Hey everybody! I'm Bethany Kent.  I was born in Pekin, Illinois on November 21, 1988; but I have lived in good ole' Bartlesville, Oklahoma for most of my life.  I am seventeen years old, if you can't do the mathJ, and I will be a senior next year-graduating class of 2007! Yes!  Although I may be accused of being a nerd, I have always enjoyed school and try to stay really involved.  I am the student body secretary of the student council at Bartlesville High School and I am an active member in National Honor Society.  But enough about school-.here's some stuff about me.

One thing must be mentioned before anything else is said-..I am in LOVE with chocolate!  In my room there hangs a sign which reads, "Forget love, I'd rather fall in chocolate" and it is so appropriate.  Aside from eating chocolate, I also have lots of other hobbies.  One that compliments my lack of self-control when it comes to sweets is that I also love to run.  Last summer I joined the cross-country team at our school.  It was really because I had nothing better to do, but I promptly got addicted.  I recently ran in my first long race-it was 9.5 miles-and I loved every minute of it.  It helps me relieve stress and work off my chocolate calories----it's wonderful! Anyway-what else.  I also must admit, as athletic as I am, I do have my female tendencies and absolutely adore curling up and reading from covereth to covereth a good romance novel.  They make me feel all warm and fuzzy-I know it's corny-but sadly enough, it's true.  I really do love to read though.  It doesn't have to be a romance-thrillers are great too.  I love swimming, bathing in the sun for hours, hot bubble baths, getting letters in the mail, comforting a hurting friend, oh yes and let's not forget shopping! Making cookies, four-wheeling in the mud, playing in the rain, making people laugh- as the song says- these are a few of my favorite things!  I also have had the same job since I was sixteen years old working as hostess at Garfield's, a restaurant here in Bartlesville.  I absolutely love it and if you're ever in town-.you should stop by and try the seven layer cake-it's so good it's practically sinful!  But the thing I love more than all of this combined has got to be my family.

     I have been blessed beyond measure with a large and tremendous family.  Here in Bartlesville I live with my mom and step-dad, Lynn and Carolyn Jenner.  Also living in my house are two of my sisters.  Brenna, who is not only my sister but my very best friend, is a sophomore in high school.  And by far the most adorable occupant of 2111 Neptune Court is my four year old sister, Mackenzie Lynn.  Then we journey about forty miles south to meet the other half of my clan.  In Tulsa, Oklahoma lives my dad and step-mom, Jim and Kim Kent.  Also living down there is the cutest lil' five year old you have ever seen, who just happens to be another one of my sisters, Bailey Samantha.  It doesn't stop there, however.  I also have the best older brother anyone could ask for living way up in South Dakota.  His name is Stuart and he is about to get married to a wonderful woman named Laur - and I'm in the wedding!  Hooray!  Most of my best memories have been centered around the people mentioned above, and I don't know what I'd do without them!

   But now we come to  the cornerstone of everything mentioned above, and that is Jesus Christ.  And really, all those wonderful people and things I love pale in comparison to the love I have for my Heavenly Father.  Being seventeen is harder than it looks sometimes, and there are so many questions about where my life will take me.  But I can always delight in the fact that 10, 20, 100 years from now one thing will never change: Christ's love for me, and his never ending faithfulness.  Three of my favorite verses are Romans 8:37-38: "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord," and Romans 8:28: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose."  So really, that's all I need to know. That no matter what comes, God will always love me and carry out His perfect plan for my life.  It's enough to get me through tomorrow, and the next day, and all the trials that follow until I finally see Him face to face!  Thank goodness for His promises-..and even more for His grace.