Hi everyone! Welcome to JillianBenfield.com, formerly known as News Anchor to Homemaker. If you’ve been around for a while, I’m sure you’re wondering—why the change? To put it simply—the name wasn’t me anymore. Let me give you a bit of background.

I started this blog back in 2014. I worked with a designer and the name, the graphic fit perfectly for what I wanted this blog to be, a food blog. The site launched and then days later we got our son’s Down syndrome diagnosis. Since then, that cute name, that adorable family graphic, just didn’t fit. I’ve taken my readers down the many roads of grief, reflection and enlightenment as life has thrown us many unexpected hardships and subsequent lessons over the years.

Not to mention, this year makes five years since I’ve been a news anchor!

I did some soul searching this summer while I was 9 months pregnant and living at a Ronald McDonald House (a place where contemplating your life just comes with the territory) and I realized changes were in order. Not just the name, not just the design, but also the content.

I had put myself in a box—special needs parent and Christian writer. I rarely opened the flaps to go outside those limits I set for myself. I thought it was my “brand”, but you know what? My life, my experiences, my thoughts go beyond those two titles. 

So, what can you expect? My greatest hope is that you will feel both connected and inspired here. You will get what you’ve come to know from my words—real life, raw honesty, all with a heaping dose of encouragement and hope. You will also get more topics—parenting (both special needs and the regular kind), marriage, Down syndrome and advocacy, many spiritual reflections and also more fun—more recipes, more parties, more tips of things I’ve learned along the way.

I also want this space to be more about you. How can you be apart of it? Join my new Facebook group—Real Life, Roaring Hope. This is a community where we will listen to each other and lift one another up. 

So, grab a cup of coffee/tea, glass of wine or bowl of popcorn and explore my new virtual home. Read my mission for this site, dive into my story, get to know the family and make sure you also follow along on Facebook and Instagram so we can laugh together in the midst of our sometimes-serious reflections.

I’m so thankful for my readers, I hope you all come to love this new space.