They first met at The King’s College on the very first day they were there. He was a transfer junior and she was a freshman. He and his parents sat at the lunch table with Dar and her Mom and Dad. They were married on June 12, 1976 in Philadelphia, PA.Since then they have lived in Egg Harbor City, NJ  Ocean City, NJ and currently reside in Knoxville, TN.

Knoxville is a wonderful place to live because of its proximity to the Smoky Mountains, lots of water (the TN River and others) and other famous places like Rock City and Ruby Falls near Chattanooga, Dollywood, and Music City, USA--Nashville. The weather is good—mild Winters (they get a good snow once in a while and have great hills for sledding!), beautiful Springs which begin early with lots of flowering trees, hot Summers (everything is air conditioned), and absolutely gorgeous Falls when the mountains are ablaze with color and the UT football team shines! The people of East TN are friendly and generally have decent morals and a good work ethic.

They are now a family of four—three grown men, and a woman who occasionally longs for some female companionship to share some of the “finer things of life!” They have a wonderful dog named Samson, but even he can’t understand that softer side. Dar misses, Julie!
 
 

Jeremy & Julie Tullis	Daniel Benner	Stephen Benner

Dave's 2002 "Year in Review"

As I reflect over this past year, I say WOW!! What a loving and gracious and personal God I have. Benner Painting had the best Winter with interior work for January, February and part of March. We had work every day and the gross income for those months reflected the same income as the summer and fall months. This past summer I had the blessing of having 6 guys in the months of June, July and August. What a privilege to be able to provide work for that many people. Not to mention I made a few dollars!!! Thank you Lord for supplying more than we need so we can give to others.

One of the best things about having my own business is getting to work with Daniel and Stephen. To see them acquire some life-time skills and make some good amounts of money is fantastic. But to start many days by driving to the job site with one of them next to me is the best. I love them and count it a joy to teach them and see how much they have helped me.

The fall was the hardest time I have ever experienced in the 4.5 years I have been operating Benner Painting. Not because we did not have enough work. As a matter of fact, I started turning down or shifting work to the spring of 2003 beginning in September. The phone kept ringing into October and even in November with requests for work. After a summer of many hands, I found myself down to 2 people counting myself!!! Not good for someone who is 50 and trying to limit the amount of hours I spend on the ladder. I was able to hire several guys needing part time work for the fall and the crew slowly built back up to having 5 guys on some days and only 2 on other days. Not very consistent considering the amount of work still out there to be done before the cold weather set in. As I write this note, I am still finishing my last exterior work to help out a customer who is selling his house. It is cold and rainy and we only get to work maybe 2 days a week for the past 2 weeks since Thanksgiving.

On another front, but happening simultaneous to the abundant amount of painting business, were the issues of Two Rivers Church. I have been blessed to be involved heavily as an elder, growth group leader and coach over the past 4.5 years of the new church's early existence. I have the opportunity to serve the Lord in this capacity and to work side by side with 5 other guys that I respect and call my friends. In August, we were meeting on our back porch with an elders meeting, and hearing Brad describe the good, bad and ugly regarding his summer months. One of the areas of high need was to hire an Executive Pastor to work alongside Brad and to coach the staff and build teams that will fly in formation with the values of the church. Brad also mentioned that we could combine this position with one we previously had full-time to do the building of the mercy, outreach and missions ministry. Well I was struck in my heart with the thought...I could do that!!! Wow!!! What was I saying to myself? Lord, is this You? Do you want me to do this? I have a great business and actually still love what I am doing. Well, the rest is history. I began praying earnestly and talking with Darlene and a few other trusted friends to see what they thought about me taking this particular position to be called Mobilization Pastor.

The Lord says, when we seek Him with all our heart we can find Him. He also says, I have plans for you to give you a future and a hope when you search for Me. God says to you and me, I will counsel you when you come to Me and ask for My guidance. Wow again!!! I, the Lord God will show you the path, in fact, I will light the way for you so you will not get lost and make a wrong turn. In Isaiah 55, He says, My thoughts are not your thoughts and My ways are higher and different than yours. The Lord says He will lead me in truth as I wait for Him.

These verses provided me with stability, direction and peace as I sought the Lord about making a career change that would affect my daily schedule in a dramatic way. I have learned much from running my own business. The Lord does not want everyone to work full time on a church staff, however, He calls some of us to do this so we can equip the body to do the work of the ministry. I love the local church and still believe it is the best vehicle God has raised up to change the world and see the lost accept Jesus Christ as Savior. I will have the opportunity to coach people around me so they can see their specific gifts and know their role in the body. I love to see people serving in their area giftedness to bless the body and to reach out to a hurting and dying world.

Right now I am praying and asking God to show me exactly what He wants me to do with Benner Painting. I have talked with about 5 people about buying this business which has tangible and intangible value for future earnings for someone with the right skills. I also want to put a big period after BP and move on. It is not usually that clean and neat but you can pray for me that way. I will start with 2RC after January 1.

The whole year has not been this serious. We have enjoyed some great family times with everyone at our favorite Garden City Beach in South Carolina. Julie and Jeremy were able to come as well as my sister Jan and her family for a few days. Also my parents came for the week and of course Mom and Dad Bell enjoyed the sunshine and warm water of the SC ocean. We are blessed to be able to relax in such a nice fashion. Praise you Lord.

This year we are getting ready for the next year for college with Dan and Steve. Stephen has visited Clemson and UT in Knoxville and wants to study engineering as a major. We are waiting for acceptance letters and a pile of cash offers!! Stephen is working hard to finish his senior year @ CAK well. We are proud of him. Daniel has finished 1.5 years @ Pellissippi State and will graduate in May with an Associates degree. He is currently making plans to attend University of Tennessee @ Chattanooga in the fall. He has worked hard with his studies and is considering a major in business. He has worked all fall with me on Tuesdays and Thursdays with a class schedule of MWF.

Well, all for me. I have enjoyed writing this to share with you all. You are my family and I am sometimes sad that we cannot be together more often to pray for each other and to share common struggles. Have a great Christmas with your family. Glad we can communicate in some way to know some details about our lives that are seldom shared because of distance.

On His Team,

Dave
 
 

Dar's 2002 "Year in Review"

It’s so hard to believe 2002 is nearly over!  I guess it means I’m getting old when time flies by so quickly!

In January, Dave and I had our annual weekend away to a beautiful bed and breakfast, The Whitestone Inn in Paint Rock, TN.  We always enjoy the time away to relax, reflect, and get refocused.

We have found this year that we actually get to have quite a bit of time to ourselves—a little taste of what it will be like when both boys are away at college next year. It’s incredible to think our nest is almost empty! Fortunately, Dave and I really love and enjoy each other and the Lord seems to always have something new for us to do together!

In the Spring, I took my 9th annual trip with my Beach Friends. Each year we go to FL in April or May for 5 nights and 4 days of talking, laughing, crying, encouraging, exhorting, sunning, relaxing, reading and just plain fun. These friendships have been such a special blessing in my life. We meet throughout the year to celebrate our birthdays and are starting in 2003 to get together once a month for lunch, dinner, movie night, service project, date with our husbands, etc. Through the years we have experienced together the death of a child (cancer) and a sister (suddenly), adoption of a Vietnamese baby, preschool and adolescent children trials, graduations, sending children on mission trips and to college, a wedding (Julie’s), marriage conflicts and lots of other common life experiences. I have learned a lot from these dear friends and thank the Lord for blessing me in this way.

I am also blessed by being able to work together every day with another friend of mine. Her daughter was Julie’s maid of honor and our families have been friends for years. It’s a real treat to be able to work daily with someone who is not only a capable colleague but a dear friend as well. We get a lot of work done, but have a lot of fun in the process.

Speaking of work, most of you know I have been given some different responsibilities at work in the last few months. I am now the token female executive—VP of Operations for The Transition Team-Knoxville. I work directly with client companies when they have decided to use our services for their employees. I schedule consultants to do the training—most times locally, sometimes across the country, provide feedback to client companies and generally work to ensure client satisfaction. The Knoxville office has been revising and developing materials for the franchises to use for training and marketing and I’ve been heavily involved in that process. My bosses tell me they’re thankful for the reality check I often provide when they start “dreaming” and for the attention to detail they sometimes miss. I also enjoy the daily interaction with the candidates who use our offices in their job search. I’m grateful for the many opportunities the Lord provides for me to encourage, challenge, and help people at a very difficult time in their life. Our office has a good blend of believers and those who don’t yet know Jesus personally so there is plenty of opportunity for ministry as well as Christian fellowship.

One candidate I met at The Transition Team when she lost her job in marketing was a single mom, Caroline. Not too long after I met her over 14 months ago I was privileged to watch her come to have a personal relationship with Jesus. Her life has been very difficult in so many ways, but it has been such a joy to have a part in seeing her grow incredibly—spiritually, emotionally, as a mom, and as a member of a true Christian community for the first time in her life. As a matter of fact, this prompted us (Dave and me) to begin a small group focused on meeting the needs of single moms in our church. We started the group with another couple who are good friends of ours and we are beginning to set the foundation for a church-wide ministry. It has been interesting to see how the Lord is working. This will now actually be one of the things Dave will be doing in his new position—establishing team-based ministries in the church.

We enjoyed a week at the beach early in the summer with Mom & Dad, Julie and Jeremy, Dave’s mom and dad, (and his sister and her family for a few days). Dave and the boys went to Hilton Head, SC for a few days in August while I stayed here and worked, ate ice cream for dinner if I wanted and just enjoyed being alone for a little while? We took our camper to the mountains in NC over Labor Day weekend. It rained almost the whole time and we ran into major fog on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but we made another memory!

This Fall was taken up with home remodeling projects of putting down ¾’’ hardwood floors in most of the downstairs, finishing the job of changing out the interior doors, painting and installing new trim, and having new carpeting installed in the rest of the house. It was long overdue, but we are very happy with the results and thankful to have had the money to do it.

We went to NJ to spend Thanksgiving with Dave’s family and we’re now looking forward to having J & J here for two weeks at Christmas. It will be good to just spend time together after such a busy time for all of us. I think we’re all ready to have some fun—we’ve worked too hard for too long!

We pray that each of you has a joy-filled Christmas celebrating the birth of our wonderful Savior, Counselor and Friend. We love you!

Dar