Tag: excess

How Jen Hatmaker Interrupted my Perfectly Lovely Summer (and may wreck yours too)

It was the beginning of June and the whole summer stretched gloriously before me.  Oh the dreams I’d dream, the goals I’d achieve, the books I’d not only read, but remember and apply to EVERY AREA OF MY LIFE!  I was especially excited to get my grubby little hands on the new edition of Jen Hatmaker’s book, Interrupted.

I pounced on the opportunity to get an advance copy in order to link up and post on it.  After all, my merry little band of spiritual misfits had joyfully jumped into “7” and experienced our own mutiny against excess a couple of summers ago.  I figured we were game for something new.

But here’s the thing…I missed some “fine” print.

Ok, it might not have been so “fine”, but I definitely missed two important details.

First?  The subtitle: When Jesus Wrecks your Comfortable Christianity.  WHY in the name of sweet baby Jesus would I want to read THAT??  If I’m comfortable with my Christian life (and I definitely am!), why would I want to be wrecked?

Note to marketing department: No one who actually reads the subtitle of this book is going to want to buy it.  “Wrecking” is not a selling point. Continue reading

How to Live a Greener Life When You’re Really Comfy with Brown

“Does ‘creation’ have anything to do with God whom I call ‘Creator’?  Oh, pish posh.  Surely God isn’t worried about how we handle His creation that He created.  His main concern is making His followers happy and prosperous, yes?…”  Jen Hatmaker

Maybe not.

“I’m beginning to wonder if the unprecedented consumption of the earth’s resources and the cavalier destruction of its natural assets is a spiritual issue as much as environmental.”  J.H.

Ok, so those of you who visit this blog often know that a group of us have been trying this experimental mutiny against excess this summer, using Jen Hatmaker’s mess-up-your-life book, 7...

The whole purpose is to try some changes that we hope will give us a better perspective on a kingdom lifestyle and help us move in that direction.   Even a tiny bit.

If you’ve read any of the posts, you know that we’ve laughed a lot and had great fun doing this together.

But we met last Monday and agreed that it feels like the party’s over.

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7 Ways to Shake up Your Life

Want to shake up your life (in a good way)?  Join us for the Summer of 7!  Be sure to check out the comments from Friday and add your own today and as we go along!

I told you last week about Jen Hatfied’s book and how it’s messed with me and how a group of us are experimenting with a radical reduction of excess in our lives this summer.  Like I said before, if you haven’t read it, go get it (or borrow it).  Now!

So the area where we’re currently reducing is clothing.  Trying to wear just 7 pieces of clothing for a week.  Jen did it for a month, but we’re clearly not spiritual or committed enough for that.  We just plan on being quick learners. 🙂

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An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess

So awhile ago I told you about a flip-me-on-my-butt book I read called 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker.  Anyone read it??  What are you waiting for?  Go get it!

I said I was going to do a book group this summer and we’d try our own experiments.  So last week five of the craziest, most adventurous-for-Jesus bunch of women came to our house to launch the Summer of 7.  Molly, Cara, Cathy, Heather, and Theresa.

I can’t imagine a funner (“funner”?) group to be deprived with!

The idea is this…We’re concerned that we may be trapped in a culture of excess where we’re so enmeshed that we can’t see clearly how out of sync our lifestyle is with the kingdom priorities of Jesus.

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