12 Years on June 12th!

My sweet hubby took me on a surprise get-away to Duluth, MN. He loves to take me on surprise trips. We had a wonderfully refreshing 3 days! Most people go on vacations “To Do”. They have a whole list of the sights, tours, & explorations that they must do. However, our lives are so full with family & ministry that when we get away with just the 2 of us, we like to sit, be still & enjoy one another. Kempton truly spoiled me! We stayed at The A.G. Thomson House. What a beautiful Bed & Breakfast! The owners, Tim & Angie, are the most hospitable hosts that we've ever had on a vacation. They treated us like old friends. Our room was not in the main house. My hubby arranged for us to be in the grand Lake Superior Suite. Oh my! If you go to Duluth with your spouse, you MUST stay there! The pictures say it all. Below are more pics from our trip.

We chose to have our delicious 3 course breakfast delivered to us each morning.

Here's the comfy little room where I had my morning quiet time.

The 12 roses that Kempton gave me for our 12 beautiful years together.

Here's the yummy complimentary dessert after our superb dinner at the Black Woods Restaurant.

Of course we took a stroll along the largest lake in the U.S. - Lake Superior.

Thank you Sweetie for an absolutely PERFECT 12^th Anniversary!

I Love You!!!

A Surprise Trip

A few week ago, my sweet hubby took me on a Surprise Trip to San Diego!!! A couple of days before the trip, he told me to buy some (maternity) clothes for warm weather and to be ready on Tues. morning because we would be leaving for the airport right after he spoke at MOMS.

I was elated! He had already asked my parents to watch the kids for 4 days in order for us to enjoy a Pre-Anniversary Trip. The Lord has blessed us with a trip each year for our anniversary. Because I will be 8 months pregnant (Lord willing) on our 11th anniversary (June 12), he thought it was a good idea to plan it sooner. I actually didn't think we would be going any where this year because of the new baby coming and because we had such a big get-away to the Dominican Republic less than a year ago.

After 4 hours of traveling with a layover in Phoenix, we finally arrived in Sunny San Diego! What a great city to visit when you've had to look at snow for the last 5 months! When we arrived, it was dinner time. We really like pizza so we had a casual dinner at a cute little spot called Espresso Pizza. Kempton had the whole trip planned out. All I had to do was sit back, relax, and be spoiled.

We had reservations at Loews Coronado Bay Resort. However, they overbooked for the night so they gave us a FREE night in their sister hotel - Hotel del Coronado.
On top of that, because of our "inconvenience" for the night, they told us that when we returned to the Resort for the remainder of our trip, they would upgrade us into a Luxury Suite. WOW!!!

I praise God for this sweet, unexpected blessing from the Lord. He has given me a romantic husband who regularly shows me that he loves me more than I can imagine. Thank you sweetie for striving to love me as Christ loves the church.

Below are a few snapshots from our trip.

Fun day at the World Famous Zoo

Dinner at Truluck's where you pay $25 for 1/2 lb of crab and don't get any side entrees. Very good though! :-)

Taking a break from hanging out at the Seaport Village.

5 month pregnancy pic

We had a good ole down-home breakfast like grandmama used to make at a well known restaurant called The Big Kitchen. The mouth-watering pancakes are as big as the plate!!!

Part 2: In Sickness and In Health...of your child

Here are the things that Kempton & I strive to do to preserve our marriage.

Only by God's strength, We say “YES” to…
1) Praying together. As soon as we wake up, we ask the Lord for strength for the day and for the grace to walk in the Spirit. (Ephesians 6:18)

2) Daily getting in the Word together. We have to juggle in this area since we have young children. Most of the time it's before the kids get up. Lately it's been after the kids go to bed. There are some days that it doesn't happen, but this is our regular goal that we strive for. (Psalm 1:2)

3) Overflowing at all times! We love to share with each other what God is teaching us individually through His Word. We do this as we're getting ready for the day, playing with the kids, eating a meal, etc. This has been such a pillar as we strive to have a Christ-centered, God-exalting home. Most of our times in the Word together are full of overflowing onto one another. The grace & goodness of our Lord and the new insight that we receive from Him calls for much excitement in our conversations. (Col 3:16-17)

4) Confessing sins to one another. This area is definitely the hardest, but it produces the most beautiful results. Each time we confess our sins to one another, the Lord blesses our marriage to grow closer in oneness and unity. We both know what each other struggles in the most and we try to pray for those specific areas regularly. Only God knows ALL the sins that we have committed. However, the times when we were both transparent and confessed some of our ugly & filthy sins, God has met us in a powerful way and strengthened our marriage through it. (James 5:16)

5) DATE NIGHTS!!! When Christian was a baby and had more medical issues, we often could not have others care for him. So, Kempton & I would have "In house"date nights. We would put Christian to bed and then order take-out from our favorite restaurant. We enjoyed our relaxing yet romantic evenings at home. Over the years, the Lord has blessed us to be able to go out for date nights and have either grandparents or friends care for the kids. Because it still can be a handful caring for both Christian & Carysse, we tend to put Christian to bed 1st & then go out for a later date night. Christian goes to bed at 7:30 so we have a babysitter come over and she just has to care for Carysse. I know date nights may be difficult for some of you because of your child's needs, but pray for the Lord to give you creative ideas to make it happen. Set aside the time whether it's weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly...JUST DO IT!!! (Song of Solomon 2:16, 7:10)

6) Not neglecting the Body of Christ. God has called His children to love one another, serve one another, & encourage one another. We are not exempt from these commands just because we have a child with special needs. However, with Christian's needs, we are not able to attend many of the church events as a family. Praise the Lord that we are at a church that serves Christian on Sunday mornings so that Kempton & I can worship together. Because we love to be with God's people, we decided to host many events in our home. This gives us an opportunity to serve the body as a family unit and not have to be concerned about trying to find care for our children. This has been a huge blessing and a source of joy for our family. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

I know this is a long & wordy list, but it's certainly not exhaustive. I hope it helps & encourages someone. Kempton & I are definitely not perfect in any of these areas. God has been so faithful in taking our little insufficient efforts and producing good, spiritual fruit for His glory and the benefit of our marriage & family.

In Sickness and In Health...of your child

It is said that the divorce rate is about 80-90% for parents of children with special needs. Even though there is not much data to support that statistic, it is a fact that parenting a child with special needs is most often more challenging and complex than parenting a typical child.

By the grace of God, Kempton and I celebrated 10 joyous years of marriage in June. No, life has not been easy since Christian has been born. Yes, we have to fight discontentment with the daily, mundane tasks of caring for his needs. Yes, we have our stressful seasons & gut-wrenching moments. But God! He has been so rich in mercy towards us. Recalling Psalm 68:19 is the only way I can describe these past 6½ years…“Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation.”

We are not experts in marriage, nor do we have it all together. However, I wanted to share some tips that are helping Kempton & I strive to remain focused on our Lord Jesus and put much effort into our marriage.

Only by God's strength, We say “NO” to…
1) Our family revolving around disability. We are the Turner Team and we’re made up of 4 members. Christian is a blessed part of the family, but his disabilities do not characterize our family. Each of us has unique strengths & weaknesses. God gives us the grace to strive to serve one another and not focus solely on one individual. Keeping this central, has been the key in many of the choices we’ve made as you will see in the following points.

2) Tons of therapy services. God is sovereign over Christian’s disabilities. If He chooses, He can “heal” Christian in a millisecond. So, why would we stress ourselves in trying to “fix” Christian with tons of services??? We are not against therapy, Christian has actually had several therapy services. However, putting all our energy, time, & focus there is not beneficial for Christian, our family, our marriage, or our ministries.

3) The demands of disability consuming our 1st calling as husband & wife. God called husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church and wash them in the Word. Wives are called to help, submit, and respect their husbands. Read Genesis 2:18 and Eph 5:22-33. If we strive to honor & obey God in what He has called us to do and keep this priority, He will take care of the rest. If you are too exhausted or too stressed to follow God’s desire, you may need to reevaluate your priorities. Ask the Lord for the grace and strength for you to keep 1st things 1st! The best way you can actually love your children is to love one another.

I know that there are some seasons that your child with special needs may need more attention, time, and focus. We’ve had several of those seasons with Christian. However, I listed here what we strive to do under "normal" circumstances.

God willing, the next blog post will be about what we said “YES” to.

Dominican Republic Trip

Our Lord Jesus Christ wonderfully answered all of our prayers and the many prayers that were lifted up on our behalf. We were blessed far more abundantly than all that we asked for or imagined (Eph 3:20). God's hand of favor covered us on our trip to the Dominican Republic and He richly graced our children while we were away. To God be the glory! Thank you for partnering with us in prayer.

~Kempton & Caryn


FYI - If you would like to listen to Kempton's sermons from the DR, click on the links below.
Sermon #1 and Sermon #2.

10 days…10 messages…10 years!

Earlier this year, our hearts were burdened to not waste our upcoming wedding anniversary on ourselves, but to spend it on joyfully serving others for the sake of the gospel. Little did we know that the Lord would “open up a door” to travel to the Dominican Republic (DR) together to “proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9)! Lord willing, we will be serving the precious people of the DR, June 9th through June 18th (10 days).

Lord enabling, Kempton will be preaching 10 messages at a National Conference to hundreds of souls (young and old) gathered together from around this spiritually-ripe country. This includes preaching at all of the Sunday services at one of the host churches.

We are also excited about spending the last 3-4 days of the trip enjoying God together and His goodness to us as we celebrate 10 years of marriage!

Please pray that:
* God’s chosen would be saved through the gospel. (2 Thess. 2:13-14)
* God’s church would be built up in love. (Eph. 4:11-16)
* God’s hand of favor, protection and blessing would be upon Christian, Carysse and Caryn’s parents as they so graciously care for their grandchildren. (What a gift!) (Ps. 5:12)
* God would enable us to humbly & joyfully “outdo others in showing honor”. (Rom. 12:10)
* God would guard our hearts and minds from worldliness, pride, various lusts and the schemes of the devil. (I John 2:15-17, Eph. 6:10-20)
* God would enrich our marriage to more gloriously display His gospel design. (Eph. 5:22-33)
* God would cause Isaiah 6 (theme text) to happen as Kempton preaches through the chapter!

Thanks! ~Kempton and Caryn

“I will show My greatness and My holiness and make Myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord!” (Ezekiel 38.23)

(I will try to give updates on my blog depending on if we have internet access or not.)

This is a first!

Last week while my husband was away speaking at a Youth Camp, I received a pleasant surprise. The camp staff sent me these beautiful flowers. They expressed their gratitude to me for “lending” Kempton to them for the weekend. Kempton has been a minister throughout our entire courtship and marriage. The Lord has blessed him with the gift of speaking. So, he often gets asked to speak at various events. In all our almost 10 years of marriage, no one has sent me flowers as the speaker’s wife. That was so sweet and thoughtful of them.

Pastors’ wives often have to selflessly sacrifice for the sake of the kingdom. Our husbands’ jobs technically never end. Many women have asked me if I mind it. When we were first married, I was bothered by it because I didn’t understand my role, gifts, and service to my husband and the church. Praise God I have grown since then. Now if we see an open door for ministry that we sense God wants Kempton to do, I gladly (by God’s grace) support him because I know that when he’s at home he’s ALL here. The kids & I have his undivided time & attention. So, when it’s time for him to serve the body of Christ, our family tank is full. I thank God for that. I pray that we will continue to invest in one another first which allows us to adequately serve others.

There’s a line in the movie, “Fireproof” that says, “You should never leave your partner behind.” Ministry couples really need to be reminded of this. The husband & wife should first “outdo one another in showing honor” (Romans 12:10), “look to the interest of one another” (Phil 2:4), “lay down their lives for one another” (1 John 3:16). Each person should strive to give 100%, not 50/50. Then as one has to go and do their individual ministry, they are still on one accord and unified with their spouse. May Christ be your ultimate example as you selflessly and wholeheartedly serve and love your spouse.

It’s Not A Fad!

Fad (noun) - a temporary fashion, notion, manner of conduct, etc., esp. one followed enthusiastically by a group. Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
- a temporary fashion; a craze, interest or activity that (some) people follow enthusiastically, but lasts for a short period of time. Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version), © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd.

Isn’t it interesting that the definition of the word “fad” matches the world’s view of marriage? Just take a look at most Hollywood marriages. Are they temporary fashions - YES! Are they enthusiastically followed, but last only a short period of time - YES! However, this is all they know. God is love (I John 4:16) and God created marriage (Genesis 2:24). Most of them don’t know God so they’re doing what’s expected of them.

Sadly, many Christian marriages look the same. The church is full of families that have broken homes, broken commitments, and broken vows. The marriages last as long as the 2 people are “happy”. There is no where in the Bible that says happiness is a prerequisite for commitment. I would define commitment as sacrificial endurance in fulfilling a promise or vow. It takes sacrifice – give up your self for the sake of your spouse (i.e. selfless serving). It takes endurance – patience & perseverance.

So, on today, I want to Thank you Mom and Dad for being my Marriage Heroes of the Faith. By God’s grace, you have stood through many storms in your marriage that many could not bear. Your commitment to one another speaks volumes of God’s love and gives glory to Him. I am grateful for the legacy that you have paved for your children, grandchildren, & generations to come.

I praise God that June 2nd marked the 35th year of your Marriage!

I pray that you will have many more years of trusting in the Lord together and continue to be great examples of commitment.

I Love You!

OUR 9TH ANNIVERSARY!!!

Sorry I haven't blogged in so long. We just got back from celebrating our 9th Anniversary at the RiverWalk in San Antonio, TX. What a joyous celebration! Kempton was already in TX speaking at a Retreat and then I flew down to join him. My parents stayed with the kids...Praise Jesus for selfless & serving grandparents! We stayed in the Omni La Mansion del Rio Hotel. If you ever stay on the RiverWalk, stay there! It's beautiful and the service is top notch.

When I walked into our room, I was surprised by the dozen of long stem roses that my hubby had the hotel put in the room before our arrival. I thank God for a romantic husband.

We didn't have plans to do anything in particular. We just enjoyed spending much needed alone time together. This is a MUST for all you married couples out there. Plan at least one get away with your spouse each year. IT'S SO WORTH IT!!!

Better than MasterCard!

New Outfit....................... $50

Hotel ............................... $260

Airplane ticket ...................$470

Celebrating 9 Joyous Years of Marriage.....

PRICELESS!!!