You know me, always one to double-duty when I can, so here is our Christmas letter and picture. I cannot even imagine trying to send it out to all of our local friends, so we generally just send it to family and friends that are not near us. But the beauty of the blog is that we can share it with everyone!
Dear Family and Friends,
HUMILITY…a great word to represent lessons learned in 2008 at our house. We have been dwelling on the word in respect to many aspects of our lives. Learning personal humility has strengthened our marriage and brought us closer every year (we hit NINE years this past August). In parenting, it gives us compassion and stirs us to diligence in the discipling of our children. We are humbled as we look at the four precious souls He has entrusted to us. As we apply humility to ministry, we are fully dependent on the Father to work at this great task He has set before us.
The year began with the expectation of bringing Ellie home! We received notification of our appointment on January 28th at the Embassy in Guatemala to finalize the adoption. We are soaking in the joy and laughter she adds to our family while we persevere in overcoming the challenges that adding an 18-month old to your home brings.
We also began making plans for the church plant, Bethany Community Church, to launch in September of this year. Leaders were selected, tasks were divided, a farm house was turned into office space, a meeting location was secured, and a Sunday School class became the beginnings of a body of believers.
Daniel began his transition from family ministry to church planting late last year. It is humbling to look back and realize that he was just beginning to meet with his leadership team this time last year and then to see what the Lord has done through today at Bethany Community Church. What a testimony to God’s glory to see over 90% of the 275 member “core group” we started with serving in ministry in some capacity! We have since seen many from the community come and get involved who were not previously attending a church. We are learning that becoming the teaching pastor of the church is very humbling in both our personal walk with the Lord and in the responsibility to shepherd that it carries.
Daniel is also nearing the completion (Spring 2009) of the course work segment of his Doctorate of Ministry in Expository Preaching at Southern Seminary. He will then work on completing the dissertation paper over the next year or so.
Whitney is busy managing the house with four children and two homeschoolers. She is enjoying using her gift of hospitality by having more people in our home as we get to know new families at BCC. Whitney is also teaching two-year old Sunday School. She was able to “develop” a curriculum for the class and it provides her with another opportunity to help Ellie in her attachment to us and interaction with others. This has been quite a growing year for her as the Lord has used so many new challenges to teach humility and reliance on His strength.
Hannah is a busy seven-year old keeping us on our toes with her funny wit. We are in the gapping-smile stage of life, as teeth are popping out often. Hannah swam on the swim team for the first time this summer and began taking piano lessons. We are constantly floored with the depth of understanding she has of the Word, literature and situations in life. Hannah has always had a heart willing to help. We are so grateful for her patience to help with her siblings and quickness to get things done.
Austin has really developed in to a sweet, thoughtful kid (not so much little boy anymore). He is understanding (and reading) the Bible more and more. Austin loves his Daddy. He looks forward to his special time with Daniel (each kid gets a day once a month to hang out just with Daddy) and works hard to pay attention to the sermon. It has been such fun to see his reading take off this year. He also participated in swim team this summer and was awarded “The Littlest Engine that Could” for his hard work (he was the youngest by nearly a year). We have seen him blossom in Sparks as he is diligent to learn his verses. He loves his siblings and plays a lot with the little two to help out Mommy.
Noah has really become a people-person this last year. He has an amazing ability to remember names and constantly has us rolling with his humorous sayings. Noah loves getting to be a Cubby and has done well in children’s choir. He mastered potty training with Daniel in the spring. Life was challenging for Noah when Ellie first came home, as she was very defensive toward him. They still have their struggles, but have started to form a special friendship. It is precious music to hear their chattering in the car together.
Ellie is so vastly changed from the little girl we picked up in January. She would not let us put her down in Guatemala, yet seemed to know she was home when she explored the house and played with her siblings on her first night here. Ellie was saying very little and whined nearly constantly at first. Now, she is learning new words almost daily as she improves in her ability to communicate with us. She screamed all the way through that first bath, but now amazes strangers with her comfort level in going under water at the pool. We are so thankful to have her in our family and humbled at the amazing way God choose to bring her here.
We covet your prayers for us in ministry to our family and at BCC. We appreciate your friendship and look forward to hearing how the Lord has worked in your lives this past year!
In His Grace,
Daniel, Whitney, Hannah, Austin, Noah and Ellie Bennett
Psalm 25:9 “He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.”
