OK, I’m getting bored of hearing my stats every day too. So I think this will be last until goal unless something report-worthy happens. This morning I was up 1/2 lb, now putting me 1 lb away from goal. Why this pound is so hard and why it even matters, I don’t know. But I until I see that exact number on the scale, I’m not stopping this thing.
Archives for August 2007
Look what they can do!
Look! They’re swimming underwater!! After this picture, they took their suits off and were swimming with NO floatation device at all. Under water. By themselves. I was so proud! What happened was D brought her 3 girls over to swim yesterday at lunch and her two older twins can swim. Like, really swim. So of course Lexi the copycat started putting her face under water. Last night when we got in, Emma was trying to do the same. Emma kept asking how you swim with your head under water. So I said, you start swimming (which of course I was showing them what to do) and then you hold your breath and put her head under water and you keep swimming. So lo and behold, they did it! Emma can also jump off the side of the pool and swim her way up without any floatation device either. But um, yeah, Lexi was like a rock. I had to pull her off the bottom of the pool right after she jumped. She wasn’t coming back up on her own. She was completely fine, no coughing or anything but she still needs some sort of floatie when she jumps. And I don’t know if you can see it in the picture, but Lexi opens her eyes underwater and looks to see if she can find the steps. When she first started swimming, I said do you open your eyes? She didn’t say anything, but immediately went out a few feet from the steps, swam back with her little eyes open, comes up and says “I did it!”
Feminist?
You Are 68% Feminist |
 You are certainly a feminist – whether you know it or not. You believe in gender equality, at least most of the time. You also believe there are a few exceptions. |
Peacekeepers, Peacemakers and Lovers of Contention
We are going through Beth Moore’s Living Beyond Yourself study during bible study this time around. And I get so much out of the videos. The ones the past few weeks seem to have been perfect timing. This week was about peace and an opponent of that being discord. The bible says blessed are the peacemakers.
Blessed are the peacemakers. Matthew 5:9
Peacekeepers and lovers of contention are both opposite than those.
Peacekeepers try to keep a false peace. They are the ones that hate confrontation and will do ANYthing to keep the peace. And specifically when there is a “false peace”, or where there is no peace to begin with. Imagine an abusive father and a protective mother and a wild child. The wild child does something insanely stupid and instead of confronting it as a family, the mother hides it from the father so Dad won’t get mad. She is using deceit to keep a peace that is not even there. Her motivation for “keeping the peace” is based out of fear. And yet, this attempt not only is keeping a false peace, it breeds even more of a lack of peace.
They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
“Peace, peace,” they say,
when there is no peace. Jeremiah 8:11
Lovers of contention love NOT having peace. They wake up wanting to pick a fight with someone. They soak in tension and thrive when people are bickering. Ever met someone like that? Yeah, I know someone like that and it’s not. fun. This person’s motivation for acting this way can be several reasons. First, they could just be miserable. They could just be so miserable inside that what’s on the inside comes out and they simply quarrel with anyone and anything that looks their way.
Another motivator is the need for power. Have you ever met a child that has realized the power of being a lover of contention? That child that can misbehave so much that the entire house of adults and children are controlled by whatever that child does? Yeah, I know someone like that too. Everyone’s attitude even is controlled by the child’s attitude. Power is a God-given thing. We are meant to influence those around us. But the less God-centered we are being and the more self-centered we are being determines whether we are negatively or positively affecting our environment.
The final motivator is simply a lack of discipline. All children realize the power mentioned above and use it to an extent. They test the boundaries and see how much power they do have with those around them. And when a child is not disciplined and taught how to behave and use power appropriately, the grow up to be lovers of contention. These people are so draining to be around are they not?
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11
Now peacemakers. They are do-ers. They make peace. They don’t fix people, but they do confront people. The first step is to ask God to not take sides in the situation but to take over. They look to God to build walls where walls need built and take down walls where they need taken. Peace only comes with God’s authority.
I find that I can be quite a peacekeeper at times. I hate confrontation and I’d rather just ignore the situation than deal with it. And when I’m being a peacekeeper, that is when I find I have the biggest lack of peace. It tears me up inside when something is not right between me and another person and yet I still place peacekeeper and try to keep that false peace. I really need to learn to trust God and do things His way instead of trying to handle things on my own.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27
All of that is what Beth taught, not me so I’m just passing info on. I highly suggest signing up for the online study here. It includes all the listening guides, homework, videos and even extra studies.
–And this is not a paid advertisement but a personal recommendation of a bible study.
Random updates
#1 No new theme so far. The only ones I like to date are the ones you have to pay for. Is it really worth $55? No, I didn’t think so. So I’m going to attempt to customize this one a little bit. I really would rather the sidebars to be on either side instead of both right but his theme isn’t set up like that at. all. I looked at the code and it sort of treats it as one big blob instead of two sidebars. I need to change up the font or color of the body of the posts. It’s just too hard to read to me. I want the date to be an image instead of it just writing it out. I think that’s all I can think of for now 🙂
#2 I am on myspace again. Search for Amy Bennett or my myspace address ends with amyjbennett. Can’t think of the URL that goes before that but if you still can’t find me, let me know.
#3 I don’t think I’ve mentioned it, but I’m on facebook as well.
WW Day 15
I already wrote this post once and I think something didn’t save right…anyway…
I lost another pound this morning, making me 1/2 lb away from goal. Yay!
I didn’t think it was possible after splurging at church so much last night. I was at 11 points for the day and didn’t eat dinner before I went. I chowed down on doughnuts and cookies and cheese and crackers, etc. I figured if I was going to splurge, I may as well do it right. So I was quite surprised to see the pound gone this morning but no complaints here.
Tonight will be tough
Tonight is the last youth group meeting with St and Sh. I am going to be a blubbering mess. In fact, I’ve already been a blubbering mess once today. I was chatting with her today and she told me to check the new church’s web site, that they had posted their picture as well as a little note St had written to the congregation. That set the tears off.
I think the youth tonight are doing a presentation and party for him and I hope it’s done in a funny way because if it’s done in a serious way, I seriously won’t be able to see after I’m done crying tonight.
9 years ago
Nine years ago today I wasn’t sure if my SIL would be in my wedding.
Nine years ago today I had just gotten a letter in the mail from one of my bridesmaids telling me what an awful friend I had been.
Nine years ago today mom and I were having our billioneth disagreement about the wedding.
And yes, nine years ago today Scott and I were married.
Just like the days leading up to the wedding, in all the bliss, it hasn’t been perfect. The last two years especially have been hard and even through the worst, we both knew we could and would never leave each other’s side.
Nine years ago today we promised to love each other through thick and thin and we’ve learned that love is certainly not an emotion but an action. This anniversary I’m so thankful I have a husband that loves God as much as I do and is as serious about his relatinoship with Christ as I am. I’m thankful for a husband that loves his children with every ounce of his body as much as I do. And I’m even more thankful he loves me with every fiber of his being.
I love you, babe.