprise right now as it would in 4 or 5 months. So we are going to find out. I'll be sure to post and send out an email update as soon as we know.

Our New Team

Trip to PR

A Long Summer

Nikki and I arrived back in Orlando last night. This is the first time we've been to our home since May 8th. It's been a long summer and God has done a lot in our marriage and in our lives. When we left on May 8th, we had no idea that we would 1. be pregnant and 2. be leaving staff with CO in September to move eventually to Puerto Rico with Multiplying Teams International. Tomorrow, we will leave for a short trip to Puerto Rico to get a lay of the land. We are both excited to see where we will be investing the next season of our life. In our next post we'll have more pictures from PR. We will be moving to Birmingham in a few weeks to raise support, work stateside with the MTI team, and have a baby. Our goal is to move to Puerto Rico next summer. The picture to the left was taken by my current boss Ken Foster on a recent trip to Puerto Rico.

Muchos Cambios…Many Changes

This summer has been one full of fun and exciting news from the Parmers. Everything is progressing well with Baby Parmer. We have another doctor’s appointment on August 14th and then in September we will hopefully find out if we are going to have a baby girl or boy!!!

In the midst of all the baby excitement we also began to re-evaluate where the Lord has us and where He might be taking us. We felt like we were being led away from ministry at UCF with Campus Outreach Florida. There were three specific things that we began to pray through as we sought out the possibility of having a new ministry opportunity. We knew we needed to be in a place where:

1. I could receive more theological training and personal development.
2. We could be heavily involved with the church as well as campus ministry.
3. We could be a part of a community where we are able to be mentored and have exposure to church planting.

Within a month God had brought before us an opportunity that would provide all of these things. In September we will be moving back to Birmingham, AL. We will be transitioning from CO Florida to Multiplying Teams International (MTI). This organization is based out of Briarwood Presbyterian Church much like Campus Outreach. MTI will be sending a team to San Juan, Puerto Rico to plant a church and begin a new campus ministry through our International Leadership Development Program (ILDP). Through this program I will also be able to receive a Masters in Missions through Briarwood Theological Seminary. We are excited about this new opportunity, but along with this change come many tests of faith.

We will continue developing a strong support team here at home that will allow us to begin this new work in Puerto Rico. Nikki and I will be living in Birmingham for roughly 10 months. We will spend the majority of our time communicating with you and also cultivating new supporters. I will be working part-time in the office helping the first wave of MTI missionaries prepare to leave for Puerto Rico. We will be departing later due to the pregnancy.

Below is our new Birmingham address (active beginning September 8th) and contact information. We would love to hear how you are doing!

Ben and Nikki Parmer
2132 Riverhaven Lane
Birmingham, AL 35244
btparmer@yahoo.com
nikkiparmer@yahoo.com

STP 2006 "Proximity" Psalm 73:28

A baby update

Nikki went to the doctor last week for her first "official" baby visit. The due date is February 5th--and yes, it's one day after our one year anniversary. Everything is healthy and we got to see the baby kicking around in Nikki's belly. It was pretty amazing to say the least! We are extremely excited. As of today, Tuesday July 25, Nikki is 12 weeks. She hasn't been sick in almost two weeks. I am very thankful that we are out of the sick stage of pregnancy. At least I think we are. Anyway, that's a little update from the Parmers. A lot is happening in our lives right now and we will update more soon!!!

Big Surprise!!!

We've got some big news to announce! We recently found out that we are going to have a little Parmer soon. We are really excited about the news, but along with that comes some amount of being surprised and overwhelmed. We are still very early on in the pregnancy. We don't even have an official due date. The story of how we found out is somewhat complicated...

We arrived in Gatlinburg on Monday the 29th and started settling in our new room where we will be living for the month we are at STP (Summer Training Project). Students started coming on the following Wednesday. That night we went out to eat at an Italian Restaurant, and on the way there I started having some unusual and pretty intense pain. The next day I called my Doctor in B'ham and a nurse told me to go get a pregnancy test, and then we could make a decision about what to do next. I was positive this test would be negative, because I had previously taken one that turned out negative. So, I get the test, come back to the room, and take the test. I did not know what to do when I looked at it and saw that it was showing up positive!!! I flipped out, and the girl I was with at the time went to get Ben out of a meeting. He came in and saw the look of shock on my face, and of course he instantly knew that we were pregnant.

I ended up going to the Doctor here in Gatlinburg because of the pain I was having the previous day. The Doctor said that he thought everything was fine, but my hormone levels were a little low. I went back to the hospital a couple of days later and got another blood test done to check the hormone levels. They had more than doubled, and that was a great sign for a healthy pregnancy! I go back to the Doctor on June 21st to get another blood test, but we are hopeful that everything will be OK. Our biggest prayer right now and concern is that the baby is developing in a healthy way, so please pray with us that Baby Parmer will be here to greet the world in a little less than nine months!!!
Thank you for your prayers and we'll keep you updated!

Official Florida Resident

Bitter sweet...So, I was a bit sad at first to know that I am no longer an Alabama resident, but then I realized that I am almost finished with all the official paperwork after getting married. I also went to the pool today and got some sun, so I guess it's not so bad being a Floridian. I have a new FL drivers' license and everything. If I am honest, I really am getting used to life here in Orlando. I'm learning my way around our neighborhood, and I have been going to a Bible Study at our church. It's always helpful to meet new people and get involved, or at least for me it is. So, I am now an official Floridian, and I am learning to love it.

Date Night

This picture was taken on our date night at a local park in Winter Park. We try to set aside Thursday nights for us to spend time together. This past week Ben took me to this park. It was a really neat place. The park itself was not that big, but there were these massive trees and tons of birds nesting in them. We walked around for a while after we watched the sunset.

It is definitely warming up here in FL. The other day I was running some errands and the temperature gauge in my car said it was 95 degrees. It's starting to get warmer, but we are going to be heading back to Alabama before it gets too hot.

Ben will be leaving this weekend to go on a Men's Retreat. I am excited for him to go, but at the same time a little sad. This will be the first time we have been away from each other since we got married. It will be good for both of us, and he will be able to get some quality time around the men in our church.

We look forward to being back in AL in a few weeks to visit family and friends.It seems like we are finally getting settled and organized and now it's time for us to leave again, but I have seen God do some amazing things over the past 3 months, and it will make it so much easier to come back to FL in the fall. In so many ways I will miss life down here, but I will also really enjoy being back in the true South!!!

Romans 4:20-21

Leader's Retreat

This past weekend was our Leader's Retreat for our Summer Training Project in Gatlinburg, TN and for our International Training Project in Brisbane Australia. We brought the Students and Staff into Orlando from all of our campuses to get them ready for the summer.

This will be Campus Outreach Florida's first International Training Project. Todd Pate will be the team leader. It's exciting to see God grow our students and send them overseas to labor in the Harvest.

Little Big Econ State Forest

Nikki and I hiked a 5 mile loop in the Little Big Econ State Forest. We encountered 2 Gators, 1 Snake, and I almost stepped on a Turkey. It was a lot of fun and we got pretty close to this 10 footer.








12 footer on the other side of the bank

I (Nikki) have not had a chance to write much on our blogspot, so I thought I would take a few minutes to give a little Parmer update...

Adjusting to marriage has definitely been challenging, and I think Ben may have mentioned there have been "a few bumps in the road." These bumps have consisted of a few conflicts and both of us realizing how truly selfish we are!!! It's tough when you have to share EVERYTHING, but at the same time I love it.

Marriage is not the only thing that is requiring adjustment. Living in Orlando has been very different for me than any other place I have lived. When I meet someone new the first question they ask is "where are you from? I hear the southern accent?" I forget that people down here do not have accents, so it's interesting. I am enjoying working with Ben at UCF, and I have felt very welcomed by the staff and students there.

I read a quote today that made both Ben and I laugh, and anyone that is married should be able to appreciate it...
"I love being married. It's wonderful to find that special person that you want to annoy for the rest of your life."
We thought it was pretty funny:)
I am so thankful for marriage and all of the lessons that come along with it. Mostly I am blessed to have such a wonderful man for a husband and I look forward to all that the Lord has ahead of us; laboring together, raising a family, etc. It's an exciting phase of life, one that I am learning to appreciate more and more each day.

Savannah

Savannah with Mom and Dad. Here we just finished eating at Paula Deen's famous "The Lady and Sons Restaurant." It was great for Nikki and I to get away from Florida for a couple of days. Savannah is an amazing town with so much history and interesting little nooks.

L to R. Kelli Creighton, Scott Gurley, Nikki & Ben. Scott is home from Afhganistan for two weeks. He's been there for almost 8 months and will hopefully be home for good in July.

UCF Staff. From Left to Right. Kim Cutchen, Chris Martinez (intern), Todd Pate (Campus Director), Ben & Nikki Parmer. This Picture was taken after our March Day of Prayer and Evaluation.

This picture was taken at Damon and Brandi's wedding--Two weeks before our own. We are now a month into marriage and all is going pretty well. We've had a few bumps in the road. The Lord is teaching us that we can't do this without Him.