I told you....

If you go back to my very first post here you will find that I warned you that I may be random and that there will probably be at least 2 weeks between posts. Well, how about 1 year and 9 months? I told you....

In an effort to not bore you to tears, I will not detail all of the 'happenings' of the last 2 years. I will just give hit a couple of highlights and give a short update. The most exciting news is that James is officially half way done with college. As of May 13th, James became a Jr. at Commonwealth Baptist College. That sophmore year about did us in, especially the last semester. I think that if we both would have mentioned quitting and going home on the same day, it may have happened.

The first of the year provided some unexpected financial issues. Then on March 5th I received a call that my Grandmother had passed away. She was very active and seemed very healthy so this was VERY unexpected. One of the best ways to describe her came from my uncle's mother-in-law. She said, "Wanda was a force to be reconned with." That was SO true, if she was happy, sad, excited or mad, you knew about it. She made sure to be very invovled in all of our lives and was the 'hub' for all of us scattered all over the country. She kept us all up to date on what was going on with everyone else. We talked most every day. I never had to watch the weather because I knew that she would be calling to tell me about whatever storm or advisory was in my area. I miss her more than I can say. With traveling for the funeral and a much needed quick trip to Kansas for Spring Break, Luci and I were gone almost the whole month of March. After spring break we decided to hit the re-set button. We decided to cut out everthing that wasn't necessary. With the help of our amazing church family back in Kansas and some encouraging friends we made it through. And let me tell you, we are enjoying this summer break!

In November of 2010 James became the youth director at Iglesia Bautista de Clays Mill. This was a wonderful surprise. In October, James was asked to take the place of the guy who drove the bus for the Spanish church, as he and his family were going to Puerto Rico to start a church. James was excited as this seemed like a great way to get a start working with in the Spanish ministry. Well, when James said yes he didn't know that Bro. Suckow was also the Youth Director, Song Leader and preached once a month, in addition to driving the bus. As we are still working on our Spanish, right now we are just working on the bus and teaching the teens. They all speak English so that is helpful. We have 15 -18 kids every Sunday. We love these kids and are so privilaged to be able to work wth them.

Luci is growing up and is no longer a baby at all. Which is fun and makes me sad all at the same time. She is 3 now and wants to be 5 SO badly. When she says her prayers at night they usually involve asking to be 5 when she wakes up. She is such a joy and keeps us laughing. I have been keeping busy babysitting, which brings in a little extra money. With school being out, I have two kids full-time. At one point this past school year I had 5 of the kidergarten class. (There was only 7 or 8 in the class) I have also been able to do alot more sewing. Which I LOVE!!! I am blessed to be able to make money doing something that I love. Recently I made something for a friend and she wore it into a local store. The manager of the store loved it and asked her where she got it. She gave them my number and we are working on getting a meeting set up to discuss possibly carrying the item in their store. They are a locally owned store and like using local vendors so I am praying this will work out, or at least open some doors to other opportunities. This would be a HUGE blessing as I would be able to concentrate on one thing to make money at home and not little things here and there that aren't as profitable.

Well, to those of you still reading, I thank you for suffering through. I won't make any promises to update more often but I will move it up on my list of things to do.

Love to you all,

Jillian

Horses, Hikes and Chocolate Pudding

WOW!!!! We have been here a month already! Before school started last week, we took advantage of the weekends to explore the area. The first weekend we went to the Kentucky Horse Park. They were having a big day called "Hats Off to the Horses". Which was a big preview of whats to come at the 2010 Equestrian Games. The park was BEAUTIFUL! It was built just for the Equestrian Games. They had several different booths set up that were fun, educational and really pretty interesting. Luci liked looking at the horses from afar but really could care less once she got closer. Towards the end of the day they were going to have short 'preview' of the events that will be at the games and then there was a competition. Not being a horse fan, I really didn't think I would want to stick around for all of that. But it ended up being pretty interesting.

The next weekend we went to the Raven Run Nature Park. It has acres and acres of woods with lots of different trails. We took a picnic lunch and went on a hike. Luci, who had developed into a very independent young lady, decided that she wanted to walk all by herself. That slowed us down a bit so we only went a mile. She had a grand time. She discovered that she LOVES rocks. Which led to us stopping so she could pick each one up that she saw. It was a very fun day for our family.

School started last week. That changed things a bit. Meaning that we see James for about 1 1/2 hours a day Tuesday - Friday. Then he is here Saturday - Tuesday afternoon. Since he is gone, Luci and I stay pretty close to home. Luci has recently become obsessed with books. Which is wonderful except that....the ONLY thing she wants me to do is read to her. When I'm not reading to Luci, I have been keeping busy with several sewing projects. So far I have made a diaper bag, apron, dress for Luci and a messenger bag for James. Luci had her first experience with Chocolate Pudding. As you will be able to see, she rather enjoyed it! Love and miss you!

It is Saturday, two weeks ago today we loaded a truck with everything we own and got ready for a trip that will hold lots of changes for us. Several of the men from SMBT were nice enough to give of their Saturday morning to help us load the truck. What would have probably taken us ALL day took these guys about half an hour.

That afternoon we went to Leavenworth. Wesley's headstone was set a few weeks ago and we wanted to see it before we left. It is beautiful! What a relief to FINALLY have it in place.

When we got home we finished packing our bags and getting the last few things loaded into the truck. James (and Luci) loaded the car onto the truck and that was it. I took a picture of James and Luci by the truck. It is a cute picture but it was odd. I looked at the picture and realized, my WHOLE life is in this picture. It was kind of weird at first but then a peace settled in and I realized how blessed I am. God has given me an amazing husband that loves us, works hard to provide for us, and wants God's will for our lives. God has blessed us with a healthy, happy and beautiful baby girl who is growing and brings us SO much joy. God has given me the security of a home in Heaven and 2 precious babies and other loved ones waiting on me there. Yes, I am so very blessed!!!! I think I need to frame that picture as a reminder.

The plan was to go to church Sunday morning and then leave after. Saying goodbye to family and friends at church was so heartbreaking. Family and a few friend went to eat with us and then it was time to go. It was so hard to let go of those last few hugs. We loaded into the truck and off we went. We were meeting my mom just on the other side of St. Louis that night and staying there. Monday morning we headed out yet again. We got into Lexington around 1 in the afternoon. Because it took a little longer than we thought to get there, the guys from the college weren't able to help us unload the truck. However, there was a family that we met that had 3 boys that offered to come and help us unload what they could. WHAT A BLESSING!!!

The house is really cute. It is a two bedroom townhouse. The kitchen is TINY but all of the appliances are new, which is nice. There is a 1/2 bath, dinning room with a small laundry closet, and living room downstairs. There are 2 large bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. It is small but with the way it is laid out you kind of forget that. =) My mom was able to stay the first week and was absolutely WONDERFUL! When she left all but 3 boxes were unpacked and put away. Everything had a 'home' and all the pictures were on the wall. Our plain little apartment was now a cute little home. I am so very glad that Mom was there to help with all of that. I'm not so sure I would have wanted to do all that without her. THANKS, MOM!!

While mom was here, things were good. When she left, it was official. We were here and on our own. We have been blessed to be able to live close to James' family our whole marriage and my mom wasn't too far away. Now, it's just us. We don't know anyone and you know what? It's not that bad. Oh, we miss everyone AL OT and are pretty homesick. We wish that we knew how to get where we need to go without doing at least 2 U-turns and that the people were friendlier. But I can definitely say that we have already gotten closer as a family. Luci is adjusting well. She loves all of the 'dog-dogs' around here. Which are really horses, the poor kid is confused. =)

Well, hopefully I haven't bored you to death. Love and miss you all!

Kentucky and getting a job

(I wrote this a few weeks ago but just now have the time to post. More to come later)

For the last several months we have been working on getting a Job and apartment in KY. Our hope was that we wouldn't have to make a special trip just for those reasons. As time went by it was becoming pretty clear that no one wants to hire someone without interviewing them in person. And that no one will give you an apartment without proof of employment. So, James made plans to go to Lexington. His last day of work was Friday, July 24th. He had made appointments to interview at 2 different places and had a list of several others that offered walk-in interviews. He left Sunday afternoon and made the trip in 9 hours. His first interview was Monday at 11:00 am. It was for a forklift operator position and was really the only one that seemed to have any promise. The interview went well but they told him that the whole process to get hired would take at least 2 or 3 weeks and that they would call him to get things started. We were planning on moving that weekend so we just figured that we would have to wait another week or two to move. So, we pretty much started making plans that way.

In and effort to "come home with a job", James went to another interview on Monday afternoon. It was for a staffing agency and they said they would call if anything came up that fit his qualifications. Nice, but not "move our family 600 miles away" worthy. He had one other interview lined up for 2 pm on Tuesday but since the forklift operator job seemed so promising that we started to talk about him coming home. We eventually decided against it and he went to the interview.

The interview was scheduled for 2 and he got there about 20 minutes early. There were about 5 people in line and 25 others sitting filling out applications. He waited in line and got his application, filled it out and went to stand in line. They told him that he had missed something, so he went back, filled out what he had missed, and waited in line again. When he got to the front of the line this time, they gave him a stack of 25 - 30 papers and told him to go fill them out and bring them back. So he did and then went back and got in line. They found a few pages that needed more info and back he went. He finished the papers, got back in line and they said, "Thank you. Have a seat and someone will call you in a little while." It was after 3 o'clock by that time. Thinking it was a HUGE waste of time, he took a seat. While he waited, he got a text from Reed that said, "I have a feeling you are going to get a job today." James laughed and sent a text back that said, "I think you are going to go to jail today." =)

Well, they finally called James back into a smaller room. The lady sat down and asked him if he wanted days or nights. He said nights because he would be going to school in the mornings. She asked if he wanted 'picking' or 'packing'. After she explained the difference, he said picking. She said, "OK, your orientation is at 10:30 Thursday morning and you start 6:30 pm next Tuesday." He said, "Does that mean I have a job?!?" After reassuring him that he did, he told her that we have an apartment that has us approved, we just need proof of employment. She said that she had just printed it. He took it and went to the apartment and signed the papers. He called me and yelled, "AAA!!!! I HAVE A JOB!!!!" We were SO very excited. James will be working in the largest AMAZON.com warehouse. So when you order from AMAZON, James will be one of the ones that runs and gets whatever treasure you have bought and takes it to the packers to be sent to you. (Hmmmm.....wonder if we get a discount.) So after almost not even going to the interview, he came home with a job. KENTUCKY, HERE WE COME!!!!

Welcom!!!

Hello from the Benson's! We thought that this would be a fun way to keep everyone caught up with how things are going while we are gone. As most everyone knows, we are moving to Lexington, KY on August 1st. (That is just 4 VERY short weeks away.) James will be attending Commonwealth Baptist Bible College. He is planning on majoring in Pastoral Theology and Spanish. The plan is for me to continue to stay at home with little Miss Luci. All of our stuff is packed and in a storage unit waiting to be loaded into a moving truck. There are a few details that still need to be worked out before we leave but everything is coming together. It has been so amazing to see how God has been working out all of the details. Mostly in ways that we would have never thought of. My plan is to post here to keep everyone updated on what is happening with us. I should also give fair warning: I tend to be random and will probably be at least 2 weeks behind on posting 'updates'. There, consider yourself warned. We hope that everyone gets a chance to catch up on what is happening with us every now and then. Please pray for us as we begin this new chapter in our life.....