Amy J. Bennett

Extraordinary Faith for Everyday Life

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Archives for 2010

Won’t You Be My Neighbor

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I post this with caution because I’m going blog about a very serious topic with humor.  Divorce.  I don’t think it’s a funny thing.  I’ve said it before we don’t  use that in our conversations.  But Emma heard about a boy in her class today whose parents live in different houses and the conversation that ensued was, well, funny.

The girls aren’t really around anyone that’s divorced so I guess the concept was a bit foreign.  Emma brought it up at dinner tonight.  So I calmly explained that sometimes Mommy’s and Daddy’s decide not to be married anymore and then live in two different houses and that the kids would probably live with one of them.  Leave it to Lexi…

Lexi (talking brightly as if she had a great idea): Daddy, I would live with you here and Mommy you could live in the house next door and be our neighbor!  I want to live with Daddy because he knows how to build stuff!

Me (feigning hurt-sort of): Lexi, you would pick Daddyy??

Lexi: Yes!

Me: Emma, you would live with Mommy wouldn’t you?

Emma: Yes!  I was just going to say I would pick Mommy.

Well.  At least I know what to expect ahead of time.

American Idol Top 16 – Girls

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Katie – I think Katie took the advice of a younger song but then she “elevator-ed” it.  Meaning, she toned it down so much that it sounded like elevator music.  That song is supposed have spunk and she had none of that.  Plus, she just didn’t hit the notes right.  I’m not too disappointed because she hasn’t been in my Top Pick list.

Siobhan – Wow.  That was just awesome. Classy.  Current.  Powerful.

Lacey – I felt like that was an improvement on last week for sure.  But with a sleepy song like that, she’s going to have a hard time being memorable.  I really think Lacey will be amazing recorded with a good producer.

Katelyn – Three words into her song and I want it off.  Darn. And she did so well last week.

Didi – Wow, a TON better than last week but that wasn’t great for me.  What did the judges hear that I didn’t??  I mean, I like the girl.  I WANT her to do well.  But it just didn’t do it for me.

Paige – Wow, something did not go right tonight.  She was either super nervous or super emotional tonight.  Seems like she was really holding back.  Bless her heart.

Crystal – The beginning was really, really weak.  I didn’t like the different arrangement.  She seemed to save it though.

Lilly – Not my very favorite performance of hers but I still liked it.  I think she pulled it off.

Favorites: Siobhan and Crystal

Not making the Top 12: Katelyn and either Paige or Didi.  Paige may make it through if people split their vote between Didi and Lacey.

Check out Boomama for more!

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Trade in Your Books with Amazon.com

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By accident I found out that you could trade your used books into Amazon.com for gift cards!   Sweet!  So here’s the deets:

You can find it on the right sidebar when you’re viewing the book you want to trade in.

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It will tell you right away how much you’ll get for the book.

Here’s how it works:

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You select the book you want to trade-in, you then get a shipping label and packing slip you print at home.  You then ship them for FREE.  Once received, you get your gift card in your account.

Easy-peasy!

Same Kind of Different As Me: A Review (of sorts) + Giveaway

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image In the past three days, I finished “Same Kind of Different As Me”.  In fact, I woke up and stayed up early this morning to finish the last few pages my eyes couldn’t handle past midnight last night.  The book was slated for Bloom’s book club in January/February but you saw what kind of stack I had to get through. I finished The Life You Always Wanted by John Ortberg and started this one Saturday.

This is not a book you can just read and discard to the read pile.  No, this one gets to your core and doesn’t let go.  I actually made a list of what this book covers and it’s no less than 10 huge issues:

  1. Homelessness
  2. Slavery
  3. Racism
  4. Sacrifice
  5. Movement of the Holy Spirit
  6. Voo Doo
  7. Angels
  8. Prayer
  9. Death
  10. Grief

For those that haven’t read it, I don’t want to spoil the story, because there is a story there.  There are lots of stories there.  But basically it’s about a homeless man and rich man and the woman that brought them together.  And how all 3 of them made a change for their city.

Like many that have read it, I’ve come away with wanting to do something.  You don’t want to turn a blind eye anymore.  You don’t want to fall into the bystander affect.  You don’t want to miss being a Miss Debbie.  And you certainly don’t want to miss meeting a Denver.

If you don’t want to read or don’t like to read, watch their story that is posted below.

But the bottom line is this.  I will be doing something about it.  I am going to make a difference.

We don’t have a huge homeless problem in our area.  We have them, but it’s not like what I’ve heard about in Dallas or Nashville.  But Scott and I had talked just recently about creating book-bags full of necessities to hand out to those we do see around town.  With all the free stuff I get at CVS, it would be a shame not to share it.  I have in fact shared it before.  There is a women’s shelter in the next town that I would hand off bag fulls to.  But I don’t know, there’s something about handing it to them directly.  Getting a chance to ask their names.  Their needs.  Their stories.  I’ll admit it scares me.  But the really cool thing is Debbie had Ron and I have Scott.  I don’t have to do this thing alone.  In fact, I have an awesome church that is full of people wanting to help.

I encourage you to read over at Bloom. They have some stories up and links to stories of people trying to make a difference.

I’ll close with my favorite quote from Denver

“You never know whose eyes God is watching you through.”

and Ron

“One person can make a difference.”

And finally one of my favorite quotes

I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do. Helen Keller

The first difference I’m going to make is inspire OTHERS to make a difference.  I’m not being asked to or given these books.  I’m just so convinced people should read this that I’d love to make it possible.  Please email me at amyjbennett AT gmail DOT com requesting a book and I’ll send one to the first 5 people.

All 5 were spoken for.  LOVE IT.  Thanks!!

Cooking with The Pioneer Woman: Weekly Update

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Maybe this should be a bi-weekly update now?  The last two weeks have been slow.  I’ve been recycling a lot of recipes and scraping by on other things we already had.  Chicken pot pie and tomato soup have become weekly favorites.  A few new recipes of note I did try were:

Angel Sugar Cookies

I’m a chocolate chip cookie fan.  Usually sugar cookies are kind of dry, tasteless a nd just, blah.  The sugar cookies were one of the last desserts I picked to make out of the cookbook.  But man, I’m sorry I made the wait.  These were yummy!  The cookies had a nice kind of after-taste, almost lemon-y.  I’m supposing it’s the cream of tartar.  While the cookies were crumby they weren’t dry.  The only suggestion I would say is don’t skip on the refrigerating the dough.  It helps it set up and makes them nice and thick and helps hold their shape.

Tomato Basil Pizza

I’d made her pizza crust no less than 5 times but for the first time this week, I made the tomato basil variation (we added red onions too).  It was yummy, yummy, yummy.  Scott said it was the best pizza he ever ate…even better than Mellow Mushroom.  We ended up making it again two days later.  The biggest difference I think is we use the expensive mozzarella..the kind in the fancy cheese section.  I really can’t stress enough what a difference it makes.  The pizza is going to end up costing you as much as a Pizza Hut pizza but let me tell you, WAY WORTH IT. 

Twice Baked Potatoes

Have to be honest on this one…the only thing I did was put the potatoes in the oven.  We made these when Kaitlin was visiting and she and Scott whipped them up while I made Ranch Chicken.  I DID eat them though and they were fantastic.  PW also mentions they were freezer-friendly so when we had a good 8-10 left, I was happy to individually wrap them and freeze them.  I pulled them out when I made fish the other night.  Perfect side with almost no work!

All of these are on my make-again list!  Go  buy her cookbook!

My Oscars Best-and-Not-So-Best-Dressed List

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These first 5 are stunning, stunning dresses.

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All the pretty jewels!  She’s stunning in gold!

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The criss-cross and all the ruffles.  It’s all balanced and beautiful with a wonderful color.  Peachy cream goodness!

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Kristen is stunning in navy.  Not many can pull it off and not look like a bad couch from the 90s but I think it’s gorgeous.

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I’m usually not a fan of print on the red carpet but I think she fits the dress so perfectly it can’t be ignored.

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I’m a sucker for lace.  The top of this dress makes it for me!

These next 4 aren’t necessarily worst dressed.  But I highly disagreed with some of People’s best-dressed picks.  So these I guess are not-so-best-dressed:

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Sarah Jessica Parker is gorgeous and it didn’t accentuate her figure at all.  The strap and back were pretty genius but it does about as much as a sack of taters would do.

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I think she’s way too short for this dress.  The clunky shoes don’t help.  And she’s such a cute girl too!

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This looks like a cheap dress from the 80s.  Or something.  Just does not come off as beautiful on camera.  I’m hoping it’s more beautiful in person.

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Do I need to comment except to ask WHY People put this in their best-dressed list?

Ok, this next one wasn’t in the list but I’m going to have to name this most-awkwardly-dressed.  Also, when you finally take your eyes off her boobs and see her face, the red lipstick with the purple dress is throwing me off too.

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Who were your favorites?

Sunday Highlights: Sex and Conflict

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No, not together!  Although the first does tend to follow the resolution of the second.  I realized I completely forgot to blog last week’s Sunday Highlights about sex.  This week was about conflict.  So here we go!

Week 3 – Sex

Last week Chris went verse by verse through Chapter 3, 4 and 5.  I highly recommend you listen to the podcast.  I’ve read Song of Solomon so many times and never really understood what was actually happening, what was metaphors, etc.  It finally is making sense!

The one thing from last week is “Marriage and sex are to be celebrated.”

A few talking points other than explaining the verses:

  • Men use romance to get sex.  Women use sex to get romance.
  • She looks perfect to him.  If you (talking to men) are having a hard time with this, starve your mind.  Quit looking at women, pornography, catalogs, etc so you can quit the comparison game.
  • Through their courtship, she said over and over don’t awaken love until the appropriate time. v16 she finally says awaken love.
  • Men love a responsive wife, both audible and visual (AWKWARD moment)
  • “Drink, be intoxicated with love.” God has ordained this.  It should be celebrated.
  • Marriage is important to kids, family, neighbors.  The church is at stake.  We create the standard.
  1. Confess your sins. He will take your mess and use it for His glory.  Be responsible for you.  Help put your spouse in the best position to succeed.
  2. Have next steps
  3. Communicate

If you are single acting married, break up or start the relationship over.  Create boundaries.  Sacrifice today for a greater blessing tomorrow.

Week 4 – Conflict

Before marriage we have a heightened sensitivity to our own faults and lowered sensitivity to our partner’s.  After marriage, you have a heightened sensitivity to your spouse’s faults and a lowered sensitivity to your own.

One thing – “If you want to live happily ever after, you will have to work for it.”

Fighting exposes your character.  Healthy couples fight clean.  The hammers – “I hate you” “I wish I never married you” are damaging and speaks to your own issues.

The biggest problem in conflict is the person wants to win the fight.  The question you should ask yourself is do you want to win or are you more interested in reconciling?  Even if you fight until you win, everyone loses.  Your goal should be to reconcile the relationship.  The goal is to live happily ever after but it takes work and sacrifice.

Negativity breeds negativity.  Don’t go to people with issues to help fix your problems.

In chapter 6, we find out Solomon has 140 other women.  The Shulammite woman is jealous because his attention has been diverted.  The relationship is crowded.  Needs can not be met in a crowded relationship.  You may not be married to 140 women, but what else are you married to?  Work? Hobby? Pornography? Children?

Return to where we were at the beginning.  Look at our issues and resolve them.  Have a heightened sensitivity to our own issues.  Have a healthy self-knowledge and then do something about it.  Jesus is the Healer.  He can change you.  Let Him execute justice. Even if your spouse does not deserve your grace, you extend it and let Him execute justice.  Your responsibility is to show your spouse Jesus.

Check out both podcasts here.  If you’re in the area, we’d love to have you as our guest!  Next week’s sermon is on “True Love”.  Can’t wait!