10 Talents!!!!

Someone said something to me today that has hit home.
         " You and Josh are 10 talent people, don't settle with doing 2 talent work".
WOW!!! First of all, what a compliment!! Second, how true is this? God has called us, gifted us, and sending us to do 10 talent work. Sometimes it is easier to settle for just 2 talent callings. They are usually comfortable, no risk's, tons of earthly security, and make the most sense to the people around us. Can you imagine what God would do if we gave it all up to do the 10 talent work of the Lord? Can you imagine to incredible things of Jesus we would witness? Can you imagine being right in the center of God's glory and miracle? I want so much to lose me if I get Him. I want to push aside comfort and stability if that is what He wants. I would never be happier then in His Will and man the awesome things I would see and be a part of.

So, I ask each of you. What is the calling God has on your life that is crazy and seems scary but is 10 talent work for Him? Are you settling in the comfort of religion and even church? Do you want to do the things God created you to do? Oh the glory that God is given when we get to this place of surrender and total depravity.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today would have been my dad's 59th birthday. I can not even imagine what his first birthday in heaven will be like. Can you imagine, Jesus wishing you a happy birthday? I miss my dad more than anyone can even fathom. I had an amazing dad who left quite a quake in his passing. I miss the way he sat on the couch with his ankles crossed. I miss the way he laughed at Josh when he did crazy things. I miss how when I called the house he'd answer with a spanish accent, as if to fool me, even though I called their number. I miss how he loved on his grandkids and would do anything in the world for them. I miss how he spoiled us. I miss how he'd say, " don't worry", when things weren't going right for me. More than anything, I miss his power to calm every situation and make the world seem ok. Oh how I wish he was here to calm this pain we all feel.

Now, I know he has tasted heaven and there is no way he'd ever come back here, hehe. I know that God can take better care of him than we ever could. He is without pain, tears, sin, worry, fear, and tiredness. For those reasons, I am so thankful he is there.  See, this earth is not really our home. God created us to be with Him. Dad is home with his Creator and his Savior. So, happy birthday dad. We are celebrating you today here on earth (hamburgers and swimming, your fav.) until we can celebrate with you in heaven. I love you more than words can say and will celebrate the life you lived here.

A Frustrated Mom In Target!!!!

Today, my hubby, stayed with the kids so I could have a few hours to myself. Of course, when I get a few hours, a TARGET trip is going to happen. I love to stroll through in the peace and quiet. I get to look at what I want and nobody is reminding me how much they need that certain toy or item. So, I took my time. There were a few things I needed for homeschooling so I ended up on the school isle. There was a mom there with her two older girls and I knew, they would be in school if they were in school. As I stood there looking for my items, I knew she was a bit frustrated. She complained to her girls about staying with her or they'd get it (which I have said). She proceeded to sigh and huff and just seemed overwhelmed.  I finally asked, " Do you homeschool?" She said' "Can't you tell." Oh my. She sounded like me a few months back when homeschooling seemed like the worst choice I had ever made. She continued to sigh and roll her eyes in drudgery and tiredness. As, I left Target, I thought about her and then thought about me. Last year was rough for our first year of homeschooling. It wasn't just the homeschooling itself but circumstances of life that left me feeling just like this lady. I know I sighed a lot and rolled my eyes any chance I got. It was not going according to plan and I knew, I HAD MADE THE WRONG CHOICE. Through much prayer and wonderful encouragement from two special lady's, I knew this was God's call on my life and that if I would just be obedient, I would see the fruit.

WELL, we already have 2 weeks behind us this school year and I must say, I MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE!!!!! With a change in curriculum and concentrating more on the gospel, WE ARE HAVING A BLAST. Katelyn is working great with our new routine and I am happier and less stressed. I am so excited because I see God moving immensely in our family just because of homeschooling. This morning, all four of us sat at our kitchen table and talked about the names of God before we started school. As Josh led us, I sat there thinking, we would never have this unrushed and special time if I wasn't homeschooling, I would not sit and just have coffee while my family ate and talked together, and I would not learn as much as I am learning alongside Katelyn. I know that this is the call God has on my life and I up for the challenge. I am so glad I followed His leading and am so glad my husband was there to support and teach with me. Thank you Lord for making me new and making me see the big picture.

I AM SCARED!!!!!

Well, as I write this, I am pretty sure that I am far from the trusting woman of God I should be. I have done well up until this point. I have recognized God's call on our family and even been a bit excited about all the goodness God is raining down on us. As of last week, my fear has overtaken. After September, there will be no paycheck coming in our home or health insurance. Josh and I have had many times when we had to completely survive on the promises of the Lord but this is more than my little brain has been able to handle. I have no doubt that God is already at work in what will come but my emotions feel differently. Humanly, I am scared. Spiritually, I am expectant and awaiting this challenge with great anticipation. So, my question is: How do I align the two? How do I put them together to get through this?

I am praying and know that God is always in control. I know that my husband has and will always be our provider even in others things than monetary. I trust him with everything because he is called to do some pretty amazing things. I know that God is about to rock our world with true ministry that supercedes anything we've ever done. I know that we will move from traditional ministry minds to extreme ministry minds, which really isn't extreme at all. It is the way we, as a church, should have been doing it all along. I know that we will see our family strengthened and our kids will see ministry and Christianity in a whole new way.

So, that's what I know. That is truth that is getting me through this all. I will hold on to Jesus and His truths with all that is within me. Not because He is a genie, but because He is good.

Discipline Cards....

I read a blog on Confessions of a Homeschooler about discipline cards. I LOVED IT!!! It is a box of chores that are not regular chores that you may have kids already doing. Its those things you hate to do around the house. We have transitioned with Katelyn in disciplining. She is now 8 and we have decided to stop spankings (sorry for those who don't spank, we do). So, I have been trying to figure out ways to still discipline when she disobeys or has an unhappy attitude. So, I love this idea of Discipline Cards. Here is how it works. You find a box, cut some cards or make little cards and print them out, put them in box and you have a Discipline Box. I also put a verse on mine to remind her that Honoring her Father and Mother is a Commandment with a promise. Here are some pics. I just handmade it all but the lady who blogged about it had printed out cute papers with pics on them. I hope this is an idea some of you may find to work. We shall see and I will update on its effectiveness!!!

10 Years of Marriage.

On Thursday, I will have been married 10 years to an amazing Man of God. As I think about the day we married, I had no idea we would have been through what we have. I remember as I was putting on my princess wedding dress and freshening up my makeup, all I could think about was all the fun we'd have. I was so excited to get to wake up to someone for the rest of my life. More than anything, I couldn't wait to soar through life with this man and create our family and all of our dreams come true.

Well, as you can see, I may have been living in la-la land that day. I mean, we had pre-marital counseling. We were told marriage wasn't easy and that there would be hard times. In my head I knew that but in my heart I was so in love with `this incredible man, that couldn't imagine everything not being PERFECT!!!
Now, after 10 years, I can say that marriage has been hard (especially after having children). I can also say, I HAVE LOVED EVERY MINUTE!!!! I married the man God had for me and we fit perfectly. Where I am weak, he is strong and vice versa. To some people, 10 years doesn't seem very long, and to some, it may seem forever away. These 10 years have flown. So, I have a list of things we have gone through in just 10 years of marriage.

1. We have moved 3 times and served in 3 churches.
2. We have had 2 children and have 3 babies in heaven.
3. I have lost me Father and Josh has lost an amazing aunt and grandmother.
4. We've watched friends marry and have babies and even now have nieces.
5. We have been blessed my three amazing youth groups full of teenagers we will never forget and leaders that will always be our friends.
6. We have been on countless trips to PA, SC, FL, Missouri, NY, VA, GA, Africa. Most were mission trips and some were visiting family or taking youth to camps.
7. We have seen and been able to lead many to Christ.
8. Josh and I have seen our daughter surrender her life to the Lord.
9. I have seen Josh catch our yard on fire. ( I had to throw that in there babe :))
10. We have been on roller coaster rides with life and have seen God carry us through time and time again.

That is just a list of some things. I am more than blessed with the life that God has given me. Josh and I are not perfect but our marriage is more important to us than our own rights. I love him with every ounce of my being and could not imagine life without him. I pray for him daily to be the leader of our home and to follow Christ wherever He leads. Josh has grown more than I could ever have imagined. I love him more now than I ever thought was possible. So, as I think back 10 years ago, and remember that day, all I can really think is WOW, I HAD NO IDEA HOW MUCH FUN WE'D HAVE!!!!!! I love you Josh and can't wait to see what else God has in store for us. MY CUP RUNNETH OVER!!!!

My son Samuel Lucas

Well, yesterday i wrote about how awesome my daughter is. Now, I am sitting here watching Samuel eat a bagel and yell at the top of his lungs every word he knows because that's just what he does. We are continually blessed by this little man. For those who don't know our story, here it is:

When Katelyn was three we started trying to have another baby. I had extreme Post Partum depression with Katelyn so we were really scared. We got pregnant right away and something went wrong. I ended up miscarrying and having to have surgery. A couple months later, we were pregnant again. After 8 weeks, I miscarried for a second time. The doctors continued to tell me having 2 was ok. There was nothing wrong with me. A couple months later, I was pregnant for the 4th time in my life. And again, at 9 weeks, we lost another blessing. At this point, doctors were concerned at having 3 miscarriages in a such a short amount of time. They ran lots of tests and did ultrasounds and everything came back perfectly fine. They had no answers for us and we asked " why?" I WAS DONE!!!! I sold everything from Katelyn's old crib to everything baby I had leftover. I just knew we would have only one child and I was ok with that. Right after our third miscarriage, Josh went to Africa to preach in the jails. When he got home, he told me about a Christian government official he met. This man was over the jails in his city. He told Josh about the trouble him and his wife had having babies. He said they cried out and God gave them a son and they named him Samuel which means: The Lord has heard my cry! And then this man told Josh if we would cry out to the Lord, He will give us a son and we will name him Samuel. Well, my heart was so broken, I didn't care what anyone said, I WAS DONE!! That Sunday, a sweet lady came to me at church and told me she had been praying for a year that we would have another child. I was blown away. Just what was God thinking? Josh continued to pray for me and after many months of healing , I said "ok, we'll try, but this is it." Of course, I had no problem getting pregnant. 8 weeks came and went. 12 weeks came and went. 20 weeks came, and time to find out the sex. We already knew it was a boy, but what the heck. So, here we were, baby healthy, momma healthy, and it is a BOY!!!! I wasn't keen on the name Samuel, but God affirmed through lots of things that this was to be his name. So, we now have Samuel Lucas Kappes and I am so happy we didn't stop trying. Here is what God blessed us with.

1. Samuel is full of energy and has the goofiest sense of humor like his daddy.
2. He loves to sing and play drums. Drums can be anywhere. Chinese restaurant with chop sticks and even down to forks on a table for the whole restaurant to hear. He also loves air guitar at all times. Dancing comes along with all of it.
3. He loves to be outside but not in the sun. He is not a fan.
3. I love his sweet smile, blonde hair, and blue eyes. He is a spitting image of his father.
4. He talks all the time, clear as day. His older sister may have had something to do with that.
5. His fits consist of him just laying on the floor rolling around quietly or screaming at the top of his lungs for all to hear.
6. Right now, everything is the color Blue. It must be his favorite.
7. He loves to hug and say sorry when he offends other little people.
8. When we say time for night night, his response it, " I watch cartoons 5 minutes."
8. HE LOVES MILK!!!!
9. Samuel is not our dare devil. He will not just jump on something or slide right down. He is deathly afraid of Chuckie Cheese and the Chic-Fil-A Cow. His favorite thing to say in those situations is, " It scare you."
10. When he knows he is going to get in trouble, his famous quote is, " I funny, I so funny." That comes with a big huge smile and it makes it very hard to discipline him.
11. I love this little boy with all my heart. I can't believe that I almost gave up and this little boy was just waiting for us. I know that he will do great things and become the Man of God that God has created him to be. He makes us laugh constantly and his smile will melt your heart.

I am blessed with these amazing kids and God has so much in store for them. Even though it is very hard most days to be a stay at home mom, I WOULDN'T TRADE IT FOR THE WORLD. I love seeing them learn and grow and I know that God has called me to a great work: Raising Disciples!!!!!