Great googlie mooglies! It seems I've been in hibernation! If so, I'm awake early in the season! Ahem! Actually, I've been occupied with trying to get my books published, the Thanksgiving and Christmas season at work and at home, and haven't budgeted any time to my blog. To even the casual observer it should be obvious that the hustle and bustle of this season has taken its toll. This season the toll was a pleasant exhaustion from totally enjoyable pursuits!
Gail Possert of Grace Resource Center worked closely with me to put together our POWER Plus curriculum for our pilot program in 2013. It began on January 2. We are hoping that this 12-week class will impact the lives of our students and help them develop the skills and attitudes they will need to move forward in positive ways toward a better life. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings we have their undivided attention for three hours to encourage, strengthen, and challenge them to reach further and higher than ever before toward success.
Christmas! Serena was home for Christmas and the Bennett clan got together several times for joyous celebration. We even found the time to have a family photo shoot! This is a photo I will cherish. God has blessed me with a wonderful family! We get along, love each other very much, and like being together. Even better, we love the Lord. My sons, daughter, and daughters-in-law have conducted themselves in such a way that I am deeply moved by their walk with God, and find it quite easy to sing praises to the Lord for His lovingkindness in blessing me with such a wonderful family.
Especially fun this Christmas was Serena's humor. Cathy made little name cards to put on our plates to indicate where we should sit around the table. Unable to resist her creative urges Serena edited them. Her plate card read: Serena (n): 1. Awesome 2. The favorite. My plate card read: Bill (n): 1. Father, musician, writer, faithfully committed to God and family 2. Lover of Pepsi and Ford; hater of Mac computers 3. Has an awesome daughter. Cathy's plate card read: Cathy (n): 1. An amazingly wise woman of God. A wonderful mother, mother-in-law, Maga, and friend 2. Bearer of two demon spawn and an angelic daughter. Jeremy's card read: Jeremy (n): 1. A creative father, husband and artist who paints his world with ingenuity, individuality and dedication 2. Has an awesome sister 3. Not the favorite. Jeff's card was much the same, with the notation that he was not the favorite child. Savanna and Tawny both had cards that said they had an awesome sister-in-law, (not each other). She is so creative in her humor. We all enjoyed her humor.
We missed Savanna's mom and dad, Mark and Celecia, and Tawny's mom and dad, Ruben and Debbie Badano this Christmas. Our thoughts were with both those families and though we didn't get together for Christmas the kids managed to fit them into their busy schedules. Family is important. When your kids get married, you get the added benefit of extended families. God has blessed us with an amazing extended family that we love and enjoy whenever we get together. Pictured here are Mark and Celecia at Bristol's birthday party in September of 2011.
At Grace Resource Center over a thousand people gathered for our Graceful Christmas celebration. Debbie Badano, Luke Badano, and Tawny Bennett joined me in singing Christmas favorites. Luke and Tawny played the guitar and I played the keyboard. We had a great time singing for the crowds. Santa and Mrs. Clause were there to greet the kids and we turned our dining hall into a toy store so each child could enter and pick a toy for Christmas. Everyone on staff at Grace pitched in to make this the best Graceful Christmas ever! I got to work closely with Lynda Elmes, our event coordinator in planning and putting everything together for the event. Her tireless efforts, and the efforts of the other staff members, made this a very blessed Christmas event I will cherish for many years in my heart.
So now I'm out of hibernation and will be sharing some of my thoughts once again in this blog. My turtles are in semi-hibernation mode, not eating much, and not moving much as they await the return of warm weather when I can put them out in the sun again. I'm sure they send their greetings as well. My hope for all of you reading this is that you will have a blessed new year and experience a deep and abiding relationship with Jesus Christ in 2013.
