Gabe: Um Beni talked to me a little bit about
uh your goals in raising
in raising kids and then maybe your relationship with
with Leah since she is here
and Leah you can do the same thing with your mom
Beni: um our goal was to raise giant killers
our goal was to raise kids with their own personalities
my goal as a mom was to keep them away from
the religious part of churching
and um
and let them be themselves
um you know we were we were crazy
I was crazy and wild with the kids
I think they all got my gene you know crazy hair I use to perm the boys hair
and you know and color it Gabe: oh yes we have a picture of Eric actually
Beni: Leah has had every color under the sun
and a we just did crazy and wild things Bill traveled and and um
he didn't travel as much when the kids were younger but he did travel and I'm
a very independent person so we just had a lot of fun you know we just
we just did things I would much rather be with them than do house work
I was a terrible house keeper
Leah: um I got that gene Beni: yeah you did Leah: sorry babe
Beni: I'm like I moved here and went I'm done I'm getting someone to do it for me and so
yeah we just we just wanted our kids to be real be themselves
and I think that's evident now and
and to really change the world the way they could and love God with all their heart
I mean the question we asked Bill asked you when you were asked permission to marry Leah
was just that do you love God more than you love her
and um and that was the only question you asked
and I think it shocked you Gabe it's like but that was that's the most important thing
for us and for our kids that they love Go more than anything else
in the world so that was my main goal and as far as our relationship um
I she's the third she's the baby in the family
and she's a tremendous blessing to both her to me and her daddy
and ah we were are like just really good friends
her high school years I home schooled her
and um we moved from Weaverville to here and I just could not put her
she had been in a private school and I just could not put her Leah: of 30 people Beni: yeah 30 people
and I could not put her in a high school of thousands and she was okay with that
and we homeschooled and it was great homeschool charter school
she had a graduation with cap and gown and the whole thing and
and we spent a lot of time together then
and it was really a wonderful time for me especially
Leah: I had I loved being raised
by these two it was everything and more
um I love how they really just let you be who you were
I had so many friends that were pastors kids and have horror stories
and um have like fallen away from the Lord and just really sad to see
that um it's like kids get parented by the congregation
not by the actual parents and so they did a really good job of separating that and
I didn't even think people in our church would have tried to parent us that way any ways
they were great people but um yeah it was
a really great way I mean I've dyed my hair since I was ten
my mom is like if that's how she wants to express herself in a very innocent way then go for it
and so I had a lot of freedom and never felt like I had a ton of rules over me but yet we had really good boundaries
but it was but I choose those boundaries cause it was I mean that's just how we were raised
I mean I also like being really different so like story we'd be riding in the car with friends and
they would have like horrible music on and I'm like I'm sorry can't listen to that you need to turn it off
but I mean I some how just had a really like
firm stubborn independent I like to be different so much so that I didn't mind telling a bunch of kids
that were like three years older than me turn your music off
but I would attest that to them
Um I have a great story of Leah she was in 8th grade in Weaverville and after school
sometimes she would go up walk to the high school
it was a very small town we live in she would walk to the high school and meet her brothers there
and I had I had you know I had a little concern about her getting ready to go into high school
we hadn't decided to come here yet
and I was a little worried about how she would do under peer pressure
being in high school in a whole new environment
and I drove up to pick the kids up at the high school
and I saw my daughter an 8th grader
standing up to a senior in high school boy
two times taller than her in his face yelling at him and telling him
I told you to stop swearing in front of me
and I looked at her and I went ah no problem