Listening In

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Untitled from Michelle Bentham on Vimeo.

Something New

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Untitled from Michelle Bentham on Vimeo.

Unexpected Blessings & Splendor on Sunday

Today comes down to two words: simply amazing. Watch for a video post of my reflections from this past week soon, but tonight I just wanted to hop online and say HOWDY!

Coming off of Pink Impact week I started Saturday ready for my husband, our dogs and planting the flower seeds I bought a few weeks ago for our recently redressed flowerbeds in the front yard.

 

I laugh now as I think of what I did first, though. I went to Palm Beach Tan. This gal doesn't do swimming pools and sunbathing at 40 so I do 8 minutes in a stand up bed at Palm Beach --- and it gives me a sweet sun-kissed look without all the sweat and bathing suits... :) And, if I want an instant tan - mystic in 10 minutes does the job for me. Am I rambling about my tanning salon? Oh yes, I am.

I then went to a few resale shops - Goodwill included - to see if I could find a few odd pieces of used furniture. I found one dresser, but it was out of my price range. After snaking my way through Krawfish Krawl traffic in Keller, I landed at a hair salon off FM 1709 where I met a delightful Vietnamese woman named Cindy who is responsible for my new hairstyle and color. Thank You God for Cindy! She is sweet and I look forward to learning more about her as we develop our hairstylist relationship in the months to come.

I also landed at Home Depot because as I turned in on my way to Sonic I spotted a very coveted Potato Vine in a hanging pot that must have been  calling my name because ten dollars later, it was in the back of my Explorer and ready for my yard.

Scott left for work around mid-morning and I set about my errands around Noon. I arrived home around the five o'clock hour and my husband was home, my dogs were resting peacefully in the living room floor and I gathered my supplies for planting while Scott mowed the lawn.

Blissfully domestic. We finished off the late afternoon by power washing the front patio and sidewalks and watering the flowers. We ate a late dinner and watched NASCAR at TMS while the sun set slowly in the west. A good Saturday, but early to bed. Sunday promised splendor.

I arose early to head for the office. I had to prep the cube for the Foundations class this morning. After returning home I hit the next chore: cut back the new rose bushes and water the flowerbeds.

I headed in for a shower and dressed for church. We deviated from our nine o'clock adventure at Gateway this morning in favor of witnessing the baptism of our daughter, Taylor.

In 2001, Justin, Brittany and Taylor each prayed to receive Christ within weeks of each other. They were baptized just after Easter and that was one of the happiest days of my life. But, like her momma, Taylor's baptism left some questions for her that would be answered this past week during her discipleship training at Alliance Baptist Church in Keller.

You see, with Scott accepting Christ just before Christmas in 2000 and her older brother and sister accepting Christ a few months later, Taylor realized that she had two choices... Accept Christ or end up alone and not in heaven. Fear based salvation is not salvation. But, Taylor made the decision and answered all the questions correctly as a seven year old determined to be saved.

In 2003 I sat in my small office with my girls and went through a Bible study that I was preparing to present to a group of high school girls at our church. The question at hand was to recount the time you had prayed to receive Christ. Brittany and I talked about how Mrs. Claudia had accidentally invited her to King's Kids (discipleship training for newly saved elementary students) and when she came home she shared how God had really been telling her she needed to be saved since the middle of the week. I sat down with my Bible and led her to Salvation in my bedroom just before lunch that day.

When we turned to Taylor's experience she seemed sad and confused. She said, "I don't remember praying any prayer."

I said, "That's okay Taylor. Sometimes we just need to pray and tell God we want to be sure we were saved when we made the decision to accept Christ as our Savior and we can do that right now."

I led her through a simple prayer of salvation right there in the floor of our home. This week she called very excited saying she needed to be baptized because she had not been saved when she did it before, and she had not understood why she was being baptized, but  now she did. She scheduled it for this Sunday. She caught me in a meeting at Pink Impact and so she told me the news and asked if I could make it to her church this week. I said I would and we hung up.

She called me right before bedtime to share that she had wanted to tell me something else. I had been a big part of why she accepted Christ as her Savior since I had prayed with her that night in our home in Rhome in 2003. Nearly 8 years ago...

Splendor on Sunday. This morning I witnessed my baby girl make a commitment to publicly live her life before others as a disciple of Christ. I heard a church full of people I do not even know applaud and cheer when she walked into the baptistry and witnessed the glorious moment when she was buried in the likeness of His death and raised to walk in a brand new life. My baby, Taylor. I'm so proud of her. Who she is, the leader she has become. The sold out devoted Christ follower that she is. She is everything I wished I could have been at 19 and more. I sometimes think that happened in spite of me - until they tell me they feel that their lives are better because of me.  Humbled. Blessed. Grateful.

We took her and a few of the youth she leads and a friend from our old church out to lunch and then came home again. I went to Palm Beach Tan again --- It's the only way to get a good base tan. I returned home and napped on the couch before Scott and I got out the bicycles that his mother and dad gave us last weekend and went for a ride. My new workout goal: build up my leg strength so I can ride, not walk, my bicycle up the hill on Highview Terrace as we exercise.

After a brief rest and harnessing Pogo and leashing he and the puppy we set out for another turn around the block. We walked the dogs.

As the sun began to set low in the west, Scott watered while I started to film for my video post. At dusk I headed in to cook a later supper of fried shrimp, potatoes w/ green beans and rosemary sauce, and white corn in butter and garlic sauce. I added some fresh sliced cucumbers and sunburst tomatoes before polishing off the meal with a little ice cream and a No Sugar Added Apple Pie.

Yes, Sunday has been splendid and I'm now ready for a good night's sleep before heading off to tackle a large number of emails and Freedom Questionnaires tomorrow at work. Life is good, and I'm grateful that I've had the last two days to reflect on that in every way.

"The Lord has been very good to us and we are glad." Psalm 126

Sister Friends

I never had a sister growing up, but today I am a sister of many. I have three sisters-in-law in my family and thousands of sisters in Christ I serve every single day. But, the sisters I hold closest in my heart are my Interwebby, Twitterific, Facebook Posting, Blog-a-Hosting Sister Friends.

Without every laying eyes on each other we connect heart-to-heart through the musings of social networking. A tweet peep here, a FB status there and a blog post leads to comments that turn to emails and friendships are born. Is it truly possible to love someone you’ve never even met face-to-face.

I know for me it is true. A sweet sister friend connected with me on Facebook. She had read my posts on a friend’s blog and reached out. The next thing you know she shares part of her story that connects with my own and my heart opens to receive her in God’s love as not only my FB internet “friend,” but a heart friend connected by the Heart of God.

Imagine? God knew all along – even if Al Gore did invent the internet and that mid-twenty something billionaire with a name 50 miles long invented FB – God knew that people would find a way to build relationship and in turn His Kingdom through these very online features that continually absorb us through the internet. Blog On Sweet Sister Friends, and know I love you. Even when I’m not writing.