An update from

Tami Sorenson Gaupp—

My emotional heart broke on June 16, 2021, when my husband, Lee Gaupp, who was my greatest gift—and more—stepped from this life into the fullness of LIFE in heaven with God. It was the evening of my birthday.

My physical state was rocked to the core and I experienced setbacks in my progression of recovery from chronic illnesses God is lifting me up from. But one morning I was able to get out from the 4 walls of my room to surround myself with life… tree watching, flower gazing, eating the first 2 raspberries my granddaughters picked for me from my newly planted vine, all while being serenaded by an orchestra of birds around my home. It was a spontaneous concert just for me.

I remembered something I’d written down after we gathered with friends a couple years ago, jamming with other musicians Lee enjoyed playing with. It was an image that played across my mind during their passionate & lively expression of thanks to God for His goodness, as we awaited midnight and the beginning of the new year.

I wrote…

“My individual story is written in the Book of Life, but I belong to of a vast body of believers, too numerous to comprehend.” And the vision I saw was of a book being thumbed through so all the pages are turning— but this book never ended! And while I was seeing, and then hearing the pages flipping, I heard God whisper to my spirit, “your story doesn’t begin or end with you!” My knees almost gave out under me at the weight and magnitude of that phrase. I felt humbled. You and I have a rich heritage and also a destiny, which is part of a much larger story. I don’t know how God does things; It is never ever like we imagine. But we can be reassured that if we do what He directs, it will ripple out and reverberate farther than we expect.”

Wow, reading this brought fresh water to my soul and some encouragement to my broken heart.

Life is hard. God is still good.

This is the way it happens. We experience pain and hardship, but even in our darkest state, God is there. We can experience MORE than we feel and MORE than we see when we take the leap and invite God to personally step into our story.

Looking back…

Lee and Tami have been described as real-authentic, approachable, people who "get'er done", and aren't afraid of getting a little messy with the daily grind of living and helping others get back up when they're kicked down.  Together, like the oil and heat in a popcorn popper, they are able to spark life and creativity in others.  

Tami has practiced hearing God's voice and following him through the seasons of her life since she was a little girl, and loves to see people set free and experiencing God's pure joy in their own lives.  Lee experienced a radical encounter with the Lord when he was in college and has a knack for connecting with people where they're at and demonstrating the simple reality of what it takes to follow Jesus.

Together, they have led others into worship, giving thanksgiving and praise to God. They began leading worship together in 1987 as newly weds, then as young parents leading a youth group, and now as empty nesters.

Lee & Tami were involved in the annual March for Jesus event for 8 years, bringing Christians from all over the area together to sing and praise God in the park, on the city streets, and on the steps of the Idaho State Capitol Building. 

Tami organized Pure Joy Creative Arts, a modular training school, offering classes in tambourine dance, streamers, flag twirling, classical ballet, modern dance, music, drama, writing, drawing and painting.

She mentored groups and individuals on how to breakthrough to freedom through worship intercession and warfare praise for 15 years. Her book, "God's Pure Joy" details her personal journey of worship intercession, and teaches the scripture and principles she learned. Tami choreographed and trained dancers in creative evangelism, praising God in parades, parks, schools, nursing homes and at the State Fair, as well as retreats and conferences.

In 2003,  God led them into an interesting opportunity when they helped start an all-ages concert venue in downtown Boise, with the purpose to show God's love to the young "poets & musical artists" of our day, specifically those between the ages of 18-25. The summer before, their community had been impacted by numerous suicides of young men in this age group within a 4 month period. The Lord had their group demonstrate His one-way, undeserved love and grace towards the bands on tour that would play at their venue and the hundreds of "regulars" that would come to the shows. They began with the sense of a mission but were deeply changed by the experience as they learned to befriend and love the Hardcore, the Punk and the other genres of music they began to interact with on a daily basis. It taught them to let go of their agenda, and trust that God would bring about His plans and purpose. God taught them to just BE...to be who they are and to be available to others without judgement or condemnation. They were homeschooling their boys at this time, in 4th and 6th grade, and would include them in many ways, from helping the bands load in their gear, putting on wristbands, selling concessions, putting up flyers, running the lights, to cleaning up at the end of the night. The bands would often interact with the boys in ways like trying out their skateboards, playing catch, throwing snowballs or playing soccer in the parking lot.  They cherish the 6 years of memories they have from this time, and the invaluable lessons they learned, with their kids along for the ride.

Lee and Tami embraced the season of life called empty nest, and discovered new adventures that God had in store for them as they followed God's lead. Lee spent the last 29 years working as an IT guy, and loved being the Piano Man playing music and leading others into worship of the Creator. Tami discovered her call as an entrepreneur, and owned several businesses, and loves to encourage others in this area. She is the founder and owner of The Lanyap Life Books. While she struggled with formerly unknown illnesses (HSD, POTs, IIH)which caused her to be bedridden for a couple years, suprisingly, God enabled her to publish numerous booklets. Two of her own are Soft Spot in a Stone Wall... learn how to escape your own entrapment as Tami shares from her own experience, and See. Hear. Do. Prayer... how to pray with the impact of God's great love. She is also working on publishing her father, Dick Sorenson’s, 13 booklet series called Journey to Wholeness… 6 are completed and more in various stages of publishing.

Lee and Tami loved the adventure of living in the heart of downtown Boise, meeting new people, hearing new bands play at local venues and frequenting their favorite coffee shops. But they say, nothing made their hearts beat as much as spending time with their growing family, and experiencing the thrill and joy of being grandparents!

While Lee isn’t on every page of this site, it is he who enabled, pushed and cheered Tami on to learn to build a website, format books, and publish. He supported her in every way he could, including gifting her with all the technology that he insisted she needed. He taught her the word lagniappe and they lived this faith out together with this gift of God’s lanyap ever-present and available in their lives. Tami has so much MORE to share about her experiences of living with Lee for 35 years, in the lagniappe (lanyap) of God’s blessings! And she has the sense that God is birthing a new book within her heart… The Lanyap Life, dedicated to Lee, her family’s forever gift.