Bethany Wilkes

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Sister # 3

Bio Details – from 2017

Fun Facts – from 2013

Life motto: “walk by faith, not by sight” 2 Corinthians 5:7
Favorite Food: apples, vegetables, & is coffee food?
Favorite Dessert: vanilla frozen yogurt or ice cream… just plain vanilla
Favorite Disney character: Ellie (from Up) or Pumbaa & Timon
One thing you cannot live without: working out, chapstick, a comfy sweatshirt, and hairbands
Favorite book: “Mark of the Lion” series by Francine Rivers
Bucket list item: Skydiving and going to Costa Rica

Married to…I am married to the love of my life, Mike Wilkes. Marriage has been such an amazing experience already. It is so fun, exciting, and new. Every day is an adventure. After alot of single years, I wasn’t sure if marriage would ever come, even though it was always a desire of my heart. So I just kept trying to do life, be involved, work, and be in community with people around me. There were days I was okay with it, and others that were not as easy.  But life has a way of surprising you.  As I was coaching at Azusa Pacific University, I had a special place in my heart for one of my players and her wonderful family. They were such a joy to be around.  One of the weekends the dad of the family travelled down to watch some games, he said he had this guy he wanted me to meet.. And wanted to bring him down the next trip… A little nervous about the whole thing… I just laughed it off. Northern California was too far away to get set up with someone, I thought… But lo and behold, a few days later I received an email from this guy that I had heard a few things about.  We started talking and getting to know each other.  A couple months later he had a wedding in Southern California, so we were able to meet up.  It was fun, but I was still hesitant.  So he conveniently found ways to come down the next few weekends for family “obligations”. About a month later, we were officially dating.  Dating long distance wasn’t the easiest thing, but we made it work.  We found ourselves completely blessed by how much we were able to see each other.  Completely orchestrated by God. So we journeyed through our dating relationship, the ups and downs. Two years after we started talking, he proposed, on a helicopter ride… WHAT??? It was amazing. I was so surprised. Six months after that we got married in his hometown, a beautiful venue, amazing friends, and the best day of my life.   We are now enjoying life together. I moved up there after we were married so it is a whole new place for me which is fun! I am so blessed by someone who is so amazing. He is such a good fit for me and it is such an adventure to do life together.

Kids…Give us a few years… we just got married. 🙂

Graduated from/majored in/ previous work…I started college at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.  I stayed there two years… it wasn’t a fit for me (you can read more in my testimony).  After my sophomore year I transferred to Azusa Pacific University.  I majored in Youth Ministry with a Sports Concentration. While I was in college I started working with Young Life in Chino Valley. I got to work with the area for a few years. After graduating I decided to continue with school and get my masters in Organizational Leadership.  I got to stay on the softball squad by being a grad assistant for the next two years. And my grad assistant role was over I stayed as an assistant coach.  I loved being able to invest in the team and be a part of an awesome coaching staff. In my first year of grad school I was blessed with the opportunity to go on staff with Fellowship of Christian Athletes.  I worked in the San Gabriel Valley as an Area Rep for FCA for the next four years.  I learned and grew so much through that experience of raising support, discipling leaders, leading studies, planning events, and organizing a summer camp. I loved what I was doing.

Life now…I moved to a new area six months ago after getting married. I am currently exploring new ideas, applying to jobs, and trying to find my niche in a new area.

Passion…I love relationships. I love spreading the love of Jesus. I love being able to be passionate about life, love what I am doing, and being filled with the joy of the Lord. Joy that comes from God is not based on our circumstances, but based on who God is, so as we grasp that and take hold of it we are able to see a glimpse of the fullness of Christ.  I am a firm believer in using the things we go through as a part of our testimony and our witness. God brings us through stuff for a reason. As we learn and grow we are able to realize God walking through us each step of the way.  And out of that comes a unique life experience and life testimony. (you can read more of my testimony on a link at the bottom of this page). I love meeting with young girls and helping them see who they are on the inside. Whether they are dealing with relationship stuff, issues with image, struggling with confidence, I want to help them believe in who they are.  Real beauty is on the inside. I am passionate about developing leaders and helping them see their potential.  We all have a purpose and a calling, sometimes we just have to shift our perspectives or open our eyes to how we can better impact the world around us. I am passionate about mentoring and discipling and doing life with people. I want the Lord to use me wherever he is calling me.

 Favorite bible verse/quote/life verse….2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we walk by faith, not by sight”. I better like this verse alot, I have a tattoo of it on my foot.  I got the tatoo after college when I wanted to finalize this memory of my journey through a rough couple years in my life. But this has been my life motto that helped me get through some of my hardest days. Sometimes we have to just keep going, keep trusting, even when it is something we cannot see. Trusting God’s way and God’s direction brings abundance and purpose.  It may be a process, it may have its ups and downs, but walking in faith is always worth it.

Favorite growing up memory…I am not sure if this is my favorite memory or my sisters… but Rachel would always write plays for us to do at family holidays.  As the oldest sister, she would pick and choose who played what character based on how she wanted it.  Interestingly enough, I always found myself being the dog or some other not so cool part of the play.  While at the moment, I may not have thought anything of it or just gone along with whatever she said, my family seems to think it is pretty funny. I think I am scarred from the experience. No, it’s all a good laugh now. We always had great holiday traditions filled with plays, fashion shows, and have even brought that into later years making up America’s Got Talent skits and create newlywed games.

Favorite food….My favorite thing to say about food is, “I’m not picky, I’m selective.”  I guess I just know what I like and try to stick to it, even though I am trying to expand my repertoire of recipes. So it is a work in progress.  But I love frozen yogurt and ice cream.  But of course, I do just stick to the vanilla… even when there is a array of topping to pick from. I also love fruits and vegetables, but two of my favorites are apples and jicama. I love coffee and drink it every day, preferably Peet’s coffee. For a type of food, I love mexican. It is good, all the time. Chips and salsa usually ruin my dinner.

 Hobbies….I love sports. I love playing sports, watching sports, talking about sports. Growing up I played softball, soccer, basketball, and volleyball. I got the opportunity to play softball in college, then coach at Azusa Pacific University. One of my favorite out of the ordinary sports to play has been powder puff. I love it! My intramural team in grad school actually won our league at our school and went to a tournament and beat all the teams from other schools.  I am now trying to get into tennis, but it is hard keeping up with the family I married into… they are all really good. I love the opportunity to be creative.  I don’t spend enough time doing it, but I love photography, art, crafting, and scrapbooking. There are lots of things I want to try. I will have to blog about them once I start.

Favorite sister activity….We love to entertain and throw parties. Whether it is a shower, birthday, holiday, or any excuse to have a get together, we know how to have some fun.  We all contribute and throw a tacky sweater party every year.  You have to show up in the tackiest christmas sweater you can find.  We seemed to find a few good ones in our mom’s closet. After my mom’s initial shock, they have now permanently been put into the “tacky sweater bin” in the garage. Some of our other ideas have been casino parties, an “UP” adventure shower, a peanut baby shower, a Giants party, and dance parties. We love spending time together. Now that we don’t live close, it is fun to try to plan things for when we do get together.

Coolest place you have ever visited….I have been able to travel a good amount the last couple years. In 2006 I got to go on a softball mission trip to East Asia.  It was a life changing experience.  In 2009 and 2010 I got to go to Hawaii with the APU softball team. In 2010 I got to go to Benin, Africa with one of my best friends on a mission trip with the Jesus Film. It was great to see how God is working through the people in that country. We got to go and join in what is already happening there. This past year, Mike and I went to Jamaica.  It was the most relaxing and enjoyable trip I have ever been on.  We hope to travel more together in years to come.  And I also hope to help Mike finish up his travelling to all 50 states… He is so close.

Funniest moment….One of the funniest moments of my life was the garter toss at my wedding.  As I was picking out songs in the planning stages of my wedding, Mike requested that Macho Man be played during that segment of the playlist.  I said sure, he was letting my do most of the planning for everything else. Why not? Little did I know what was in store for me. The boquet toss winded down and I went out in the middle of the dance floor.  I sat on the chair as I was directed to with all eyes on me..  As the Macho Man song started, I saw this huge smile  (along with a smirk) overtake Mike’s  face… uhoh… He preceded to “get down” on the dance floor and dance around me not just for a few moments… but almost the whole song. And I must say he has quite the dance moves… He danced his heart out. I don’t think I have ever laughed that much in my whole life. Not to mention turn as red as a tomato. But it was all worth it. I got him back and shoved cake in his face.