My name is Ben Chilcote. I’m not sure what you would consider the most important thing for me to mention first, so let’s start with the basics. I reside in Ohio, have a wife of 20+ years, and 4 kids, most of who still live at home. Vocationally, I have been a Singer, Worship Pastor, and most recently, a Happiness Engineer (aka, software support). All the while, I’ve been an explorer and entrepreneur, often wrestling with discontent and in pursuit of a meaningful life.
This website was started more than a decade ago while I was working in full-time Christian ministry. I consider myself an artist and a musician and have many other varied and perhaps unusual interests.
I believe that Jesus is real and really came to Earth to restore all things and to show us how to be truly be human in a life of love and community. I’m not altogether certain about how that is all supposed to work, but love seeking out the truth and thinking about.. how to think about all these things.
Through my creative projects and blog posts on this website, I hope to share the things that God is teaching and showing me and my family. I trust they will open up opportunities for meaningful connections, fruitful dialogue, and mutual edification.
Family
I’ve been married to Nicole since 2001 and God has given us 4 children, each with their own unique story. After doctors told us our chances of natural conceptions were “nil”, we pursued adoption. We adopted our oldest girl in 2004 and our oldest boy in 2006 through private adoption agencies – both children joining our family at birth. In 2009 we had a little boy who was an unexpected biological miracle. And in 2013, we finalized an adoption of our daughter after a year and a half as her foster parents. We homeschool 3 out of the 4 and enjoy a mostly chaotic and happy life together 🙂
Creative Life
Ever since I can remember I have been pursuing creative expressions through any media I could get my hands on. In my early years, I was very interested in how things were created and often experimented with my creative ideas. Making multi-track recordings with two boom boxes, making my own pop-up books, 3-d anaglyph marker drawings, composing songs on the piano, crafting things with wood, cardboard, junk, and other things. Through my early teen and high school years I took many music and art classes and finally entered college to study film production (the perfect conglomeration of my multimedia interests). Academically, that didn’t pan out but I did get the opportunity to sing professionally for a few years with a Vocal Band before entering into full-time ministry. Whether it’s sound, light, paint, words or ideas you can’t see – I love to create.
Entrepreneurship
Somewhere around 2009, I discovered the entrepreneur in myself. After trying to resist a number of times, I have given in to pursuing online business, internet marketing, digital publishing, and other cool web stuff. Having consumed hundreds of hours of podcasts and trying my hand at dozens of internet business ideas, some of which are still going. This pursuit lead me to WordPress and ultimately, my 7 1/2 year career as a Happiness Engineer.
My life-long goal is to run my own location-independent online business and have the flexibility and availability to travel with my family and be available to support and serve those around me.
I have 100 ideas and time to pursue 1 or 2 of them. Many of my websites have come and gone, but benchilcote.com has persisted through the years, however inconsistent the updates have been.
Have an idea for an adventure or want to connect? Contact me at ben@benchilcote.com