DELIBERATE LEGACIES l Jessica Benzakein l Speaker

The Unexpected Kindn...

Growing up, nothing was ever for free… and that included kindness. If an adult was being kind to me, one could be certain that there was some sort of price attached to that kindness… something would be required, expected, demanded of me. I may not have known what or when,...

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February 22nd, 2010
Posted by J Benzakein

If You Play Dead, Yo...

My son loves to “knock us out” when we are playing… be it with his dragon breath, a fake punch, or the occasionally well timed real fart. My husband and I, happy to play along, will appear to be knocked out which usually requires our tongue to be hanging from one...

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February 18th, 2010
Posted by J Benzakein

Build on High Ground...

Everything you ever need to know can be learned from Noah’s ark… 1. Don’t miss the boat. 2. Remember that we are all on the same boat. 3. Plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark. 4. Stay fit. When you’re 600 years old, someone might come along and...

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February 15th, 2010
Posted by J Benzakein

Are You Going or Gro...

Once again, 4 year olds are amazing. So yesterday, my adorable son, Eli, asks me, “Do bad guys have to stay bad guys?” Me, a firm believer in a person’s ability to change their stars, replied, “Nope. It’s never too late to become a good guy.” We spent some time...

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February 3rd, 2010
Posted by J Benzakein

Celebrate Your Spous...

I know… I know… usually we celebrate our spouse on Valentine’s Day… or more likely, we wives expect our husbands to shower us with love and flowers and chocolate (some of us are lucky enough to get flowers that are made of chocolate!!) and a dinner that we...

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January 26th, 2010
Posted by J Benzakein

Why is “Family...

Popular opinion is that if you don’t grow up “knowing” something, then you don’t miss it… and what you did grow up “knowing” is what you tend to gravitate towards even if you didn’t like it because it is familiar to you. For some of...

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January 20th, 2010
Posted by J Benzakein

Celebrate the Birthd...

“Promise me you’ll never forget me because if I thought you would I’d never leave.” “It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn’t use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like ‘What about lunch?’” “If ever...

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January 18th, 2010
Posted by J Benzakein

Choose Not to Engage...

Earlier, I was replying to a comment, and I wanted to link to Hearts-At-Home since I had mentioned it. I looked up their website to make sure I had the proper URL, finished my comment, and went back to close the other window when something shiny caught my attention… which...

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January 17th, 2010
Posted by J Benzakein

Choose Your BE, Not ...

On Monday, Marc and I went to James Middle School to hear Chick Moorman speak about 10 parenting commitments we should make. The material Chick covered wasn’t anything new or groundbreaking, but they were all good points and it doesn’t hurt to hear a reminder now and...

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January 16th, 2010
Posted by J Benzakein

…Before You Fi...

Eli: Do we have more Spongebobs? Me: No, but maybe we can go to the video store later and see if they have any. Eli: Ok, well, um, you stay there and keep working. Me: Why? Eli: Well, you know when I said I ate my sandwich so I wanted candy and you said I could, well I didn’t...

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January 13th, 2010
Posted by J Benzakein

Celebrate Peculiar P...

Ever do a search for upcoming holiday dates? There are way more “holidays” now than the traditional calendar gives credit to… and this one, Peculiar People Day, really caught my attention. January 10th – Peculiar People Day is in honor of uniquely different...

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January 10th, 2010
Posted by J Benzakein

…About Christm...

Happy New Year!! This was a forwarded email that I received last month from a friend. I read it several times, and each time I am fairly sure I smiled bigger and bigger because this email said what I’ve always felt would be God’s response to the increasing fight to preserve...

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January 9th, 2010
Posted by J Benzakein

How Much Does A Hear...

Discover how much your heart can hold… Through-out my life, I’ve learned that the more you let others in, the more potential for hurt there is, so I made a decision early on to not allow others to breach the walls of the fortress I had built up. It’s not to say that...

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November 15th, 2009
Posted by J Benzakein

Surrounding Yourself...

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great ones make you feel that you, too, can become great. - Mark Twain, writer and satirist I once read an interview with a life coach where they said that it was easy to recognize...

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November 14th, 2009
Posted by J Benzakein