PELHAM – At the Greater Shelby County Chamber of Commerce’s 22^nd Prayer Breakfast on Tuesday, Nov. 20, speaker Rux Bentley reminded the audience that every person has opportunities to “breathe Jesus into someone’s life.”

Each year, the Prayer Breakfast, held at the Pelham Civic Complex, serves as an opportunity for the community to gather to give thanks and fellowship with one another during the holiday season.

During his address, Bentley, president of Rux Carter Insurance in Columbiana, spoke on the topic of “speaking Jesus into your bad day.” On those days when nothing seems to be going right, Bentley said he says a quick prayer, “Jesus, I need to see your face today.”

He talked about a day that started going wrong at 7 a.m. He and his wife were having a disagreement, his daughters were arguing and there were issues that needed to be dealt with at work. The day was made worse when he had to sit in Interstate 65 traffic to take his children to school.

“On the way to school I said a small prayer, ‘Jesus, I need to see your face today,’” he said. “I pulled up at the school, the kids got out the car and one of the students on the school safety patrol said, ‘Mr. Bentley, have a blessed day.’ I’m not too much of a man to say that I cried all the way home that day.”

Although it was a small gesture, Bentley said he did see the face of Jesus that day. He came in the shape of a 12-year-old girl. In the midst of bad days or trying times, Bentley said “Jesus speaks truth, friendship, grace and hope into our lives.”

He also shared another story with the audience that involves his wife Amanda. It was a Wednesday when Amanda called him while at a doctor’s appointment and told him that something was wrong. She said he needed to meet her at Brookwood Baptist Medical Center right away.

“That Friday we were sitting in her recovery room when we heard the words that no one wants to hear – it’s cancer,” he said.

Bentley’s wife ended up staying in the hospital for three weeks after developing an infection and a fever. He said this was the toughest part of their journey with cancer. But along the way, he saw Jesus reflected in the people sent to help him and his wife.

He saw Jesus in his wife’s doctor who spoke truth into his life and reminded him “not to forget who you are and whose you are.” He saw the face of Jesus in the nurses who spoke grace into his life as they prayed with him while his wife underwent a medical procedure, and in the friend who offered to keep his two daughters for the weekend so he could stay at the hospital with his wife. Lastly, he saw Jesus in his wife who never gave up hope that everything would be okay.

Today, Bentley’s wife is cancer-free, and his daughters are Maddie and McKlane are 16 and 15 years old.

“Jesus comes in many forms,” he said in closing. “You can be that reflection of Jesus that speaks into the bad day of others. God is actively seeking us, even on our worst days. There’s nothing we can do to make Jesus love us any less.”