Amy J. Bennett

Extraordinary Faith for Everyday Life

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Archives for November 2010

Eight Eve

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Tomorrow Emma turns 8.  I don’t know what it is about 8 but 8 in my mind is the quintessential little girl age.  All birthdays up until 8 are simply a build-up to 8.  All birthdays after 8 are an upward (downward?) spiral to 13.  Things start changing at 8 I think.  You understand more about the world you’re in.  You start having drama with your friends.  You start paying attention to boys around you.  You learn cursive.  I don’t know, it seems like a big year.

Maybe because that’s the year we moved, I met my best friend Melissa and had my first boyfriend.  For me, it was a big year.  So 8 is just looming.  I really don’t want Emma to turn 8.  This is the part where I want time to slow down.  Actually, just stop.  The past 6 months or so as Emma and Lexi finish out 5 and 7 and make the turn towards 6 and 8 have been fantastic.  I feel like we’ve left behind a lot of the mayhem of toddler and preschool-ville and we’re really settling in.  This year I’ve hit my stride in the home and I know this is normal for a mom with elementary school kids.  It’s the most freeing time of motherhood, if the Internets and books are to be believed.  The next few years after this get yucky and tricky with training bras and boyfriends and “talks” that it’s just making me dig my heels into the ground and try to stop this little girl train we’re on.  Pull the cord.  Punch the brakes.  Sound the alarm.  Make it stop NOW.

I’m celebrating 8 because I’m so proud of her and I love this season she’s in but it’s just I think I remember way too much about 8 and how could I possibly have an 8 year old?  How could Emma be 8?  Wasn’t she just taking her first step in an apartment in Columbia?

Unfortunately there are no brakes and no alarms except the ones in my head.  So I’m just hanging on for dear life and trying to enjoy each day as it comes.  I suppose that’s all any of us can do.

Radical Chapter 9

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This chapter is the practical finish to the book.  So you’ve read all these and ready to be radical?  These are David’s how-to’s called the Radical Experiment.  For one year:

1. Pray for the entire world – I need to get better at this.  I pray throughout the day but I really need to have a dedicated time of prayer and dedicate a portion of it to this.

2. Read through the entire word – I read the Bible in 90 Days nearly 2 years ago and still it is one of my favorite things I’ve ever done.  I want to do this again in the next year.  I think after I’m done judging for the INSPYs in the first of December that I’ll tackle this head-on.

3. Sacrifice your money for a specific purpose – Starting the envelope system was a big part of this one so I feel like we’re off to an excellent start.  I’m still stuck on which specific purpose to go at and so far have been spreading ourselves thin.  Really need to pray with Scott on what this is going to look like.  And I have to be honest, right now, Christmas is our specific purpose and that is certainly the opposite of what he meant.

4. Spend your time in another context – I have some thoughts on this that I’m still working through. I’ve rewritten this point several times and I just don’t feel peaceful about publishing it yet.  Just suffice it to say I’m definitely going to do this in some aspect.

5. Commit your life to multiplying community – Obviously we love our church and I love bringing new people to it.

Before I say what I’m going to say next, I want to say that this book truly did open my eyes to the American Dream mindset.  To really think about the world and not just “my corner” as TD Jakes would say.  I think long and hard before I spend money.  I can rarely buy anything without thinking about how many Africans would have water instead.  I haven’t quit thinking about going overseas in some capacity.  This book IS challenging.

BUT

I have to say when I got to this chapter, I was like, oh, that’s all I need to do?  I mean, after all the dramatics through the book it just seemed so…Sunday School answer.  I don’t mean to demean what he has to say but isn’t this basically saying go to church, pray, read your Bible and give your money and time?  I mean, that doesn’t sound that radical to me.  It sounds like every single Sunday School answer I’ve ever heard the last 30 years of my life. 

HOWEVER

The difference he’s asking us to actually DO IT.

We all (well, all us “churched folk”) have the Sunday School answer but so many of us never follow through. How many of us have actually read the entire Bible?  When’s the last time you went on a missions trip or even the local homeless shelter?  Do you give above your tithes or even your tithe?  Do any of us actually pray every day?  I’m not just asking you, I’m asking me too.  And a lot of the answers aren’t pretty. 

So as I finish out this book, I’m committing to these things.

For reals.

See more over at MarlaTaviano.com

Chore Chart – Again

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Yes, about two years ago we tried out the chore chart.  Lexi was NOT interested in earning stickers and eventually, Emma wasn’t either.  And I got tired of pestering.  But Emma has been begging for me to put one together lately.  Both girls really are understanding money and with their birthdays and Christmas hanging around, they are all about earning some extra money.  I’m interested in them actually earning the money instead of forking over money for a toy out of guilt so I think this is win-win so far.  We started last Thursday and I did a shortened list until Saturday when I paid them.

I don’t know if there’s really a wrong way to do a chore chart.  I’ve seen them done so many different ways with different rules and I’ve just come to the conclusion I just need to do what works for us.  So I put stuff on there they actually wanted to do.  Emma loves getting the mail. Lexi loves to wash the floor.  Emma has been feeding Mattie for months unofficially.  I don’t think this needs to be a form of punishment.  Why not enjoy our work?  So here were the chores for last week:

Lexi (6)

  • Unload dishwasher
  • Clean floors (she takes a wet washcloth and cleans the hardwoods)
  • Make bed
  • Spray house (oust)
  • Put out napkins and drinks for dinner
  • Put clothes in dryer
  • Clean the fridge (we clean out old stuff and wash down the shelves)

Emma (8 this week)

  • Feed Mattie twice a day
  • Get mail
  • Make bed
  • Put out silverware and plates for dinner
  • Clean bathroom counter and mirror
  • Take out trash
  • Vacuum
  • Dust

So yes, I don’t know why but Lexi loves to clean the fridge and Emma loves to take out the trash.  It doesn’t need done every day but I can’t tell you how much I’m loving it!

I didn’t reinvent the wheel and make anything crafty.  We just printed a free chore chart per week from here. I pay .25 per check mark EVERY DAY.   It’s really hard for Lexi to wait a whole week for her payment so when I say come do this, you’ll get another .25 on Saturday, she’s like, I don’t care.  Paying daily seems to make it more rewarding somehow.

And I know if they do every single thing every single day, that’s a lot of money.  But I’m not making them do every single thing and we haven’t had one day where they’ve done everything.  If they want the money, they are welcome to do it.  There are certain things like feeding Mattie or helping at dinner that are not up for grabs but I’m not going to pester about vacuuming every single day.

We are only five days in but so far so good!

Sunday Highlights: FOR Authenticity

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This series is about things Jesus is FOR.  Today’s sermon was that Jesus is FOR authenticity.

Matthew 23

Don’t let hypocrites be your excuse not to experience a relationship with Christ.  You may not like how someone else is acting but doesn’t mean you shouldn’t live an authentic life.

There are indicators that you are hypocritical and care too much about exterior such as what you wear, where you go and who sees you, what you are called (title).

Jesus corrected religious more than he corrected the sinful.  The condemned are already condemned but redeemed should act like it.

There are consequences to our hypocrisy:

v. 13 – We keep people out of heaven.  Your faith is not real and not showing others how to have real faith.

v. 15 – You reproduce who you are not what you know

v.16-22 – If you say you’re going to do it, do it.  No need to make promises and not keep them. 

Work on the internal reality not the external show.

If you change your heart, your actions will follow.  When we live out our faith, we open up the gates of Heaven and show people who God is.

Full podcast is available here.

In the Giving

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Christmas music played in the next room.  I bent to pick up another bag. This one had baby socks.  I carried them past the radio now playing one of the Beach Boys’ Christmas albums.  I plopped the bag of socks into one of many cardboard boxes lined with the other baby items.  Back in the other room I bent to grab the next thing to distribute.  Maybe some shoes or a toy.  A man appeared in the sunlight of the propped open door.  I was the closest to him so I stopped midway to my target and met him halfway into the room instead.  He thrust a white box at me.  “It’s a full Wii set.  The remotes, a guitar, the drums, everything.”  I gave a Wow big enough to appreciate his grand gesture.  And grand it was.   It was a sacrifice no doubt, but one he seemed happy to take.  He turned to get the rest of the promised items and I spun to thrust the box in another volunteer’s face.  “I FULL Wii set.”  The whites of her eyes registered the same surprise and glee.  The man left along with many thanks.  I picked up where I had left, finding a Thomas Kinkade puzzle.  Off to the puzzle cardboard box I went.  I bent, shuffling the overflowing box around so this one would fit.  The small particles of cardboard from the boxes of puzzles began to fill the air but the dust wasn’t to blame for the tears in my eyes.  It was the deep soul-satisfying feeling that in our giving of prized possessions and borrowed time, a child would know that he was loved.  And that not only he would be pleased, but He would be pleased.

Acts 4:32-34 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them.

Heart Desires

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When did they…

 

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…become them…

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I almost don’t recognize them.  And I don’t mean the missing bad perm and braces.  That couple is a happy couple in their 30’s with 2 kids, a dog and a picket fence.  And most days I feel a lot more like that 15 year old a lot less like that 32 year old.

But somehow that’s us and every single dream that 15 year old had 17 years ago got wrapped up in a few pictures yesterday.

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73985_528926475796_85501346_31168459_737718_nI’m so blessed.

 

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Operation Christmas Child

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The girls and I had a really good time doing the Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes this year.  If you’re not familiar with the shoeboxes, basically you pick an age group, pack a shoe box with age-appropriate toys and necessities and then they are shipped out to kids of that age group that will not get a Christmas otherwise.  I’ve done it before but for whatever reason took a few years off.  I’m so sorry I did because the girls and I had a great time packing them.  We watched several of the videos together and I think they really GOT that this would be their only Christmas present.  Lexi, who LOVES her toys, even dug into her own toy box to donate.

A huge help this year is that my couponing REALLY paid off.  I think we packed each box for about $5 and they were STUFFED.  Here are 10 of the things we packed:

  1. Toothbrush/toothpaste (free thx to couponing)
  2. Gum(free thx to couponing)
  3. Stuffed Animal (free thx to couponing)
  4. Dice and cards
  5. Coloring book/crayon
  6. Chapstick and eye shadow (to play dress-up of course & free thx to couponing)
  7. My Little Pony toys and other plastic figurines that were like new (which the girls donated from their collection)
  8. Flashlight
  9. Pens/Highlighters (free thx to couponing)
  10. Plush purse

As you might can tell, we picked a 5-9 year old girl.  What I love about this year is that they now have a tracking system and you can track which country it goes to.  I’m hoping for Haiti (a new country this year) and Emma thinks it will be Russia.  Our church was not participating this year so to top it off, we donated ours at our local Chick-fil-a and received two free chicken sandwiches! 

The great news is YOU still have about a week to put one together!  Here’s a video on how to pack it and get more information on their site for labels and donation sites near you.

 

This post was submitted on OhAmanda’s Top Ten Tuesday