Baby Puckett Has Arrived!

We are pleased to introduce our third beautiful daughter to you all! Isabelle Ilene was born January 23 at 1:00 p.m. After a long labor we were thankful to hold our healthy baby girl. She has been so great, eating and sleeping like a champ! The transition from 2 to 3 has been difficult but we are thankful that we are starting to get into somewhat of a routine and knowing that there is lots of GRACE!;) The older girls are totally in love and are always looking for ways to "help mommy";)

 

Happy New Year!

We pray you all had a great Christmas and New Year! We had a great time with family and friends with our first holiday season in Chicago. We had another great fellowship time with people who are interested in the church plant. Derrick made some great chili and we had lots of yummy sweets. We had a fun time exchanging gifts with an exciting round of Dirty Santa!:) Nothing like getting to know people when they get competitive over a gift! We ended our night with a few songs celebrating our savors birth! It was a great time of hosting again and getting to know everyone more. Our special friends, the Jenkins are having everyone over at our house this weekend to celebrate baby Puckett with diapers and special blessings. Thank you Jenkins! We are looking forward to seeing everyone again for a time of fellowship before the baby arrives.

Enjoying our chili and fellowships with others.

Singing and rejoicing over our Saviors birth with songs!

Exchanging gifts around the tree!

The church plant is definitely gaining momentum with more people committing to be apart of the church, which is so exciting and so encouraging to see God working! Derrick has continued to meet with pastors and leaders in the area to learn more about the city and its needs. We are still looking to find a place for our corporate meeting as a church by the United Center (where the Bulls and the Blackhawks play). We like that area because if you travel any cardinal direction away from the United Center you will find a different demographic of people. And we believe that if the United Center can gather people from all different walks of life then why can't the church. We are hoping and praying to find somewhere soon as we approach our prospective launch date in September. We plan to start our launch team soon in the next couple months.

We are exactly 9 days away from our due date to meet our mystery baby! We are so excited! We thought I would go into labor early since I have been having many contractions and back pain but like Ramiyah says God isn't done with the baby yet. Love it:) So we are just enjoying our last few days as a family of four. But we are definitely excited to meet our baby! Even little Elyana keeps asking when the baby is going to come out!:) Ramiyah says she will help change diapers and Ely is ready to hold the baby she says;) Please be praying that it is a smooth transition and that baby and I are healthy. We will be sure to update you all on baby Pucketts arrival!

Ready to pop!:)

The girls after opening gifts Christmas morning. 

Learning to trust God and Know He is GOOD!

The last two weeks have been such a growing experience that Derrick and I both are still learning from. Mid November I was having a really rough week just feeling so overwhelmed with being in Chicago with all the changes and just feeling like I was existing. Derrick would ask me all the time what was wrong and I just would say the usual, "I'm fine" but with my emotions all over my face Derrick kept probing me (thankful for a husband who cares about how I feel but at that moment lets just say I wasn't so thankful;) Finally Derrick sat me down and just helped me sort through all the emotions I was having. After many tears I finally realized I had allowed my heart to harden and become bitter. Bitter towards Chicago, bitter toward Derrick for traveling, questioning church planting, and not enjoying pregnancy. All this bitterness is exhausting and in return it left me with this gross harden heart. I wasn't able to do life well or even enjoy life.

After Derrick and I talked it became so clear to me that I wasn't giving myself any grace. I struggle with having too high of expectations for myself that just aren't realistic. Derrick reminded me that God lavished grace upon us because he loves us not because of anything we have done. GRACE! What a beautiful gift that is so hard to accept sometimes. I was so excited to get rid of that bitter heart! I literally felt lighter! I couldn't wait to share with all of you just what the Lord had done, but it had to wait until after Derrick preached at Parkview Christian Church(a total of 8 services in 2 days).

Derrick preaching at Parkview. 

We had a great time spending the weekend at Parkview. Derrick did a great job teaching us about trusting God through the mountain tops and also the valleys. If you missed it you can listen to it by going to http://www.parkviewchurch.com/orland  and click on Impossible is Nothing Week:1 Derrick Puckett. Little did we know God would be using that very message to minister us that weekend. Before Derrick preached the second service on Sunday I got a call from our landlord saying that someone had broke into our house. Derrick was in another room and after I hung up with our landlord Derrick came in to say he was about to go up and he could see something was wrong because again it was written all over my face. Thankfully I got him to leave by saying something convincing and he went up to preach for the fourth service. After Derrick was done and joined me in the audience I shared the news. We both had those thoughts "if only", "why" along with many different emotions, sad, mad, and fearful. Along with all of these emotions I could hear Derrick's sermon ringing in my ear, "Impossible is only nothing with Jesus Christ" and "in our brokenness God can truly be all." After the service concluded we were meet with a line of people who wanted to talk with us and pray with us. After we spoke with the last person in line we were rushed to the basement of the church with everyone else because there was a tornado in the area. All this time we are trying to keep calm and not let our minds wonder with worry. We shared with some of the church's staff there about what happened and they freed us to miss the third Sunday service. With that we were off to the house. The whole ride home we kept thinking about what they probably took and just how it was just the perfect time for them to break in. We were out of town that weekend, we didn't have the alarm on (first time ever) because a friend was coming to stay at our house, and what a beautiful coincidence that while Derrick was preaching about trusting God in the valleys our home was being trampled through by strangers who helped themselves to our belongings. When we came home we were met with glass on our patio floor and in our bedroom. They broke the glass on our door to our room and came through. We saw all the things that were taken, the most heartbreaking was that they took my laptop, external hard drive and a PlayStation. These three items held all of our girls baby photos and family videos. They were all gone! A week had past and we still were still realizing some things that were stolen. We are still recovering from the break in, but God has definitely been near through this tribulation. We are so thankful for the Body that has been covering us in prayer and encouraging us. Like Derrick said in his sermon when we are going through a storm we have to fix our eyes on Jesus and we won't be consumed by the storm. Through this God has been teaching me more about who He is and all that He has promised so that I can truly trust Him and KNOW HE IS GOOD! Please continue to pray with us as we heal from this event.

Elyana turned 2!!

Birthday girl and sissy at the playground:)

Chicago!

It has been way too long since we have wrote to you! We are so sorry! We will be better at updating our blog with what is going on with us. Thank you for giving us some grace!

Most of you know that we have moved to Chicago to plant a church. We desire to plant a multicultural church that reproduces followers of Jesus Christ in the city of Chicago. Right now we are just getting to know the area and trying to build up our launch team which will eventually start the church. We had our first fellowship time this past Sunday! It was a sweet time of fellowship over some great food! We plan on having another one on December 14.
 

Picture from last nights Pre-Thanksgiving pitch in!

We have been in Chicago for 2 months already! I can't believe how fast it has gone! I think I can finally say I now feel like this is home. It took some time getting used to living in the city from paying to park almost everywhere (even some grocery stores) to having 4 different keys to get into different doors where we live. Its just so different than what I am used to. I found myself saying its not bad its just different and Chicago is our new normal. God has been so good just helping us all adjust to our new normal but we definitely have a way to go. A month ago I don't think I could have said I really liked being here, but to my surprise I really like it now, our home and neighborhood is perfect:) One of the things I really like about Chicago is that we can walk to many different stores and restaurants. We have walked so much here lately that the girls will ask if we are going to walk or drive! The girls really enjoy walking and have adjusted pretty well here too. We were blessed to live right across the street from a park which they enjoy going to.

I am 28 weeks pregnant with #3 and we are leaving the sex of the baby a surprise until the baby comes. This time around has been tougher but the baby and I are doing well. We are earnestly waiting for January 26 to approach to meet baby Puckett!:)

Ramiyah turned 4 in September! Can't believe it! She got a scooter for her birthday which she loves riding on all the time. In her worlds she is still looking for friends, but has met some girls she likes to play with at the gym and at the park across the street from our house.

Elyana is busy as ever. Saying new words everyday. Her new thing right now is counting and jumping. She will be 2 on November 9! Not sure where time has gone, definitely doesn't feel like she should be 2 already!

 Derrick has been busy meeting with different pastors from the surrounding churches which has been a blessing to see what the Lord is doing in Chicago. He has also been traveling a lot going to conferences, meeting with Orchard Group (the organization who is planting us) and also traveling every other week to be apart of the Fellowship Associates church planting program.

Word from Derrick:

The last few months have been great, but also trying at times. Many people told me going into church planting that it would be the hardest thing that we would ever do.  I believed them but didn' know exactly how I would be affected.  My natural tendency with anything that I do is to work hard and just get it done at the highest capacity possible. While this is a great attribute, I have quickly found in ministry as well as church planting it is not always what I should do.  Throughout this process I have learned to make my resting place Jesus.  This is his work that he wants to start in Chicago, not mine or anyone else and that is uplifting..  To know that we have a great God on our side  that wants to do far more exceedingly than we could ever imagine brings me great joy and rest because the weight of performing or doing it by myself is lifted.  We are looking forward to what God is going to do in Chicago. Please pray that leaders would arise in the city that should be part of this new work in the city. Also pray that we stay in a place where we are utterly dependent on God and not ourselves.  I pray that you will join in with us as we watch what God does for years to come in this city.  Also pray for me as I preach and share vision at a few different places over the upcoming weeks. 



The girls at Navy Pier.




The family at Lincoln park zoo for Ramiyah's 4th birthday.

We are now a THREE Location Church!

Fellowship East launched this weekend!!! It was an amazing turn out! There were 324 people in the service and 403 with volunteers included!! The sanctuary only holds 310! Needless to say it was standing room only. The service went great and there were a lot of new faces that have never been to Fellowship! GOD IS SO GOOD!! He is doing some great things in Memphis and we are so thankful to be apart of what he is doing. Please continue to pray for Derrick and other staff who are leading this outpost.


If you can specifically be praying:
       *For wisdom, we want to lead God's people well and be TOTALLY dependent on Him and be
        Spirit lead
       *That God would INCREASE and that we would decrease
       *That we would truly be the hands and feet of Christ, living out the gospel as a body
       *More loving volunteers for set up and kids ministry

First Fellowship East service!

More pictures of the new outpost next Sunday! And our princess Ramiyah will be turning 3 this Sunday so we will have pictures of her party as well!!:)

****Please please please let us know how we can be praying for you! We want to pray for things specifically that are happening! We LOVE you and are EXTREMELY grateful for all that you do! Email me or Derrick :)

A fun filled summer!

Hope all has been going well with you all! This has been a pretty eventful summer to say the least.  We started the summer attending our church’s youth camp in Branson Missouri, where I was the camp pastor and preached twice.  It was an amazing time of connecting with the youth at our church.  Two students gave their lives to Christ and many more have become much more serious in their walk with the Lord.   A couple of weeks later, I took a week of class which was History of Christianity.  Two weeks later we lead a mission trip to Belmopan, Belize in Central America.  We took 7 students and 8 adults.  The trip was amazing!! We had about 150 kids coming everyday to Vacation Bible School, led four church services, many different outreaches, and we were able to establish connections for us to go back.  We stayed in the church and slept on the pews.  The Pastor’s daughters cooked for us everyday and the food was AMAZING!!!  One of the highlights of my trip was definitely seeing the people reached, but from leaders perspective, it was very encouraging to see the students that we were leading, preaching, teaching and loving on a people much more less fortunate than them.  For many students this was there first mission trip, and their hearts were crushed by the poverty but it only spurred them to want to help more.

Our Belize team!

During the week of July 16-19, I traveled along with 4 other residents and our Pastor Bryan Loritts to the EK Bailey Expository Preaching Conference in Dallas, TX.  It was a wonderful experience where I was able to glean much needed wisdom from many different seasoned Pastors and Preachers.  I left from Dallas to traveled to Indianapolis to preach at Traders Point Christian Church.  You can listen to the sermon or watch it at http://www.tpcc.org/series/behind-the-scenes-a-study-in-the-book-of-ruth/. It was an amazing time being back home and preaching at the church we attended while in Indianapolis. 

            We would like to ask you all to please begin to pray for us as I enter my last year of seminary at the end of the month.  Pray that I will be able to finish well as I graduate next month.  Also please pray for our family as we think about the next steps for our family. And please also be praying for our church as we are making some leadership changes and launch our third location which will involve our family.  Please pray for us as the opportunities could be great, but more importantly that we will guard our time as a family.   We love you all and thank you so much for your continual partnership in the Great Commission. Please let us know how we can be praying for you!

Elyana loves going to the park!:)

Sister love:)

 

 

Summer Time

Hey Fam!

Sorry it has been a while since our last newsletter. The summer has been a busy start and is only going to get busier! Me (Kaley) and the girls were in Indianapolis for a bit to visit family around the area in May. We had a good time traveling and visiting family. A few things that we were able to do was go see Elmo, go to children's museum, go to the park, go to Monkey Joe's, and much much more!:) Derrick also spoke at our church a couple of Sundays ago you can listen to it at http://www.fellowshipmemphis.org/media/ . Derrick's sermon is called "Why Us."

We went on many walks:)

Ramiyah had a blast seeing Elmo!!:)

Derrick and I just got from camp with our youth from church. We went to Branson, MO to a camp called Point 11. It was amazing! There was SO MUCH to do there! Derrick spoke two of the nights out there. The students had a great time connecting with the Lord. It was such a sweet time to minister to the students, which I feel I haven't done in a long time! The girls stayed with both of our moms in Indianapolis. The Lord was so gracious and loving to comfort me as I was away from the girls and enabled me to get to know many of the girls in our church! He did a lot at camp in our youths lives. Please please please be praying that they continue to stay on the right path and continue to trust in Him.

We leave for Belize in 3 weeks! CRAZY! We are so excited! I still need to raise about 1,000 for our trip. Please prayerfully consider giving. We will be in Yo Creek which is close to Orange Walk. We will be running a Vacation Bible School at Alpha and Omega Church. We are planning to use John 15:1-17 as our curriculum, which many of the students have been going through in their Bible studies. The students are really excited to be able to teach the kids what they have been learning. We are busy planning the crafts, songs, games and messages for each day.

If you would like to donate towards our trip:
Send to: Fellowship Memphis, P.O. Box 11465, Memphis, TN 38111
Make Check out to: Fellowship Memphis Memo: Kaley Puckett Belize Trip

Giving online:
Go to http://www.fellowshipmemphis.org/give/
Select Residency fund and please direct to Derrick Puckett Belize Trip.

Thank you so much for your continual prayer and financial support. We are so grateful for your partnership. We are so excited to see how the Lord is going to use US as we go to Belize. THANK YOU!