It’s too much.
Too much information. Too many emails. Too many tweets, deadlines, posts, updates, pins, appointments, requests, to-do lists…
Are you with me?
Tag: summer of 7
“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.
For the Summer of 7 Media Week we tried to fast from the thing we’re most attached to. For me it was my phone.
Well, it’s over. We’ve been off the grid to one degree or another and have discovered we’re not “all that”.
We don’t need to be accessible to everyone all the time and surprisingly the world is still spinning and no one we were responsible for died!
The biggest loss for me was my iphone and every app that goes with it (read here). Apparently I’m not alone in my attachment. Look at the stats I read this week:
- There are 7 billion people on Earth. 5.1 billion own a cell phone. 4.2 billion own a toothbrush. (Mobile Marketing Association Asia, 2011)
- It takes 90 minutes for the average person to respond to an email. It takes 90 seconds for the average person to respond to a text message. (CTIA.org, 2011)
- 1% of all smart phone users have their phone within arm’s reach 24/7 – (Morgan Stanley, 2012)
- It takes 26 hours for the average person to report a lost wallet. It takes 68 minutes for them to report a lost phone. (Unisys, 2012)
The benefits and drawbacks to technology and media were both intensified this week, but the biggest lesson for me is that I’m Media ADD – totally undisciplined in this area. I need BOUNDARIES like Lindsay Lohan needs a better rehab program.
Confession: I may be more responsive to my phone than I am to God.
There are no magic beans in this experiment. In each area it’s going to take some conscious decisions about new habits and boundaries if we are going to move the dial even a millimeter. Sooo… Help me out…
Do you have boundaries regarding media? What are they?
For example, do you only check email or Facebook or Twitter at certain times of the day? Put your phone away? Or only use your phone for “necessary” stuff like calls and map quest? Go without internet on the weekends? Guard times of silence in your car or other places?
So this week is Media week for our little Summer of 7 band of intrepid women. We’re trying an experimental mutiny against excess in order to get a better perspective on kingdom living. You can read about our adventures here, and here.
As we planned our media strategy Monday night, Theresa bemoaned missing out on the details of the “TomKat” break-up, and Cathy has been temporarily disowned by her family in favor of t.v. Heather anticipated withdrawal symptoms as a Pinterholic.
Our biggest fear though, was that we’d feel cut off from community. We envisioned showing up at each other’s houses, peering through the window like orphans in a Dicken’s novel, pathetically saying “Please talk to me!!!”
Personally I decided to go without my phone for the week, which I think must earn me brownie points somewhere in the universe because this is sacrificial, darn it!
For those of you just joining us, on Fridays I try to share practices or resources that God can use to form us. Maggie named it “Spirit Stretch Fridays”.
Anyway, this summer a group of us (some in person, and some online) are trying a spiritual experiment using the book 7, an Experimental Mutiny Against Excess, by Jen Hatmaker. Buy it and jump in with us if you haven’t already! You can read about our experiences here, and here.
The other night our merry little band gathered around the table on my patio. It was the perfect, warm summer evening with a breeze that kept the mosquitos away, and Molly made it even better by introducing us to dark chocolate covered almonds with sea salt from Trader Joes. We can’t decide whether we should write her into our wills or shun her for sucking us into this vortex of deliciousity.
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. 🙂
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.
Hi, I’m Laura – a Jesus-follower who gets it wrong a lot, but is still beloved just like you.
