Archives for 2013

The Gift Guide For HIM {and a read-along}

November 26, 2013 by Amy 4 Comments

Sunday afternoon we finished up the 6th birthday gathering at my house this month. Does your family have birthday months like ours? July and November seem to be where many of our birthdays cluster.

I was walking through the living room yesterday morning and I said it under my breath, “I am DONE with birthday season.” And then I laughed because hello, Christmas–something about the biggest holiday of the year celebrating a birth. Birthday season was just starting.

So I started thinking about birthdays while I was getting ready and what that might mean for Christmas. What is it that really makes the day for the birthday person?

Decorations are fun. I think people agree because, um, Pinterest. But it’s not necessary, really. Unless you have a reality show or lots of time and money, do people (at least around me) ever decorate for adults. For kids, yeah, but birthday themed plates are as far as we go for adults. Unless of course it’s the big 4-0 and then some black balloons are in order.

Food is pretty central to the celebration. Whether you go out to eat, cook dinner in or just share some cake and ice cream, it’s a staple. But I wouldn’t say it MAKES the birthday terrific. (Except my Mom’s chocolate cake. That seriously makes my birthday).

Presents are welcome at any age, but by the time you’re an adult, it’s just your spouse and parents participating.

I thought what REALLY makes a fun birthday is people. When people simply remember your birthday and recognize it. It’s why people love their Facebook accounts on their birthdays. Two words from all their friends and it’s like BAM! Day. Made. No cake, no decorations, no presents. You don’t even need a fancy image. Just the nod from your friends that they remembered you.

And so after thinking through all that, I thought about Christmas and how Jesus might want us to celebrate his birth.

Yeah, we decorate and have meals and give presents, but he interrupted my Christmasy thoughts and whispered what he really wanted.

It wasn’t even a gift given for an angel tree or service at a food bank.

Here it is, come close:

He wants me.

And he wants you.

He wants us not to eat or decorate or swap presents or even serve because of him, he wants YOU.

He wants the nod, the time, the recognition that it’s all about him and you’re so crazy thankful that the real gift is Him. He loves us so much and we’re a gift to Him! It’s the whole reason He came!

So let’s not read stories ABOUT him or serve FOR him or gather with family BECAUSE of him. Let’s be WITH HIM because he’s with us. Emmanuel.

Sit at his feet this season. Listen after you pray. Sing songs of praise to him all by yourself. Whisper gratefulness as you go. However it is that the two of you connect, do that.

Be still and give him you.

Part of the way I connect with Him is through reading His word and the words he’s given others. I’m planning to read through Ann Voskamp’s The Greatest Gift. It’s a daily devotional leading up to Christmas. I’ll be posting a thought about it each day on my Facebook page.

I’d like to invite you to read along with me and make that part of your season. The readings start on Sunday December 1st. If you’re in, that’s GREAT. I’d love to process Christmas with you. If not, that’s great too. Just remember—give him YOU. He’s crazy about you, friend!

A Girl on Fire

November 23, 2013 by Amy 16 Comments

I’ve just returned from watching Hunger Games: Catching Fire and aside from the fact that it was a brilliant adaptation of the book, I feel like the girl on fire. Except the fire is not in a twirling skirt, but in my bones. I was awakened to a reality that I have been glimpsing for years but today–today it is more apparent than ever.

For those that haven’t read or seen the movie this will make little sense, but I must say it anyway.

We are the capitol.

I am the capitol.

We like to think we are Katniss, brave and fighting strong, but for most of us, it is not the reality.

We are the ones with outrageous outfits and outrageous amounts of food and a sickening self-absorption. We are the ones obsessed with entertaining ourselves at the cost of others. We revel in opulent surroundings and we ignore the ones hurting around us.

We pretend that there are not people who are hurt and oppressed and dying of hunger when we have so much. We are in the midst of the holiday that is about God coming to this earth and sacrificing his life and we have turned it into a free for all and excuse for more, more and more.

Yes, there is a movement for social justice, but we have so far to go.

We are the Capitol.

We love Katniss because she fights against the powers holding the districts down. She’s willing to give her life to protect the ones she loves. She hurts when the downtrodden are hurt. She self-sacrifices when it is for the betterment of someone else.

How many of us really and truly do that?

We think our enemy is corporations or the government, but our true enemy is not an institution. We are our own worst enemy.

Our greed. Our selfishness. Our gluttony. Our indifference. Our time and money prove our allegiance.

In the movie at an opulent engagement party, the game maker says to Katniss, “If you put your morals aside, you can enjoy yourself.”

That is what we have done in America. We’ve put our morals aside and have been enjoying our lives, ignoring a world that is hurting.

Put your drinks down. Take the masks off. We need saving from ourselves first.

Wake up, friends!

We must first fight to realize and overcome we are the capitol so we can do the true work like Katniss we love so much—saving others in spite of ourselves.

We do not celebrate Katniss by braiding our hair and buying makeup from CoverGirl. We celebrate the beauty that is The Hunger Games by laying down our pride and giving up our lives for the least of these. It is a shame if we take anything else away from this series.

I sit in my suburban house with all of my stuff without all the answers. I don’t have a 12 step program to getting this right. But I do know I’m going to try. I’m asking myself these questions.

What is one thing you can do to wake up from the materialistic culture we’re in?

Who is one person you can reach out to this season?

What is one gift you can buy from an ethical source to help someone else?

What can you say no to buying for yourself this week?

We must be asking these questions of ourselves because, friends, WE. ARE. THE. CAPITOL. and I know we don’t want to be.

Five Minute Friday: Fly

November 22, 2013 by Amy 4 Comments

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.

Eleven is Heaven

November 20, 2013 by Amy Leave a Comment

Seven or 8 years ago I was walking down the hall with a coworker. Emma and Lexi would have been about 1 and 3. My coworker had young teenagers at the time and I admitted that having older kids frightened me—I wished mine would stay young. She said, “Oh, but they’re fun. It’s fun to watch their personalities and opinions come out and watch them become their own little person.” I nodded but thought, no really, I like mine small.

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One of my first career aspirations was to be a 4th grade teacher. I loved my 4th grade year and always thought 4th graders were the best. They weren’t new to elementary school so they held some confidence but they weren’t the over-confident 5th graders ready to move on to middle school and crushes.

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When Scott and I were first married, we helped out with our AWANA program at church. I worked with the 1st and 2nd grade kids for awhile and then settled into 3rd and 4th grade girls. I loved my girls. They loved pens and notebooks and most importantly, their teacher *ahem*. They aimed to please and we had a really fun time together.

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All that said, it shouldn’t have surprised me that this past year with Emma has been the best. I love my daughter no matter what, but there’s something about this age that, as a mother, fits me like a glove. Emma isn’t perfect and sure, that personality coming out can be a bear sometimes and we’ve had unexplained tears already but overall? It’s been the best.

She’s old enough to take care of herself but young enough to still want me by her side while she plays school—where she’s practicing to be an elementary school teacher.

She loves it when we lie together at night and read. We both hold up our books with our right hands and pick at our lips—hers a xerox copy of mine–with our left.

We have dance parties and she talks about how that boy looked at her at school today and then plays American girl for the afternoon.

She sits in my lap and we play computer games together. We high-five when we score well and complain when we don’t.

She invites her friends over often and it’s just as fun for me as it is her. We both miss them if they don’t come over for too long.

I overhear her mimic me and tell Lexi that something she said wasn’t polite or she nearly cries at a hurt animal.

She has fierce opinions about fashion (mainly ones that don’t match well) but doesn’t care much yet if her hair gets brushed.

This year has just been downright fun with her and I realize my coworker was right all along. I can’t even bemoan another birthday is here today because it’s nothing but a joy to watch her grow. Maybe in a few years I’ll be wishing she was little again but for this year? We’re having too much fun to think of it.

Happy Birthday to my Emma Grace. Eleven is heaven!

The Mid-30’s Changes

November 19, 2013 by Amy 14 Comments

I need to go surface-level today—some good ‘ol girl talk. I turned 35 this year so I’m as Mid-30’s as you can get. I’m still on the uphill climb to 40, as they say, but it’s clear we’re getting close. I’m not old by any calculation, but I am older and I’m starting to see some changes I thought we could bond over today.

The whole aging-changing-body thing really hit home recently when I realized my eyelids are changing. Now when I blink, I can feel extra skin. Like, what is that?? No one told me to expect I’d have droopy eyelids by 35. I can’t put on eyeshadow like I used to because it looks all funky and wrinkly towards the center of my eye. I’ve never considered plastic surgery but believe me, when I have a 2nd eyelid completely formed, I will have it removed.

And while we’re on the face, let’s talk about those creases between my eyes. I look like I’m constantly mad or confused. Even though I always said I wouldn’t, I told Scott the other night I needed Botox so I didn’t look so upset all the time. I always scoffed at the Botoxers but y’all, I don’t like looking mad all the time! The only way to rectify this is to lift my forehead up and smile and y’all, that is not an easy resting face to maintain. Let me just tell anyone that sees me in real life that I am not mad, just aging.

Can we talk about hair? I swear. Chin hair?! I can’t even.

My hair has been graying for years, but I now have full-on streaks. They’ve been hiding underneath, but in my latest headshots, I can see them right on top. I refuse to color it though because my plain brown is so hard to mimic. I’m holding on to my gray-streaked brown hair, people!!

And what is with my neck? My jaws are starting to drop no matter how much I weigh and I have a bunch of wrinkles starting to show up on my neck. My moisturizing routine keeps getting lower and lower and now I realize why the Mary Kay lady always wanted me to do my face AND neck, even at 19. I should have started on this sooner!

My arms are starting to do the wave. No longer do I have naturally toned upper arms.

And my hands! My hands have way too many lines in them. Emma actually turned my hand over the other day and asked what all the lines were from! Old age, honey! Sometimes I just stare at the girls hands thinking of the long-gone days of soft, supple skin on my hands.

My boobs are well, heading south, but that started way back in the nursing days and y’all, I might actually be glad to have small ones because they won’t make it very far. They’ll be flat but they won’t get caught in my belt.

My hips keep spreading outward while my thighs are looking more and more like cheese.

Even my knees are aging for goodness sakes. I looked down at my knees a few years ago and realized the skin was sagging. I mean, why don’t people warn you of these things?!

People. Tell me this is normal. If you are mid-30’s or older, what secrets do you have to stop all this mess? What other fun stuff do I have to expect? Lay it on me, I’d rather know now.

The Chameleon

November 18, 2013 by Amy 4 Comments

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Words from yesterday’s sermon are messing with me in the best and worst of ways. In fact, there is one word that keeps coming up in a multitude of ways. Yesterday I heard it again: “Comparison.”

I see women walk by downtown with their scarves and cute boots and feel inferior. I realize I spend too much time at home and moments I’ve felt stylish have purely been sad attempts at fitting in to a culture I’m rarely a part. I click on others’ pictures and then feel superior because surely I do a better job.

I see pictures of some people’s houses and wonder why I can’t get it all to go together so flawlessly. And yet, my pride puffs if someone compliments my house.

I think of times we give and pat myself on the back, feeling superior to those that don’t and yet feel inferior when I hear of big-gives from bigger hearts.

Inferior and superior, I flop back and forth all the time, sometimes with the same person, always measuring. I don’t do it purposely, seeking out to make myself feel better or someone else worse. I’m not mean-spirited, but when challenged, I see that I do it anyway. I’m confronted with my own pride and it feels disgusting, making me feel inferior to just about anyone.

The words yesterday challenged me to bring back in the gospel. Who does God say I am? What is the race I am to run? I am responsible for my own steps, my own callings, my own self. I will be held responsible for the opportunities and gifts that he gave me, not any others.

I am like my daughter, always wanting to find someone to be my side. I feel God calling me to my own race, one where I might feel lonely and different and yet, one where I won’t feel a need to constantly compare because I’ll be on a path unique to me.

I’ve lived like a chameleon my whole life, always trying to blend into family and friends, to whatever calling they may have. The thing about chameleons is they have to compare their surroundings to match. I feel the call to stop. Say yes to the callings that no one else hears. Express myself the way I am because that’s what God created me to do. Live in a home that feels comfort to me because my friends aren’t the ones living with me. Give because God gave it to me to share, not someone else.

I feel like it should be easy to be myself, but it’s not. It turns out there isn’t another me to copy.

I’m not a chameleon and neither are you.

Sole Hope – An Invitation

November 13, 2013 by Amy 10 Comments

At Allume, the hallways were lined with non-profits—so many that are already close to my heart—Samaritan’s Purse, Mercy House Kenya, Compassion—but it seems this year the Lord had one in particular he wanted to stick with me. Sole Hope has not left my mind since Allume.

Sole Hope’s goal is to make shoes for children in Uganda who are affected by soil borne conditions like jiggers. They reuse jean material and tires and use locally trained shoemakers to make shoes for children to prevent diseases. They help clean the children’s feet at clinics and then give them a pair of shoes.

I had no idea this was even a THING until they showed this video at Allume (warning—graphic):

Did you watch? Because that’ll make you want to DO SOMETHING.

And the really, really fun thing is we CAN do something super easy! All it takes is a sharpie, a pair of scissors and some time to attend a SHOE CUTTING PARTY.

Through a shoe party, participants trace and then cut jeans based on templates that will then be used by the Ugandan shoemakers. Not only are the children provided with shoes, but local women are provided with a job.

Some of my too-small jeans I took to Allume to donate are now on their way to Uganda to cover some little feet! It’s like the BEST THING EVER!!

And guess what??

I’m hosting a local shoe cutting party and you’re invited!!

If you’re reading this, you’re invited! I don’t care how far away you are, whether we know each other and don’t talk much, or we’re BFFs in real life, I’d love to have you here! Bring as many jeans as you want, a pair of your favorite fabric scissors and $10 donation if you can swing it (not required—it’s used to pay the shoemakers).

I’m giving you plenty of notice–it will be at my house on Friday, December 6, 6:30-8:30. I’ll have coffee and snacks and have everything organized so we can make the most of our time. I’m planning to have my kids there and if you have older kids that can cut, BRING THEM too (or not, if you want a kid-free evening).

Consider this your official invitation—just let me know in the comments here or in email at amyjbennett AT gmail DOT com if you plan on attending. But, if you’re local and we’re friends on Facebook, you’ll be getting a Facebook event invitation there as well.

If you want to see some past shoe cutting parties in action, head right over here.

If you aren’t local to me or can’t get here that night, host your own shoe cutting party. Just do it one night with your family or invite your small group or your best friends! For just $15 you can order a 10 person kit that can be reused over and over.

Alume has given me permission to show photos from the cutting party that happened on Saturday at Allume. For folks like me, knowing what you’re walking into really helps:

photos courtesy of Allume/Kim DeLoach Photography

As you can see, it really is as easy as tracing and cutting! We can do hard things but we can also do super easy things like this!

Ah!! I’m so excited! I really would like to make a big impact for Sole Hope to show them our support. Make plans to come out!

Let me know—who’s interested in coming or hosting your own party??

*images courtesy of SoleHope.org

What I Wore Wednesday 11.13.2013

November 13, 2013 by Amy Leave a Comment

It’s Wednesday when I share my outfits from the week.

I pair my outfits with inspirational photos. Read more about that here.

Email and RSS readers need to click over to the site to see the inspirational photos.

Let’s connect! Like AmyJBennett on Facebook. Follow me on Pinterest (where I post these inspirational pictures),Instagram (where you might sneak an early peek of an outfit) orTwitter.

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