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?

  

It would be a real CURSE IF...

...our kids don't learn to read and write in Cursive!

I cannot believe that schools don't teach cursive writing anymore!  Seriously?!? That's one of my fondest memories from grade school - and I seriously can't remember much LOL.  I loved those notebooks with the dotted lines and the examples of how to perfectly write every letter in CURSIVE.  I bit my tongue like kids do when they're really concentrating and gave it everything I had.!!

I've always loved writing - and by that I mean simply writing.  I love just about anything handwritten: notes & greetings,  journal entries, study notes (Man, I love to take notes!) and checks (yep, you heard me), and little love notes to my hubby and cards to my Mama... I think you get the point.  I have a bunch of JOURNALS 'cause I simply cannot get enough of them.  They are so beautiful and so BLANK and ready for WORDS.  Ohhh the possibilities!

Our SIGNATURE is a part of us - right? And I know that FANCY NANCY has a beautiful, curly-girly signature that looks just like her!  Don't you love getting a letter in the mail and you recognize the handwriting right away and get excited?  How sad to no longer get letters simply because it's easier to type an email.  I know I'm OLD SCHOOL - and proud of it - but I just think our kids are in danger of missing out on something so precious.  I still have notes  my husband wrote me when we were 18.  I can't possibly keep a TEXT that long?  Ya gotta clean that stuff out!  Oh, and how I love to look at my scrap books that have greeting cards from my family when I was 13 years old!!  Ya just can't buy that, people.  I can't keep an online greeting card forever, and it robs me of the joy of seeing the personality of my loved one in their handwriting and signature.  Please don't get me wrong!  I love to receive online greeting cards too.  Any effort one makes to let you know they are thinking about you is amazing. I simply hope the handwritten part doesn't go by the wayside in this tech-savvy generation.

I don't know what ya'll are gonna do but I've decided I'm just gonna have to KEEP WRITING!  If you feel the same please let me know.  I NEED to know I'm not the only one. LOL  I'm quite certain I'm not!

I realize that I'm actually BLOGGING this post on the lost art of HANDWRITING, but I think that's my point.  Blogging is good.  Texting is great! Email is wonderful!  But, it's not the ONLY WAY.  Every now and again how about you surprise and delight someone with your very own handwritten note.  I GUARANTEE they will love it and you'll feel awesome.

So!  Here's to the written word.  It would be a real CURSE-IF we stopped writing with our very own hands and relied solely on our computer keyboards to communicate. 

WILL YOU JOIN ME?  Let's keep CURSIVE alive people!  Teach your children. There's not much better than a handwritten note from a child is it?  A handwritten sentiment truly is a beautiful thing...even when it's completely illegible. LOL That just makes life more interesting and keeps us on our toes.

If I could I'd sign my name right here in beautiful black ink. 

My AVON Calling!

My last entry was April 20th.  Remember "You want me to go where?"  At the time, I was being drawn like a magnet to Avon Leadership but so afraid to take the leap.  See, I'd taken the leap before when I first started my Avon business back in 2007 and it didn't work well at all so I was afraid to leap again.  Afraid to trust myself. What if I'm wrong? What if I can't do it?  What if I fail again?  Big noise in my head, but God's quiet voice persisted.  Avon. Leadership. Empowering Women.  Serving. Go. Trust me! 

All year long God has been calling me out of my COMFORT ZONE.  Never before have I been more sure of His mission for me than this one of getting outside my comfort zone.  Well, I'm officially OUT, honey!  I started my Leadership path in April and have 1 Representative on my team so far.  I was away most of May so I'm really just beginning.  I have SO much to learn and I'm really excited for the opportunity to Empower women with Avon.   I love my AVON business and I love serving my Customers!  Now, I get to help other women build their own businesses too. 

People need JOBS.  They need OPPORTUNITIES.  And, AVON is a great opportunity.  If you know of anyone who would like to hear more about Avon please share this post with them.  It would be a pleasure to serve them.

I'd especially love to speak with Retired Women looking for opportunities to continue working and using their gifts.  At our AVON AWARDS LUNCHEON last week the TOP WINNER of the day in terms of awards and recognition was over 80 years old.  She is gorgeous and full of life and was absolutely loaded down with trophies.  And, the best part!? She was applauded and honored for 40 years of building her Avon business.  I want to sit down and have lunch with that woman, and so did every Avon Representative in the room. Where else do you see that?   She's not the only one.  With Avon it seems your age, your wisdom and your years of loyal service are applauded rather than discarded or looked upon as "no longer relevant".  Ahhhh, makes you crazy.    Imagine a woman forced to retire before she's ready getting an opportunity to put her talents and skills to work in her own business!!  Imagine what she could do with no-one telling her "no". Ahhh, now I'm all excited. 

I was humbled and honored to receive the SPIRIT OF AVON award this year and it has set the standard for my new Leadership business.  The SPIRIT OF AVON is one of giving, serving, teaching and blessing. It's the best possible award I could have received and I'm truly grateful.  The recipient is chosen by our District Manager (that's Becke on my right) and presented with a beautiful trophie and Certificate outlining the Spirit of Avon creed.  While I feel completely unworthy of such an honor I am truly grateful.  It's humbling indeed and raises the bar on this Avon Lady's calling!  That's a good thing and I intend to keep it in view as a means of holding me accountable to this blessing. Thank you, Becke!  That's Brenda, my Unit Leader on the Left.  She found me at a Women's Expo back in 2007 and we were set up next to each other (I was selling  my Tote bags).  I had been looking for an opportunity and there she was right next to me.  We talked Avon all day and I signed up 2 weeks later.  (I am not a cheap date! LOL  I do not make these decisions lightly.  Sorry Brenda!)

AVON is not perfect.  Nothing is!  But, it is an awesome opportunity and I'm proud to be able to share it with you guys. And, can I tell you, it's just plain FUN.   It really is. So, PLEASE pass this little blog post on to anyone in your world who could use a little beacon of hope and opportunity.  Trust me when I tell you, you never know where it may lead! Anything is possible!!!

Have a great week.  Thanks for letting me share my AVON Calling!

Penny

(P.S.  The purple leopard print dress is AVON.  I got to model it at the Awards luncheon fashion show and they let me keep it.  Color me happy!!!)