with may comes more CHANGE!

it is late friday night. the house is quiet and eu-mi is fast asleep. ahhhhh. i'm enjoying the silence, save the clicking on the keyboard. i am also pausing to take in the very full and interesting couple of weeks that have summed up may thus far.

but first i must write that spring has sprung quickly upon us in colorado. the trees were all barren just weeks ago... and then suddenly it was 75 degrees and the trees and foothills were green and bursting with new life. it has been WONDERFUL to welcome spring and, it seems, summer, as well!

as many of you know, i was nannying for a family for about a month. sadly, due to divorce complications the mother was not able to keep me. i confess when we got off the phone, i was so confused. and a little frustrated. what was God up to? why had everything fallen into place so nicely, only to fall apart just as quickly? normally, i would not consider working in anything other than a stable home environment, but i had felt so much peace about the job, that i had accepted. i took care of three children (ages 10, 8 and 5) and really loved the short season i had to be part of their lives. in fact, i look back on those few weeks as a great time - where i could just be part of their family and hopefully point them to Jesus in the midst of their confusion and pain. i am curious to see if our paths will ever cross again.

so i was jobless yet again. HA! when i prayed about what to do, i felt the Lord said to just wait. so i did. and opportunities began to fall in my lap. i was surprisingly so peaceful. so i filled out applications and sent them out. who knew what God would do with them....

in the meantime, my dear college friend christa came to visit me. we spent five wonderful days together - biking the south platte river trail, hiking in the rocky mountain national park, eating yummy indian food, cooking fun food at home, watching girly movies that i would never consider asking jody to endure... it was FANTASTIC! i loved every moment of our time together, and i praise God for such a great friend.

(click to enlarge)

a challenge we had to face this month came in the form of jody's fnals at denver seminary. i must confess there were a few moments when i wasn't sure how we were going to make it through... but we did! jody spent many days at the public library studying, and i would only interrupt him to bring eu-mi and a picnic lunch so we could enjoy the beautiful spring weather. in the end all his hard work has paid off. he did quite well in his classes this past semester. i'm so proud of him! YAY!

soooooooooo.... the completion of the semester + my unemployment + beautiful weather = LOTS OF BIKING AND HIKING! it has been fantastic! in the last two weeks jody and i have been outdoors every day doing something fun. we have loved every moment of it.






but back to the job situation. :) after a couple of applications and a few interviews, i decided to accept a job at a church in parker as the missions administrative assistant. i will be working for two great men, one who focuses on overseas missions and the other whose passion is the inner city and local ministries. i am thrilled to be working in a church setting (esp. if jody later gets a job in a church), and i'm thankful for the opportunity to see and learn the behind-the-scenes operations of a large body of Christians. so far i have worked two days, and i've survived. woohoo! i'm really looking forward to knowing my job and doing it all well.

now that i am working full-time, we are prayerfully considering what jody will do with his free time. since we only have one car, we are considering purchasing a motorcycle so jody can have a way to get around and get a part-time job this summer. he will be taking one class during the summer, but it will only last two quick weeks. beyond that, he is free and chomping at the bit to be productive. please be praying for us as we weigh out costs and do our best to be wise stewards of our time, money and talents.

we love you all! keep in touch. xoxox

p.s. here's the eu-minator at the park!

Waterton Canyon

today a group of us went biking in waterton canyon. it was a blast! i'm thankful for friends who like to get out and enjoy beautiful colorado as spring is finally blooming!
(click to enlarge)

meanwhile, eu-mi is growing so quickly! when we took her to the vet this week to get her heartworm pills, she weighed in at 7lbs. 13 oz. at four and a half months!!! we are so proud of our little girl for growing AND for learning how to go potty outside regularly. she has learned to ring the bells attached to our door when she wants to be let out. in this way, she can clearly communicate with us her need to be outside, which gives jody and me te freedom to go about our business and not stress about her going potty inside. eu-mi has also found the 'doorbells' an effective means to get outside just to play!! so we are trying to nip that in the bud pretty quickly. :)

this week we also made a wonderful and exciting purchase.... a new vacuum! for those of you who know, our vacuum cleaner decided to break a few weeks ago, and it has been challenging to keep the place clean since then. after doing a fair amount of research online and looking at both target and walmart and price-checking forever, we decided to give tuesday morning a chance. in the end, we walked out of there with a dirt devil vacuum cleaner that thus far has been fantastic! yay! i am so thankful and so happy about it.

please continue to be praying for my job search. i have three or four decently viable job options that i am looking into and applying for. overall, i am peaceful and actively trying to place my hope and trust in the Lord. He alone knows what jody and i need, and only He can make the way for us. i'll keep you posted.

again, since i am in-between jobs, i'm back into the creative cooking mode. this week i made potato soup and had so much fun with it! it has made for great leftovers, as well. we praise God for the food that manna ministries provides, and i am having so much fun being creative in my use of it all.

LOVE,
jody, ruth and eu-mi :)

p.s. here's eu-mi with her new bear latched around her neck. LOL. i think it happened by accident, and i was wondering why she was so fiercely attacking the bear. yep. it's because she got her head stuck in the loving arms of the teddy bear. ahahaha!

and pictures of eu-mi from the past month!

(click to enlarge)

so much going on... so little time to reflect upon it

as i think back upon the past month, i am amazed by how much has happened. it has been a whirlwind, and i must confess i am completely exhausted by it all. we have had a lot happen, and we have made a big decision, as well. but before i go into details, i must say it has been a humbling time where both jody and i know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God has been with us and has provided for our every need along the way - reminding us that He is our Provider, our Protector, our Leader and our Master. when paul says, "my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus," (phil 4,19) we can fully say we know it to be true and we are learning to rejoice even in times of difficulty!

now as for the details... the last week in march my mom came to visit colorado and to stay with jody and me for a week. it was SO wonderful to have her here. she was able to see many of her old friends - from when she and dad lived here, and we were able to spend good catch-up time together. we played games, talked, watched movies, played with eu-mi, cooked, went and printed out old family pictures for me to hang up on the walls... and just caught up. it was so great!

through her visit, i think i realized that i have been away from home a long time, and whether i have liked it or not, i have learned to become very independent from my family. it is never easy to be away and to see family pictures with everyone there but me... but i have learned through the time in korea and now here in colorado that my home is where the Lord calls me to be. and maybe one day we will live close to them!

--------- much more has happened since writing the above ----------

if i can sum up our lives, i'd better do bullet points. ha ha.

• jody changed his major from an MDiv (3 1/2 year program) to a Masters of Arts in Leadership (2 - 2 1/2 year program). we are peaceful about it. it means less stress on our finances, less time spent in school, less focus on greek and hebrew and more focus on the practical aspects of leading people in the ministry. i think everybody should switch to an MA in leadership. :) it must be seminaries' best kept secret: spend more time in classes learning about heady, lofty spiritual ideas and come out completely broke and yet sure of one's ability to change the world that one has not been able to live in for almost four years.... haha.
  
• a car tire has popped - hence four new tires on the car, the vacuum cleaner has broken, our broom broke, the mirror on the inside windshield broke... and microsoft vista has been destroying jody's new laptop - causing major heart attacks and prayer sessions.... so we're wondering what is happening. :) can anything else go wrong?! oh, yes, i got sick with a really bad cold that kept me in bed for several days! haha. but i recovered, praise God, and i'm doing quite well now! in the meantime, i am choosing to trust God and His goodness in our lives, regardless of the fact that a lot seems to be falling apart. it has caused much meditation in this corner about the grace of God. i have known what it is like to be in a place with NO grace, so this season feels remarkably peaceful (ironically enough)! praise the Lord for His grace.
  
• my job as a nanny fell through because the father wasn't helping the mother pay for child support, so she sadly had to let me go. i'm back to square one on the job search and wondering what God is doing. still, i'm peaceful overall. God's in control. the door may reopen for me to work with the family. we'll see. i'm not holding my breath. in the meantime, looking for another job. if you know of one, please let me know! :)
  
• jody's parents came to visit this weekend, and we had a wonderful time together despite the weather. it was a wet, terrible cold on saturday, it rained yesterday, and it's snowing this morning. ???? REALLY?? but still, we had a great time. :) we visited downtown denver, which is somewhere i have wanted to visit since arriving here four months ago. finally we were able to test out the public transit system for denver. it was pretty good... for an american city, i thought. :)
  
• jody has a few more weeks of classes, then possibly will be taking two classes this summer. my friend christa is coming next week to stay with us for five days. i'm pretty stoked about that. and eu-mi has a new container to hold her food. it's clear... so now she can SEE her food. she was pretty stoked about that yesterday. thanks to pam and alan for their gift! we love it. and we think eu-mi loves them a lot, too.
• hope all is well with you. we love you and praise God for you. be in touch.
  

MOM IS COMING IN
2 DAYS!

YAY!

finally... i'm doing what i said i would do!

jody and i were able to go bike riding with some new friends today! their names are zach and amber, and zach and jody share a few classes at denver seminary. i think there must be a common love of texas here, as both zach and amber are from the great state, as well. in any case, jody and i are thrilled to meet people who enjoy the great outdoors, and so we are hoping this is the first of many rides....

the ride itself was actually quite short, but it was an introduction to riding in the mountains here. i confess i am embarrassed by how challenging it was of a cardio workout for me (the leg workout was easy). with all the spinning i like to do at the gym, it's still nothing like a workout on a real bike on a real hill... that keeps going and going! and also taking the high altitude into consideration. but i am hoping for more rides in the future, where i can really get more apt at this. and one man on the trail said it gets easier in the summer. i wonder if that's true.

in other news, i have interviewed for a nannying position and may soon be starting. i am curious to see what the job may actually entail from day to day, but i have enjoyed meeting each member of the family (including oswald the family's pet pug!). i am praying that God will direct my steps and confirm that this is the right place for me. please be praying for me and the situation!

love to you all. xoxo ruth

A Trip to the River....

Last week Jody and I teamed up with Sam and Britt and their hilarious dachshund Rustie (whom we call 'Wustie Wat' on occasion) and made a trip closer to the mountains to the South Platte River. It was such a fun trip! And the dogs had a blast playing along the trail, sniffing in the brush and attacking each other. Poor Eu-mi does not have as much stamina as Rustie - quite yet - so her main goal was just to keep up with Rustie and even just to chase after Rustie's leash. It was so entertaining!

Jody and I have often mentioned the fact that we would love to get up in the mountains, but it is a challenge to find a big enough block of time. Semester midterms are looming ahead for Jo starting next week, and I am in the middle of interviewing for a possible nannying position. And so I find the greatest challenge is just being available to meet for interviews at any time - and therefore not booking my schedule too much. The excuses are just that.... excuses... but we truly do hope that once life settles into a routine and I find a job, that we can begin to budget for little excursions up into the mountains or into downtown Denver for fun trips.

LOVE to YOU ALL!

At the River with Rustie!

Eu-mi playing fetch!

denver seminary...

behind the school there is a beautiful bike trail that stretches miles and miles both north and south of denver seminary. serious road bikers pack the trail, along with runners, walkers and families just taking their children or dogs for walks. from the house it is very easy to get to the school - about 8-10 minutes.

the mountains!

the back of the school - i think the buildings here are seminary housing

(L) the main academic building and chapel and (R) the library, cafe and bookstore ... those big windows to the right are actually doors that fold open on beautiful days. it's pretty sweet!

(L) the administrative and professors offices, (Middle) seminary housing, and (R) the academic buildings/chapel

straight ahead is the library, cafe and bookstore

the administrative/office building straight on, and yes, that is a fake, plastic coyote on a stick in the yard. it's to scare off the geese, which plague the littleton area. if only we could shoot them!

I will be glad and exult in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
Psalm 9,2

Jody and I are loving the time we have spent here in Colorado so far, and we praise God for His daily provision for our lives. We love our basement apartment, our new little puppy Eu-mi, our bikes (and the paths to ride them on!), and the chance to start life afresh in America. On top of all this, we are so thankful for the chance Jody has to study at Denver Seminary, and we have really enjoyed meeting other students there. There is such diversity in situations - some go part-time and study over five or six years, some go full-time and try to finish in two or three, depending on the degree. Some are married with children, others are couples with no children, and still others are singles. It is so much fun to meet people where they are, and Jody and I are praying for good friends through the school.

While Jody goes to class, reads books and writes papers (repeat x25oo in that order), I do everything I can to keep the house clean, Eu-mi going potty outside, do laundry, make food (as cheaply and creatively as possible!), and job-hunt. But I do everything I can - before I do all that other stuff - to make time with the Lord a top priority. It has been so encouraging for me to sit down and spend time in the Word and to seek His face about His plans for us and for me, personally. I am beginning to see Him heal disappointments and frustrations about Korea, and my faith and hope is being renewed that indeed, His plans are to give me a hope and a future!

The Newest Member of the Been household...

Meet Eu-mi (or Yoo-mi, as Jody likes it)!

Our puppy is a girl dappled mini dachshund. We decided on a Korean name and found the sound (Yoo-mi) to be fun and easy to say. Eu-mi comes from a litter of 8 pups out in Elizabeth, CO. We picked her for her bold and feisty personality, but also for her love of snuggling. She has proven to be a joy and quite a big job at the same time, and I'm thrilled to have her in our home! She loves to wrestle with her toy Molly the Moose, to play fetch, and to sit on our laps on the couch and sleep for hours at a time. Jody and I are both pretty thrilled that she's going potty outside about 85% of the time, and she's slowly adjusting to sleeping in her crate at night. We will all be rejoicing when we can all go to sleep happily and quietly.... but in the meantime, Jody and I are thrilled by how quickly she's learning!

So you're probably thinking.... 'What are Jody and Ruth thinking - getting a puppy!?' Well, let me tell you....

About three weeks ago Jody and I began spending more time with some friends we met through Denver Seminary... Sam and Britton, who also moved here for Sam to start working on his MDiv. One evening we went over to their apartment and met their beautiful and hilarious young dog, Rustie, who is a mini dachshund. As we played with her that night, I noticed that she didn't bark, smell badly, shed, or act needy and whiny. And she wasn't big enough to be much of a bother! For the first time in a long time I thought that just maybe I could put up with such a breed.


So Jody and I began to talk and pray about getting a puppy. The more we thought and prayed about it, did our research on breeds and prices, and just asked Sam and Britton for advice, we decided we could do it. For the first time, we feel more settled in life. We don't plan on moving for a couple of years, so we finally feel like we can offer a good home to a pet. Also, Jody is and will continue to be very busy with school, and as a result I have a good deal of free time by myself. And while I am job-searching, my schedule is flexible, so I can easily devote the time needed to train her. In short, we felt peaceful and excited about it!

This past Saturday (yes, Valentine's Day, haha) Jody and I invited Sam and Britton along to check out the litter of puppies and to see if there was one we could bring home. In the end, we found this little one, and we're loving the time with her.

Come visit! She's so much fun to play with!

Week #2

Jody survived his first week of classes, and I am really impressed at how well he has responded to the workload. He's taking 14 hours, which I think will keep him busy, and he comes home full of exciting new tidbits of knowledge all the time now. It makes life fun and interesting!

Though the weather is cold, he has started riding his bike to the campus. I think it will wake him up for the 8 o'clock classes he's taking...

I continue to job hunt. It is a slow and painful process, but I'm holding fast to the promise that the Lord will provide all our needs. Please pray for an open door!

Welcome to Our Home!

In the three weeks since Jody and I moved to Colorado, we have attempted to settle and accomplish as much as we could before Jody began classes at Denver Seminary. And here we are, three weeks later, with the first day of classes looming before us tomorrow. The time has flown! I confess I am exhausted and yet rejuvenated, weary of all the unknowns we have had to live with the past five months and yet thrilled that we are entering a season of new everything! It is fitting, at this point, that I acknowledge that apart from the grace and mercy of God, we would not be where we are. I am so thankful He has taken care of us, and I am disciplining myself to remember that He will continue to be faithful, even though I don't know yet where I'll be working or how our daily lives will look once this semester gets going.

I am thrilled about one thing - our home is mostly in order! The most pressing walls in the basement have been painted (the living room / hall and the master bedroom), the boxes and trash have been removed, our items have found their homes and I have been able to catch up on laundry, cleaning and pantry-filling. We have been able to live and move from day to day with enough rest to keep going. God has indeed been faithful.

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us, called us and encouraged us. Please don't stop! We rely on those prayers and words of encouragement.

These are just a few pictures of our new place, but if you want to see more, please click on this link - it will take you to my (Ruth's) facebook account, which has an album with more pictures.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=216068&l=54bca&id=853925610

Our First Meal in our new home!

Jody and I are loving our kitchen! We don't have an official table, but this little breakfast cart is serving us very well. We love making new foods, too!

Our new favorite brunch dish! We love it!

Update #1

Jody's wisdom teeth surgery went really well. There was the possibility of touching a nerve in the bone on the bottom as well as going through a hole in his sinus on the top, but neither happened, praise God! He was extremely loopy afterwards, and he had me as well as the medical staff giggling to no end with his talk. But with a SONIC milkshake and The Dark Knight to keep him happy, he settled into the Beens' recliner and rested for the next several days. A subsequent visit to the doctor assured Jody that he was doing well and had avoided the dreadful dry sockets.

Update #2

We have successfully moved! On Sunday Jody and I rented a U-Haul in Pampa, and we packed up all our stuff and said our goodbyes. Early Monday morning we made the drive to Littleton, Colorado with no problems. Praise God! We have been here almost a week now and are getting settled in. The basement, where we are living, is fairly old ('60s), so it needs a fair amount of work, but we're excited about making the improvements. We'll start painting in the next few days, which will speed up the process of settling in. :)

• The highlight so far was Melissa (the lady whose basement we're renting) finding a used refrigerator and stove for $95 off of Craig's List. Woohoo! The kind gentleman from whom we rented the U-Haul gave us an extra day and 100 miles for free, and we needed both so we could go and pick up the appliances at the former owner's home. It is amazing how the Lord worked it all out. I used them yesterday and am thrilled that we have a functioning kitchen. God is good.
  
  

Update #3

I am officially Ruth Clementson Been! We went to the Social Security office and got that taken care of finally.

Update #4

We both have new American cell phone numbers. If you want to reach us, email me at ruth.been@gmail.com and we'll let you know how you can give us a call. We get free minutes after 7pm mountain time and on the weekends, of course. How exciting!

Tomorrow morning Jody is getting his three remaining wisdom teeth removed. I'll let you know later how he's faring.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Merry Christmas!

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Isaiah 9, 6-7

Dear Family and Friends,

I wanted to take a moment to write you all and wish you a Merry Christmas. Yay for yearly updates!!! As I am writing, I am sitting in the home of my in-laws. Today is Christmas Eve, and I am starting to get excited. Gifts are piled under the tree, candles are lit throughout the house, and homes throughout Jody's hometown are decorated in lights to celebrate the holidays. It is wonderful to spend Christmas in America this year!

2008 has been a year of definite growth and change for both Jody and me. We finished our season of teaching in Korea - closing a huge chapter in our lives and saying goodbye to many good friends. Then we had to transition back to life in America. It has been exhausting. We have had to move countries, spend months with in-laws, live frugally, coordinate to compile all our stuff in one place, apply (and get accepted!) to Denver Seminary, and find a place to live once we got there. It has been a huge challenge for us, but God has been faithful through it all!

Perhaps the biggest challenge, however, has been the waiting. We had decided that Jody would pursue seminary back in February, but there were months of waiting in Korea... and months of waiting here in America. It has been a long season of growing and waiting in faith on God's timing, but we are thrilled to almost be there! And even now we see the Lord's guiding hand, leading us step by step.

We plan to move up to Littleton, Colorado early January, and Jody will begin classes on January 26th. We will be living in the basement of a Christian family's home about a mile away from the school, which is close enough for Jody to reach by bike. Yay! (I got a bike, too, which I am tremendously stoked about. Scroll down to see a picture of it.) I will begin looking for a job. I do not know yet what my options are, but I am praying for God to prove Himself faithful once again! We are also thrilled to be moving to Colorado - where I was born, where my parents spent significant time and raised part of our family, where the Denver Broncos are (woohoo!), where Jody and his family often vacationed, and where it is easier to live an outdoorsy, athletic lifestyle. We could not be more thrilled. :)

I would be remiss if I did not at least mention another great part of 2008: our first full year of marriage! This past August Jody and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary- woohoo! We are so thankful for the time we had in Korea to start learning how to be a team. In another culture it often feels as though it is 'you vs. everybody else', even if it is not the case, so we learned to work together. Now we are learning new lessons as we face the challenges of life in Amerca. It is humbling and challenging, but we are determined to grow. And the Lord is faithful to multiply love and grace between us as we work through all the logistics of life. We love each other more than ever!

As we start a new phase in our lives, we wanted to let you know how dearly we love and miss each and every one of you. We hope and pray that Jesus, the One called Immanuel, God With Us, will be with you this holiday season and into 2009. May He be the Lord of your heart and the One who directs your steps. God bless you and Merry Christmas!

Please keep in touch!

the beens

jody.been@gmail.com

ruth.been@gmail.com

Bless the LORD, O my soul,

And all that is within me, bless His holy name.

Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits;

Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases;

Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;

Who satisfies your years with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

Psalm 103, 1-5

The past week was a full one for Jody and me, and we are overwhelmed with praise at God's goodness to us. Last week was full of Thanksgiving festivities. We celebrated with both sides of Jody's family. Pictures are soon to be posted on Facebook, at least of one side of the family!

Then, Monday morning Jody and I left early for Colorado. It was roughly 450 miles from Pampa to Littleton, going through the Panhandle, northwest through New Mexico and then straight up I-25 to Denver. We arrived at Denver Seminary in good time and were ushered to their guest apartment, where we stayed for two nights. On Tuesday we took the campus tour, visited two classes, the chapel, and had lunch with Jody's academic advisor. We even found out that the owners of the school's cafe are Koreans and we are sure to have Korean food for lunch should we want it! YAY!

After a busy day at the school, Jody and I went and visited a basement that was on Craig's list for rent. After viewing it, talking with the family that lives there, and praying a LOT, we decided to go for it. The basement has its' own separate entry, two bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen (that yet needs appliances), free Wi-fi, washer/dryer, all for $500! We are so thrilled by God's provision. The family sounds really great and are strong Christians. Truly, for the Littleton/Denver area, I do not think we could find a better situation for where we are and what we're trying to do - get Jody through seminary without going into debt.

Now we are back in Texas, catching up on rest from that busy visit, and praying for a job to open up for me once we move and settle in Littleton. Overall, we are greatly encouraged in our faith and are anticipating what God will do in the future.

The Clementson Girls

Fall 2008

MY NEW BIKE!