After making it through the Amazing Easter weekend, (Our Easter attendance topped 1,800.) Christie and I took the boys plus a friend on a college road trip. We thought about trying to see the movie with the same name but just couldn’t fit it in. So early Tuesday we took off to visit four colleges in four days. Along the way we saw some great (albeit very expensive) colleges, ate some great food (even Monicals Pizza - o yeah!) and had a chance to hang out with some old friends. All in all we drove 945 miles, had a great time with the boys and saw our financial lives flash before our eyes. If anyone is reading this and wants to bless some young men named Mitchell with great college gifts just let us know!

Today then, we continued our family week with “Family Bowling - Westbrook style” and will end it tomorrow with a Family Weekend at Westbrook. It’s been a lot of fun. There’s nothing like an intense road trip to bring the family together. We’re so keen on it, we’re planning another college visit to Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids. It’s spring break time… spend some time with your family!

Well I know that the big gist behind this blog is to perpetuate and encourage churches to become multi-cultural and for people to be encouraged to walk with Christ, but it’s still my blog and I like to dote on my family once in a while. After all, it’s because of their support and encouragement that I can do all of the ministry things that I do. So indulge me periodically. TODAY is our youngest son, Griffin’s birthday. Griffin is 8 today. I remember that Sunday he was born like it was just yesterday. We we’re just about 30 minutes from starting our first service at Oak View School. Christie called me and said… “It’s time.” In typical male fashion I replied… “Time for what?” “Time for this baby to be born you knucklehead!” was her response (or something like that). Pastor Amado took over and hours later God introduced us to a new dude. If you’ve met Grif, you know he is a great kid. He has a lot of my traits. Scarry!
Be sure to wish him a happy birthday the next time you see him. I love you Grif man!

In an earlier blog post I introduced you to Truett. Check him out now, he’s six and half months old and is really stealing the show this Christmas. Our boys can’t wait to teach him some soccer moves. Here is a picture with Reid holding him. What a great pair huh? A multi-cultural blog, a multi-cultural church and a multi-cultural family. God is GOOD!

The big day has arrived! In fact as I write this post it’s really almost half over. We’ve eaten heavy… ( I even salt brined a turkey for our big feast. Thanks to Paula Deans assistant, Orrin Sumatra for the recipe and help. BTW Orrin. It was awesome). A lot of us have already napped… and the movie “Christmas story” has played about 150 times already. Christie’s family is in from all over and we have had a great day so far…. Lot’s of hours left. Now we’re ready to open up presents.
As the Mitchell’s have had a great Christmas, we certainly hope and pray that the same is true for you. May God’s peace and grace shine upon you this season and in the new year.

The great American holiday is upon us and we certainly all have a great deal of stuff to be thankful for. I know I do:
~ I’m thankful for the Christ I serve. It’s not the easiest thing in the world to do… (sometimes working this closely with people can be a bit trying) but it does bring joy. In fact, Time magazine recently posted a list of occupations that bring people the most happiness and the Clergy ranked the highest with 67% saying that there are very happy each day. I think I would rank myself and my happiness much higher than that even!
~ I’m thankful for my family. I really do have the greatest wife on the planet. She’s quite patient with me and loves me even on those days when I’m a little less caring than I should be. I have three great boys. They are smart, kind, caring and fun. My extended family is a great blessing to me (most of the time). I’m blessed
~ I’m thankful for my Westbrook family. The staff that I serve with is second to none. Other Pastor friends think they have great staff… but deep down I know ours is the best. I love our church. Sure we’ve dealt with some challenges recently, but God’s grace has been sufficient for us to endure each little thing. By that same grace we will continue to march forward as we fulfill the dream that God has planted within us.
~ I’m thankful for my friends. I hang out with some great people outside of my church relationships. Some of them are very lost spiritually, but I love them just the same. What they don’t know is that I pray for them the whole time we are hanging out. I also have friends that are very spiritually in tune. My life is blessed with both groups of people!
I could go on and on… suffice it to say I will be mindful of all of my blessings today and the rest of this weekend.
What about you? What are you thankful for?

Tomorrow is a big day for us at Westbrook and I’m sitting up kind of walking down memory lane. Westbrook celebrates our 11th anniversary tomorrow. We’ve come a long way from one service in an elementary school to where we are today. God has been so good. What’s even more exciting is that our future is even brighter. Some of you may know that we purchased a little over 14 acres earlier this year. We are praying every day that God leads us to more and more people who need Him. Knowing Christ fully and making Him known is our vision. Thank You God for an amazing 11 years! May You lead us each day as we draw people who are far from You to You!

One of the interesting things about a trip like this, is that you will often run into the same family. On Sunday afternoon Christie and I ran into a nice middle-eastern family two times on the same day. This is pretty amazing since the ship is filled with about 3,800 passengers. Anyway, after seeing them the second time we introduced ourselves and commented on how unique that was. Would you believe that the very next day as Christie and I were jumping on a subway train in Rome, heading for the Coliseum we bumped into them again. (In a huge international city, filled with millions of people, 90 miles from the ship). The next night, I sat in a lounge on the ship and talked with the gentleman. The guy was awesome and very engaging. Turns out he graduated from the University of Texas and worked for 15 years or so in Dallas and Orlando. Several years ago he returned to his home in Beirut, Lebanon and opened his own Civil/Structural Engineering firm. We had a great time, and even though some of our viewpoints differed~ he is Sunni Muslim~ we had many, many more things in common. He taught me a great deal from a Middle easterners standpoint about the war in Iraq. We even talked a great deal about God. He was quite intrigued that I was a pastor. The very next morning, we ran into them again heading to the Italian Isle of Capri.
I have lots of friends, but this new friend is the kind of friend that I would wish for everyone~ warm hearted yet filled with intrigue because his culture is not mine. I’ll say it a thousand times… If you want to build a multi-cultural ministry you have to look for opportunities to engage in multi-cultural friendships. To Mohamed, Rania and girls~ it was great connecting with you.

Summer is cruising by and the entire family has been busy. Tyler (our oldest) spent three weeks in Europe with People to People Student Ambassadors. If you see him at Westbrook ask him to tell you some of his stories. We certainly feel blessed to have him experience this cross-cultural opportunity. Reid (our middle son) and I spent the week in Mexico. A few days after I returned, I had the chance to hang out with the guys at orchard Group Church Planting in New York, NY. Manhattan is an amazing place and I absolutely love it. All summer long I have been challenging my boys and our church staff to encounter each day with their “eyes wide open.” How well do you do with that?

A multi-cultural church, a multi-cultural staff, multi-cultural experiences, a multi-cultural blog. Let me introduce you to our newest multi-cultural family member. Truett Keith Hunter Bentsen. My brother in law and sister in law recently adopted their first son. He’s awesome and my boy’s can’t wait to teach him how to play soccer. Christie is thrilled to say the least. She will for sure be his favorite aunt. (no offense Marcy, Ann Elise, Gretchen and Kiersten).