Melody and Rob Benjamin

Personal Stories

We'd like to introduce you to some of the families of Oak Grove Church. These stories are a fun way for church members to learn more about each other and for visitors to learn more about our church body.

Melody and Rob Benjamin

I'm Melody Benjamin and this is our family. Me, Rob, Natalie (8), and Hailey (5). We've been married 18 years.

We have been attending Oak Grove Church since the beginning of its new identity — when we merged two churches together some time ago. We came from Robbinsdale Baptist and have been with our church family for 17 years. Initially, our draw to the church was the pastor, but quickly we experienced how the congregation reached out to us and showed us love — it felt like family. It's this feeling that keeps us wanting to come, and wanting to offer the same feeling to others too.

I grew up with Christian parents who were involved in church, so I learned early about God. When I was 4, my mom had a talk with me about heaven, explaining that I could live forever with Jesus if I first believed He loved me and died for my sins, and second, if I promised to follow what God asks us from the Bible. I prayed with my mother to ask Jesus into my heart.

I held onto that promise of living forever with Jesus in heaven. But as firmly as I held onto that promise of eternal life, I equally held onto the false belief that God really regretted making that promise to me, because he really couldn't love me. The problem was, all I knew of love was being perfectly who others wanted me to be. To be me wasn't good enough, but if I honed in on what I thought others thought I should be, then I could get the "love". And, I felt that God was disappointed in me when I sinned...and God knows how many wrong choices I made, especially in adolescence, in efforts to be loved. I felt I could never "get" God's love.

About 11 years ago, a friend from church told me of a verse in the Bible (1 John 1:9) that says, paraphrased, if we confess our sins, God will forgive us, and purify us...make me pure! I had a wonderful "a-ha!" moment! I knew that verse already, but it was suddenly more clear. I didn't have to get myself perfect first, in order to receive God's love. God loves me first, and I simply have to confess my sins (admit I screwed up) with a sorry heart, and agree to work on it. God would then forgive me, clean me up, and purify me — perfect me. How lovable to God would I be then!!

Suddenly, all of God's other promises I had learned growing up weren't just for everyone else. They were for me, personally. God loves ME, and died for ME. He will never leave ME, even when life seems bad, or I screw up. And He actually looks forward to ME coming to live with Him forever in heaven — no regrets. It's for YOU too. And that's my story.

I was asked to note our best memory of Oak Grove Church. There are many, but the one that stood out for us so clearly, was from 8 years ago now, when I was pregnant with Natalie. I was having some problems and it was determined Natalie would have to be born 8 weeks early. At a crisis point, an emergency C-section was performed, and it was then found I had a rare, pregnancy-related syndrome, and I was struggling for my life. Natalie was also struggling for hers. Quickly the church rallied support. Rob was never alone. None of us were alone. The church body prayed for us, sent us servants to be there physically for Rob and me, to comfort us, pray with us, and later, to visit and feed us — God's presence to us physically through His servants.

It's a privilege for me to be able to share God's love and stories from the Bible with the 4 and 5-year old children in our church. I'm also privileged to be able to stay at home and home-school our children, be a resource for other families who need emergency child care, parenting support, or a place to sleep while traveling far from home. God has provided Rob with a job serving people with severe mental health concerns, impacting his clients and his co-workers.

In our family, we all feel very fortunate to have our church, as it is our second family — from the women's group that includes me and a small group who prays for our family's needs to a Children's Ministry where the teachers know our children by name. It's very special to us to have known many families, and go through the ups and downs of life, with God in the center.

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