Mary's Little Car

Mary had a little car, little car, little car
Mary had a little car, its paint was rusted off

And everywhere that Mary went, Mary went, Mary went
And everywhere that Mary went, her car would sputter and cough.

She drove her car to school one day, school one day, school one day
She drove her car to school one day and parked it in the lot.

And when she got back in her car, in her car, in her car
And when she got back in her car, the seats were very hot.

The sun had beat down much that day, much that day, much that day
The sun had beat down much that day, which caused the heat to rise.

She barely could drive home from school, home from school, home from school
She barely could drive home from school; not really a surprise.

Then one day soon her car broke down, car broke down, car broke down
Then one day soon her car broke down, which made sweet Mary cry.

The towman came and helped her out, helped her out, helped her out
The towman came and helped her out, he was a handsome guy.

Then Mary fell in love with him, love with him, love with him
Then Mary fell in love with him, so they got married quick.

They drove off in that beat-up car, beat-up car, beat-up car
They drove off in that beat-up car, but that day they looked slick.


God bless.

High School Retreat

God is good. He proves it to me literally every day, and he was relentless this past weekend.

Basically, there was a church retreat for high schoolers this weekend, and my wonderful church of 90% college students helped out with leading it. Twelve of us went down there, about four of us led worship, and eleven of us led small groups, including me.

There were two other leaders in my small group, with only four high schoolers. They were great kids though; happy, sweet, thoughtful kids. One of them had asburgers which made things even more fun (I don't mean that sarcastically at all. She was hilarious.)

We stayed two nights, most of us didn't shower, I ate lots and lots of sugar, and heard Jenny speak multiple times, full of the Gospel and love of Christ, literally on her tip-toes with enthusiasm.

And we worshiped and danced and laughed and prayed together. It was a beautiful.

I wish I had written this three or four days ago so that I could remember the whole thing more fully, but trust me. It was better than the Christmas Conference. And God is good. So there.


God bless.

Self-Improvement

Thanks to a recent conversation with my roommate and lifelong friend, Amy, I have come up with an ingenius and life-altering self-improvement plan for myself. Take a look:

Starting NOW, I will...
-Start sprinting three times a week instead of jogging, since, according to recent research on my part, it is much better for you.
-Eat ONLY ridiculously healthy foods with no sugar or preservatives. This includes going to the store and buying fruit, as well as things like almonds which I don't even like, and possibly spinach, because that's a thing too. And not ice cream. Because clearly ice cream is the devil. (To view my true opinion on ice cream, please see my post, Ice Cream.)
-Wash my sheets every week instead of *cough, cough* every two months.
-Do all my homework the day it's assigned instead of the day before it's due.
-Get 8+ hours of sleep a night.
-Write a letter to a friend every day.
-Write a blog post twice a week.
-Clean my room daily.
-Wear make-up and jewelry like a normal female.
-Get another job and make lots of money and get rich. Also actually think about and plan for my future as if it were a real thing that's coming.
-Read 5 chapters of the Bible every day and pray constantly whenever I'm not reading the Bible.
-Limit facebook use to 5 minutes a day.
-Read every magazine I get in the mail from cover to cover.
-Read Jesus books every night before I go to sleep.
-Pick up a new hobby or skill every month.
-Organize everything about my life, not including this list.
-Actually wash my face more than once a day. As in, twice a day.
-Floss and use mouthwash twice a day.
-Continue showering daily to the best of my ability.
-Do everything on my to-do list on Pinterest.
-Stop spending time looking at anything useless on Pinterest. Only look at the useful stuff.
-Learn a new language every year for the rest of my life.
-Go to every single Bible study on my campus. No excuses because Jesus comes first.
-Give half my clothes away to the poor.
-Also half my stuff and half my money.
-Basically become perfect.


Just kidding. Except the first one. That's real. And also I did actually buy fruit and almonds. YAY!


God bless.

Mission Trips Letter

This is the letter I sent out to raise money for my upcoming mission trips. I invite you to read it and contact me. I edited the letter a little to make it internet-friendly but it is still pretty straight-forward. Thanks guys!

Dear [fill in your name here],                                                                       Dec. 8, 2012

How have you been? I have been well, and wanted to bring you up-to-date on some of the exciting opportunities I have had lately. As a junior at _______ University, I have gotten involved in Cru, or Campus Crusade for Christ. God has used Cru to help me grow, both in my walk with Christ and in my ability to impact the lives of others.

This coming year, I have several opportunities to go on missions trips to spread the good news of Christ in other parts of the country and world. My first trip will be over my spring break, and I’m going to Kingston, Jamaica! I will be going with a group of students and staff from Cru. We will be serving not on the beautiful beaches, but right in the city of Kingston. This is also not a mission trip centered around service projects, but simply around evangelism. We will be partnered with Cru’s on-going ministry in Kingston, and we will be reaching out to students at the University of Kingston. I can’t wait to make friends with the students on campus and share the Gospel with them!

My second trip will be through one of Cru’s programs called Summer Project. As per the name, I will be going over the summer. There are many Summer Projects all over the nation and world, but the one I applied for is in Yellowstone National Park! There, I will be working at the park and ministering to the tourists and my coworkers, many of whom will be international students! I can’t wait, because I know this will be a profound experience in letting God use me to make a difference in others’ lives and tell them how they can know Jesus personally.

In order to make these trips a reality, I need your help. First of all, I need you to pray. Please pray that God brings many people to know him personally through my trips. Also, pray for me as I prepare and go out into the world to share his good news. Another way you can help is through giving financially. My trip to Kingston, Jamaica will cost $1,750 and my trip to Yellowstone will cost $1,850, for a total of $3,600. These costs will help cover airfare, food, and lodging. Will you please prayerfully consider giving a gift of $100, $200, $300, or any amount to help me serve the Lord this spring break and over the summer? Thank you very much for your prayerful consideration.

I have included a response card and return envelope for you to let me know of your decision. It would be a great help if you could respond by January 10^th, although I will continue raising money for Summer Project for the rest of spring. Please make your checks payable to Cru, as your gift is tax-deductible. Remember that your generous donation is also redeemable for treasures in Heaven (Matthew 6:19-21)! Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. Thank you very much.

God bless!

Maryann

bennettmk@earthlink.net

Success in Life

Someday, I will be able to tell how successful I have been. I will reach a state of ultimate happiness and satisfaction. Okay, maybe not, but it's nice to dream.

All houses have door knobs, because all houses have doors. My house will have beautiful door knobs. Hand painted, or made of glass. It is by this that I will be able to measure my success in life. 

I would love to have my own piano, and I don't think any house is complete without them. When I have my own piano, in tune, in the perfect corner of my house where it can resound beautifully, then I will know that I have been successful.

I want clocks. Many analogue clocks on many walls and many shelves that tick and tock and look perfectly beautiful and maybe some that chime. I love clocks. I have a Clocks board on Pinterest. I need the clocks to know my worth.

I also want things like a hot tub, a big yard with a vegetable and/or flower garden, a mattress to sleep on, and enough food to feed my family, but all I need to feel like I've done a good job in life is pretty door knobs, a nice piano, and lots of clocks. This is my version of the white-picket-fence-with-a-dog-and-2.5-kids Great American Dream.

Just thought I would let all of you know that for no good reason at all. Maybe I just like to see myself write like some people like to hear themselves talk.


God bless.

How to Ask Questions

I have heard people say, and I totally agree with this theory, that one of the best things you can do to build relationships is to ask questions.

I'm not exactly a master of this but I am usually trying to get better. I think the key is to ask good questions and listen to their answers. Quiz people relentlessly, because they probably love talking about themselves.

Here is what I have so far. Some examples.

The Deep Questions:
1. How's your soul?
2. What has your relationship with God (if any) been like lately?
3. Why? (after anything and everything someone says) Why do you think that? Why did you say that? Why do you follow that religion? etc.
4. What is your favorite part of _________? (your family, your life, your boyfriend/girlfriend, your religion, your religious book, your religious group, your home, your day, nature, eating a cookie)

Odd-ball Questions (inspired by Phil):
1. How does your t-shirt reflect your world-view? What do your shoes say about you?
2. What was an interesting article you remember reading in the newspaper once?
3. If you could live in the mountains or by the beach, how many pets would you like to own?
4. If you were a vegetable, what would you be and why?

Offensive Questions:
1. Do you believe in Jesus? Why or why not?
2. Do you believe in our president? Why or why not?
3. Aren't you going to pick that up? Are you really going to waste that?

Annoying Personal Questions:
1. What are your parents like? How are you similar to or different from them?
2. What are you looking for in a spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend?
3. Do you like kids? How many do you want?
4. What weird bathroom habits do you have?
5. What do/did you do that always annoyed your siblings?
6. What was the cutest thing you did as a baby?

Would You Rather Questions:
1. Would you rather be a carpet or a tile floor?
2. Would you rather walk on your hands on a carpet or a tile floor?
3. Would you rather eat your grandma's homemade cookies or your mom's?
4. Would you rather eat a beetle or drink gasoline?

Riddles:
1. What gets wetter the more it dries?
2. What goes around the world but stays in one corner?
3. A woman gave birth to two sons who were born on the same hour of the same day of the same year but were not twins. How is this possible?

Try asking questions next time you talk to someone. That's all the advice I have for today, folks.


God bless.

Ghazal

I was required for my creative writing class this past semester to write a poem in "ghazal" (pronounced "guzzle") form. It is a strict form originating from Arab culture. You will be able to tell what some of the requirements were just from reading it, but I should probably tell you that virtually all ghazals are about unrequited love. So naturally I wrote about an crush I had an high school, on a guy two years older than me, strikingly handsome, and totally not interested. His name is the title of the poem, which I am not including in this post. Enjoy!

He kills bamboo and breaks the holy song

Eyes alone, the silence sings the song

The dying butterflies of his red lashes

Blink and past me see the ancient song

Eyes of bamboo green and growth decay

His perfect voice croaks out his lonely song

But I, the master of th’impossible

Whisper sleepy tears and sob the song

His heart of gold is locked in iron ribs

The trumpets blare their icy loving song

Living Fragrance of this time now gone

Recalls and Bitter crawls to bring the song.

God bless.