If Jesus is my "portion", why am I still eating!?!

"My food . . . is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work." ~John 4:34

These bold words of Jesus come to my mind when I'm tempted again to use FOOD to do what only HE can do:  Comfort me.  Encourage me. Strengthen me. Delight me. FILL ME.  The list goes on and on.  

And yet, I keep eating.  Psalm 16 says "HE is my food and drink, my highest joy!"  If He truly is, then why does it sometimes seem as if  FOOD is in fact, my "highest joy." It's not, it's really not.  But, I sure do love it! 

Growing up in the South (home of everything fried, casseroled, baked and buttered) does NOT  make it easy for a girl to turn away from good food.  My Mama never had to tell me to clean my plate.  I did that all by myself. LOL  My Grandma loved to feed me because I got so much joy out of it, and my Grandpa called my "Puny" 'cause I was anything but.  There was nothing puny about my appetite.  Still isn't!

And yet, I still keep asking myself: If Jesus is my portion - my food & drink - then WHY AM I STILL EATING?!   We're pondering this question together, Jesus and me, and I know He won't quit on me until I get it.  Food is GOOD!  Using it to do for me what only He can do is NOT GOOD.  It's not good because I rob myself of the best buffet ever: joy, peace, comfort, excitement, adventure, wisdom, love. And I rob my God of the joy of filling me with all of those delicious "fruits of His Spirit" that will empower me and prepare me for the abundant life He wants to give me. 

Too much food usually makes me feel sick and I just wanna lay down!   But, being filled with His delicious spiritual fruit makes me wanna bust out dancing and singing. I wanna get out there and do something!  The Bible says "Don't be drunk on wine, be filled instead with the Holy Spirit".  That pretty much sums it up.  Trust me, I've tried the wine and it didn't measure up either. But, being filled with the beautiful,sweet Spirit of Jesus?  Well, that never fails.

If you have the same beautiful...and not so much...relationship with FOOD, I hope this hits the spot.  It's a day by day thing, right.  Today, I'm determined I will NOT use food to do for me what only Jesus can do.  When I'm tempted to grab that second portion, I pray He'll remind me that "He is my portion, my food and my drink, and I'll stop eating and rest in Him.  And, day by day I'll get a little lighter in his lap. LOL

Please share with your fellow foodies who might could use some perspective.  I hope this will encourage them as it has me this mornin'.

Have a great day and "thanks" for listening.

Penny

Penny & Bruce Celebrate 32 Years of Marriage TODAY. You heard me! 32 Years!!

Bruce just recorded one of my favorite songs for an upcoming project and I wanted you to hear it!  The song?  NEVER WILL I MARRY!  The lesson? NEVER SAY NEVER!!

We made this MUSIC VIDEO with our WEDDING PHOTOS to mark the moment so please take a LISTEN and celebrate with us.  It's oh so vintage and and Bruce sounds AMAZING as always.

Feel free to share with your FB friends who love great music...and 80s wedding attire. LOL

Enjoy!!

Just Between Us Magazine: God's Secondary Calling

Wonderful article with much to ponder.  My prayer these days is "Lord, please don't let me waste another minute of time or energy on ANYTHING that is not MINE to do.  I want to do the work YOU want to do in this world through me."  And, then....I listen!   Ahhh, I hope this will inspire you too and give you much to ponder.

Have a great day!!!
Penny

Just Between Us Magazine: God's Secondary Calling: Dear Friends, The primary call of God in our lives is our relationship with Him.  But there is also a secondary call ...

This grateful AVON Lady has a mighty good.....

....MAN!  I was sick a few weeks ago and pretty much in bed for a week. Turns out it was a very busy week.  I had 3 Totes to make, an AVON Fundraiser order & my regular AVON order to separate, packaged and deliver.  

While I was layed up with fever he opened all my boxes, sorted all of the product into categories and had it ready for me.  Delightful.

This saved my life because I don't think I could have gotten it all done without his help.  He is generous and helpful, and oh, so good at organizing.  I will never sort my AVON the same way again. LOL

Thanks to my Hubby I got my Totes made, my AVON sorted and delivered and made it to church for Easter service. (coughing and sniffin' but I was there!)  And, I did absolutely nothing to deserve it.  But, I am so blessed and thankful for his help and just wanted to share with ya'll.  

Have a wonderful week.  Talk to you soon.

Penny

Does "I can do ALL things..." include my Laundry?

While pondering my To-Do list this morning - while brushing my teeth -  it hit me:  Does "I can do ALL things thru Christ who strengthens me" include the laundry???

Sometimes it just feels like there aren't enough hours in the day, doesn't it?  But, I'm blessed beyond what I can express here to have wonderful work to do that I love, and that actually does include the laundry.

While many other things on my list are way more fun than laundry, I determined that God  does indeed strengthen me for it because that TOO is an act of worship in that is serves my family and takes care of what He's given us.  I confess I love to iron and find it very satisfying. My husband thinks that's just plain weird. LOL  But, being a "fabric" girl it makes sense don't ya think? 

Whatever your "laundry" is today I pray God will strengthen you for the task and bring a smile to your face while you're doin' it.  If He was willing even to wash my feet, I guess the very least I can do is a little laundry.

So, guess I answered my own question.    Have a great day, everyone.  Thanks for listening to my wandering thoughts.

Take care out there.
Penny

He’s Got Your Back

Wonderful - and timely - blogpost from Beth Moore.  I sure needed it this morning and thought you guys might could use it too.

Have a great day knowing you are not along, God hears your prayers and He's GOT YOUR BACK!

He’s Got Your Back

In God's Waiting Room

 Wonderful blog post from "Just Between Us" magazine.  I don't know about you but waiting is not my best thing.  Yet, God continues to train in the art of waiting and insists on strengthening my "Patience" muscle.  As Beth Moore once said, "He's the bossiest thing." LOL 

I do love that He takes the time to encourage me in my waiting, and inspire me thru others who are also waiting.  If we indeed try to "wait" until everything is NORMAL again we would NEVER get anything done.  That said:  I hope this post will encourage and inspire you as it did me. 

Have a wonderful day.
Penny

Just Between Us Magazine: In God's Waiting Room: Dear Friends, Are you in God’s waiting room?   How is your patience?  What are you waiting for?  Are you waiting for ...

Something to talk about.

 Discovered this blogpost by a fellow blogger who won a Penny Bennett Tote in a giveaway a while back.  Don't know how I missed it, but I'm glad I found it.  She so generously shared my Bible Totes with her Blog Followers and I wanted to do the same for her.

Click the link to see her blogpost and maybe you'd like to follow her too.
 
http://wherethegreengrassgrows84.blogspot.com/2010/10/penny-bennett-bible-totes.html

Have a great day.
Penny

Gettin' the WORD out one TOTE at a time!

 Today marks 3 years since I opened my ETSY shop and I wanted to mark the moment!

I had been making and selling my Totes locally for a few years when I discovered ETSY.  I was scared to death to go ONLINE with something I made with my own hands.  All kinds of fears set in - will they like them? are they good enough?  will anybody want them?  But, still I had this notion - this vision - of using my Totes as a VEHICLE FOR MY MESSAGE:  "The Bible is an awesome book!!  We gotta get it out of the bookshelves and into our everyday lives."  In short:  GET THE WORD OUT!

 Reading the Bible for myself and discovering the richness of it's promises changed my life!  I had been a Christian all of my life, grown up in church, and yet I had never really read the Bible for myself...on my own apart from church. 

But one day - after reading all of the other books by Oprah and Dr. Phil I could get my hands on (LOL) - I decided I want to know what THIS book says about my life and how I could be living it.  And, I want to know God!!  Not just what I hear others say about Him, but what HE

says about Himself.  So, I grabbed my Bible, a good cup of coffee, and asked God to tell me everything!.

And, I simply started reading! Well, I was HOOKED!  And, I have been hooked ever since.  There is not enough time here to tell you all I have learned and all He has shown me, and fixed in me, and troubled me with, and brought joy to my heart with, but I can tell you this:

The BIBLE is an awesome Book!  And, if you haven't read it for yourself you are just plain missin' out!, Honey!!  Oh, I hope you will pick it up soon and just dive in. Or, as I like to say: GRAB LIFE BY THE BOOK!  It is the best Book you will ever read, and the best investment of time you will ever make.  He guarantees it!!

PENNY BENNETT TOTES are designed with one thing in mind: to GET THE WORD OUT.  I put that on my Product Label and my Product Tag because I truly want it to be a "fun & fashionable reminder to carry God's Word into your everyday life."  Literally AND figuratively.   It has all kinds of great uses, but like us it was first & foremost "designed to Get the Word out".  And, when you see your PBT sitting on the floor by your bed, or hanging on the hook on your door, I hope it will inspire and encourage you to do just that.  Read it! Savor it! Live it!!

Thank you to all of you who have invested in PENNY BENNETT TOTES over the years.  I'm truly grateful and look forward to serving you with PBTs as long as the Lord will let me.  That said, I gotta get to my sewing room because I have 2 Totes to make.  I'm burnin' daylight. LOL

Have a wonderful day everybody.  If you'd like to share this blogpost with a friend who's looking for a good Book to read, by all means.....  I hope it will encourage, inspire and empower them too.  The more the merrier!!!

All the best for a great week.  And, don't forget to "get the Word out". 
Take care,

Penny

For Book Lover's Only!

I had the privilege of hearing Karen Kingsbury this morning at Belmont University.  Her latest book, The Bridge, features Belmont University.  She was there to speak on "Writing for God" and to inspire the student to write a life story that is a BEST SELLER.  I thoroughly enjoyed hearing her speak and was inspired to pay close attention to the story I'm writing with this one life I've been given.

I found this on her site and was so moved I had to share it.  This so beautifully expresses how I feel about books!  And, how a book feels in my hands.  I know you've heard this before but I just can't see myself finding the same kind of enjoyment and pleasure in reading an e-Book.  No disrespect to the e-Book world - at ALL - it's just my personal preference.  My love for books goes beyond the content and expands to the paper, the ink and the weight of it in my lap.  It's no big, artsy deal really.  I just love a good Book!  Anyway, I thought this was beautiful and wanted to share it for those who may feel the same way.  If you do please leave a COMMENT.  I would love to hear what you think.
http://pages.simonandschuster.com/thebridge/for-booksellers


Have a wonderful day.  Hope you get to read something delicious!!!

Penny

Holy Substitutes

Been thinking about this a lot lately and then I found this post from "Just Between Us" magazine.  God is making it ever so clearly to me everday, that HE is what (or WHO) I need.  Everything else is just a "holy substitute."  Even good things...necessary things...MUST not take FIRST place in my life as a follower of Christ.  Jesus is my go-to Guy! He's is my Comforter, my Adviser, my Teacher, my Friend, my Father, my Preacher, my Prince, my King, my everything. 

I think Jill's notion that it's easier to be "friends with Jesus' friends than to be friends with Jesus himself" is so compelling.  Like the children of Israel with Moses: please don't make us talk to God again, YOU talk to Him. (paraphrased, of course).

Check out this article and let me know what you think.  We ALL have our substitutes, and frankly they are just NEVER gonna get the job done!!  I hope this inspires you as it did me.

Have a great day. Hope you get a chance to "get the WORD out".

Penny
Just Between Us Magazine: Holy Substitutes: Dear Friends, At most places I speak, I am asked to address leaders and followers alike about the present urgent need o...

If this were your LAST Year...

....what would you do different?  (differently?  you get my point. LOL)

I'm so very aware of the fragility of life these days and am more determined than ever to make the most of it.  I want SO much to make the most of it! 

I cannot change what HAS BEEN, or know what is TO COME, but I can savor every stinkin' minute of what IS!

So, what about you?  What would be different for you?