Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Our Living Hope


Earlier this month our church started a new teaching series through the book of 1 Peter. The book of 1 Peter is written by Peter, the disciple of Christ. He is writing to a group of Christ followers who are scattered throughout Asia Minor. They are being persecuted for their faith and Peter writes the book to encourage them as they live as exiles in a foreign land.

For this teaching series I took week two and taught the following message about Jesus Christ being our living hope. If you're in need of hope today watch this!

1/22/2017 - Neal Benson | Our Living Hope from Central Peninsula Church on Vimeo.

Monday, January 16, 2017

Twelve Thoughts on Twelve Years of Marriage

Charity and I have been married for 12 years!
We’ve been married for 144 months.
Another way to say it is 4380 days.
It equals out to 105120 hours of marriage.

A lot can happen in 12 years. We’ve lived in four houses, two cities and worked at five different jobs (combined). We’ve had three children, two dogs, numerous fish, one bird, one mouse, one turtle and a hermit crab. We’ve had eight different cars. I’ve had two different dirt bikes.

I’ve never talked with someone about marriage and heard them say, “Well I hope this one works out.” or “If this marriage doesn’t work out, I’ll try again.” When we went into marriage we knew this was a “to death do us part commitment.”

In our time of marriage we’ve had the privilege of helping other couples prepare for marriage. When I look back on the last twelve years here are twelve thoughts on marriage that I want to pass on to others:

1. Communicate well
I remember one time while Charity and I were doing premarital counseling with a couple. During our conversation one of the people said: "you must fight well."  In a healthy marriage you need to know how to communicate well. Think about timing, tone and what you're going to say.

2. Celebrate often
Charity and I celebrate often. Celebrate your anniversary every year. Celebrate birthdays and be joyful together.

3. Travel with each other
We love to adventure together! Traveling can be stressful but it’s a great way to make memories with your spouse!


4. Go on a regular date
This has been huge for us. When we were first married it was date day; we would take Monday as a whole day with each other. When we had Sophie we moved to date night. Now, we do date morning. It doesn’t matter when you go on a date, the goal is to keep dating your spouse.


5. Serve your spouse
Think of things that would make your spouse excited! Serve them and help him/her out in a special way.

6. Don’t hide your love
Write notes, send text messages and say “I love you” often!


7. Buy your wife flowers
More than just on special occasions. Charity loves flowers! I enjoy getting her flowers, as a surprise, and seeing her face.


8. Let your spouse go on trips that fill them up
Plan ahead, say yes and help them out. Let him/her go on trips that with friends or just a trip that you know will encourage them.


9. Eat dinner together (preferably at the kitchen table)
We do our best to never eat on the couch. And make sure the TV is off.

10. Do life with others
Have other married couples in your life who speak truth to you. Think about how much fun it is when others help you become the best spouse you can be!

11. Have a recreation you enjoy 
This is a place we lack. We keep trying to find something to do together and lately it’s been hiking.


12. Surprise your spouse every now and then 
Surprise him/her in a good way. Bring them treat home, write a cute note or plan a fun date.

What would you add to this list?

Monday, January 09, 2017

A Message of Hope

It only happens once every six years... it's when Christmas falls on a Sunday.

This year was a special Christmas for me because I had the opportunity to share the hope of Jesus on the day we celebrate His birthday. Take thirty-two minutes and watch this Message of Hope!

12/25/2016 - Neal Benson | A Message of Hope from Central Peninsula Church on Vimeo.

Sunday, January 08, 2017

Isaiah's First Time Snowboarding

Last week we took a family trip to Lake Tahoe. As this trip was approaching I felt like it was the right time to get Isaiah on a snowboard for the first time. I looked all over to find a board that would be his size and found nothing.

I figured that I would just hold him and let him ride down a little with me. When we arrived at Heavenly Valley our girls wanted to take some laps on the magic carpet. At this time is when Charity had the idea to let him try.

See the whole time his sisters were riding he would say "skateboard" (he calls any board a skateboard). It was obvious he wanted to ride it. As you can see in the picture he did great standing on the board! His first ride he actually rode down on his own, but later wanted me to hold his hands.

I am so stoked for my son and how he rode!