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You are here: Home / Archives for Five Minute Friday

Five Minute Friday

Five Minute Friday: Fly

November 22, 2013 by Amy 4 Comments

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I pulled in the driveway this morning from taking the girls to school. I spotted a bird at the tip-top of the neighbor’s oak, perched and ready to fly away.  I couldn’t move to go inside and yet didn’t have a reason to stay either.  I waited until he swooped into our yard, his movement sparking my own.

As I sat, I thought of the week, ready to call it a terrible one, and yet couldn’t.  It’s been a week of highs—friends visiting from out of town last-minute, sharing a table of new recipes and family gathering around to celebrate births.  But it’s been a hard one too—unexpected ER visits, stomach viruses, tears of fear and longing for friends.  It hasn’t been terrible, but it has been terribly high and low—a week of through sickness and health, till death do us part and stripes of motherhood sewn on.

I sit at the top like the neighbor’s bird–waiting, perched and ready to fly.

 

Filed Under: Five Minute Friday

Five Minute Friday: Ordinary

October 11, 2013 by Amy 10 Comments

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I zipped my jacket over my sleeveless, fluttering top and headed down the stairs to the swings.  “Come swing me, come swing me,” they said. It’s work but it’s work that has an end date and I want to soak it all in and do it well until then.

The little one barks as Scott emerges from the screen door with a bag of seed in his hands.  “It’s just Daddy, Bella,” I say.  The girls are loading their legs on top of one another across the swings and they tell me it’s called banana and I should push them like that so I do.  I watch as Scott fills the bird feeders he’s hung from the swing set.  The birds will empty them in a few days and we have no reason to feed them except it brings us joy to see them.

Lexi hops off her swing and runs to Bella, leaning down to talk to her like a  baby, “You’re so cute, yes you are, Bella,” she says as she ruffles her behind the ears.

I hear Emma starting to complain because no one is paying attention to her.  “Mommy, Daddy, let me swing you guys!”  I think of the squeezing plastic against my hips and insist that I don’t want pushed.

Scott and I sit in the glider around the fire pit where he’s just started the flames and we tell her to push us here.  She doesn’t think it’s a great idea so the girls climb in the trampoline and jump and jump and yell, “Daddy, look! Daddy, look!”

I watch Tucker follow Scott like a shadow across the lawn and see my ordinary evening.  Against the tide of the world’s cries, I long for the ordinary.  What did you do this evening, they’ll ask, and I’ll say nothing, but really mean everything.

 

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Five Minute Friday: Broken

July 26, 2013 by Amy 9 Comments

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Work is just that–work–and it’s to be expected.  But this week, the whole summer even, has provided one of the most challenging of my career.  Between a high visibility, high pressure project and managing an intern–or any person–for the first time, my brain has been in overdrive leaving little for any creative, thoughtful adventures.

The girls’ sitter is on vacation and instead of finding backup, I decided to have them home with me while Scott worked. Cue the boredom and consequential fighting.

And how about we had Emma’s new expander mid-week which is causing more difficulty in eating and just being.  Yes, a child in pain is just what this week needed.

Finishing projects from the water leak remodels have been all but stopped but hang heavy on my to-do list.

And how about we throw in some sleepless nights with a few night terrors from a child and all night play sessions by a certain puppy.

I don’t mean to complain.  It’s all just life and all blessings but I do feel a bit broken this week.  I know enough to know I’m not alone.  This summer has thrown many of us curve balls and tight schedules, leaving us all a bit broken inside.

This too shall pass, I remind myself.

There’s nothing to be done but leaving the to-do lists and taking extra naps and giving extra hugs and letting in help.  Broken, yes, but left stronger.

 

Filed Under: Five Minute Friday

Five Minute Friday: Beautiful

July 5, 2013 by Amy 12 Comments

We had no solid plans for July 4th yesterday.  Scott disappeared for a few hours in the morning for a bike ride and he was off to work that evening.  I just couldn’t get it together enough to organize a cookout for lunch.

I drove to Starbucks for breakfast and saw a local parade getting ready to take off. When I got home, no one wanted to go.

No one wanted to go for fireworks that night.  I couldn’t even garner interest in riding to go sparklers.

Mid-morning I read about the canon firing downtown.  I asked if the girls wanted to go. Lexi said no and Emma asked me if I wanted to go.  I said I’m fine either way. 

But do you want to go? 

I don’t care, I said, I’ll go if you want to go. 

But do you WANT to go?

If you guys weren’t here, no, I probably wouldn’t go. 

So you wouldn’t be disappointed if we didn’t go?  she asked.

No, I won’t be disappointed. 

Then I don’t want to go.

A beautiful little heart is growing in that one. 

Way more beautiful than any firework we might have missed.

 

Linked to Five Minute Friday

Filed Under: Five Minute Friday

(in)RL Conference and Five Minute Friday: Friend

April 26, 2013 by Amy 1 Comment

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GO

My intent with today’s space here was to tell you about the free (in)RL conference this weekend.  It’s free and you can stay right at home and watch.  Or, there are meetups going on all around the world where you can meet new friends and watch the webcasts together.

I was honored to film a tiny little segment while I was at Allume last year.  I talk about how intentional I’ve gotten with my real life friends since the (in)RL conference the prior year.

Before (in)RL 2012, I knew that meeting with my friends was fun and I’d always walked away happy but it wasn’t until that conference that I understood it was my lifeline.

I needed community.

I don’t know about you but life builds up inside.  One child is dealing with sickness and the other friendships and then your grandmother gets sick and then your husband’s and then work is pressuring you with goals and you’re trying to write blog posts until 1am and keep up with laundry and make healthy meals every night and keep up with teacher appreciation gifts and on and on and there just comes a point where you’re full and overwhelmed and you just need a friend to unload on. 

And it’s not to dump on them so you feel a lot better.  Because the thing is, your friend has a different list that’s just as long and you dump it all between you and then lift it up to the Father and say take this.  We can’t do it on our own.  We need each other and we need you.

And this week, I found out one of my lifelines is moving away.  And I won’t pretend there haven’t been tears.  I know she’ll read these words and I know she’ll understand.  Because we’re friends and that’s what we do.  We cry when things are hard and lean on each other and the Father together.

I hope you tune in to (in)RL this weekend because I believe in the power of community and friendships.  It will encourage you and remind you—friends help build your soul, keep you sane and sometimes give you a great reason to have a cup of coffee.

STOP

 

I didn’t register last year until 20 minutes into the first session.  The last opening session doesn’t air today until 9pm EST.  Do it, it’s worth it!

 

Also, I hope you realize all of YOU are my lifelines too.  I share my life and you say “me too” and it helps to keep marching on.  Thank you for staying with me.

 

This post is linked with Five Minute Friday.

Filed Under: Five Minute Friday, friends and/or family

Five Minute Friday: After

April 5, 2013 by Amy 4 Comments

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Eleven years and it’s time to say goodbye. We’re on the cusp of before and after of my blogging life. “Before when I was Permission to Peruse,” I’ll say.

I’ll have fond memories. I remember still being on sabennett.com/wp and writing my first post about hating ice in my cup (which I still do hate). I remember clearly brainstorming names, thinking about how it was my journal but I was letting people in. Permission to…to what, I asked myself. Permission to Read My Journal didn’t really resonate.

I’m an alliteration lover so I looked for something that started with P. I settled with “peruse” because I was–giving people permission to peruse my words, my journal, my life. And for eleven years, I extended that permission, choosing to share my words publicly.

And then something happened in this last year.

I’ll be forever grateful for Permission to Peruse because I’ve realized I wasn’t just giving you permission to peruse but also me. Writing here has helped me grow and change and find myself in a lot of ways. It’s time to be that me that I found–to live in the after as Amy J. Bennett.. Thank you for being the biggest part of that. I’ll be forever grateful.

Linking up with Five Minute Friday

Filed Under: blog stuff, Five Minute Friday

Five Minute Friday: Broken

March 29, 2013 by Amy 9 Comments

Writing on “broken” for five minutes without editing with Lisa-Jo.

 

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I watched the group of girls to my left, all crowded around the two tables.  A few of them eating and laughing and talking.  But one of them with the wiry strawberry blond hair pulled back looked away from the group.  I imagined her thinking she just wanted to go home.  She didn’t look mad, maybe just sad and a little broken.   I wanted to hug her and tell her she should laugh.  She should laugh and she should cry and she should enjoy those girls she was with.

I can’t help but think there was an enemy whispering lies to her.  Telling her they didn’t like her and they must be talking about her and maybe telling her that her parents hated her and that bad grade she got this week must mean she’s stupid and she’d never amount to anything.  I think the enemy is doing that a lot with these teenagers these days.  I’ve listened and watched to the stories just this week and know its true.  He tries to tell them their broken and to give up.

I pray they get it, really get it that maybe they are a little broken but there is hope.  There is One that was broken for them and in all their mess they are valuable and loved.  He has plans for them and those friends are gifts.  He wants them to hear those lies and then remind the enemy of truth.

He delights in me.

He has plans for me.

No weapon formed against me shall prosper.

He wants joy for me.

Remind the enemy of that day he thought Jesus was defeated and then remind him of 3 days later when the gates of hell were busted open and he learned who really was broken and defeated.

I walked away from the strawberry blond and didn’t tell her, didn’t hug her.  Didn’t even try to catch her eyes to smile at her.  Maybe next time I will.  And in the meantime, I’ll remind the enemy just who is broken and where he can go.

End

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Filed Under: Five Minute Friday

What Mama Did

February 22, 2013 by Amy 7 Comments

Five Minute Friday is changing it up a bit this week.  We’re to write on “What Mama Did” for five minutes.  No editing or backtracking.

 

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I ate lunch with Lexi yesterday and we sat with one of the little boys and his mom.  The two littles started talking about the other kids in her class that were sitting back at the main table.  I’m embarrassed to say not all of it was positive.  Lexi wasn’t trying to be mean but kids call it as they see it.  Lexi calls me out all the time.  Why are you mad at me?  It kills me when she says that.  I stopped her yesterday at lunch.  Quit talking about your friends.  If you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all. Lexi, naive, said I like to gossip.  I wanted to hide under the table.  I urged her to just quit.  She did and started talking about something else.  Probably her peanut butter and jelly sandwich she was picking apart. 

When she got home last night, I told her I wanted to talk to her about what happened at lunch.  Gossip isn’t nice and talking behind peoples’ backs will land you with exactly zero friends.  The Bible warns against and it’s really just not nice.  She assured me she wasn’t trying to be mean, she just liked talking about her friends.  She’s just too honest and naive now to know how that will turn out in a few years.  I could tell she got it though and we moved on to talking about the weekend.

I always thought mothering would happen with serious, hour-long conversations, but I’m realizing I get to dispense what little wisdom I have in spurts, like a Pez dispenser and its little candies.  And I’ve realized that’s what my mama did.  Years and years of teaching and guiding, sometimes seconds at a time showing me what wisdom looked like.  She still does it.  Sometimes just a sentence between what we had for dinner and what she found shopping that day.

Motherhood sometimes doesn’t look like I thought it might, but I sure hope it looks a lot like what mama did.

Filed Under: Five Minute Friday, friends and/or family

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Hey! I'm so glad you're here. I'm Amy, working mom of 3 in the Southern suburbs. I love Jesus, my family, books, chocolate and coffee. I write about faith, parenting, adoption, marriage, fashion, and design. Read more here

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