Seven

I was first introduced to Jen Hatmaker's writing via a blog post that a friend of mine forwarded to me. She had me at:

"I'm going to tell you something; a little confession, if you will. Some of you will pull your hair out and smear your faces with ashes and put all my books on eBay and quit believing in God, but I'm willing to take that risk: I'm really, really glad all my kids are back in school. There. I said it. The three children that I birthed and nursed and raised from scratch, and the two children we begged and cried and screeched for and fetched from Africa...all five of these kids are in school. And I am happy, so happy, happy, happy, happy, hip-hip-hooray Mary Poppins happy. "

Oh how I love sending children to school :). This initial little snippet from her blog made me feel like it was ok to have a large family, be a Christian, adopt children, and not homeschool. And I needed it on that day.

Reading on, I appreciated Jen's honesty, most of all, but also her humor. I kept telling people about her blog saying, "I promise you will laugh and cry with each post." It has been true for me every time.

I became such a fan that I even posted a facebook status that said something like, "Jen Hatmaker is my hero!"

I also tried to friend her on facebook, even messaging her that we have a mutual acquaintance...but she has not accepted :(

Being the fan that I am, imagine my delight when a couple of weeks ago a little email showed up asking if I wanted to review her new book, "7." I vaguely remember responding to something on her blog asking if fellow bloggers would like to review the book. Guess I was in touch and fooled them into thinking I'm a real blogger, cuz before I knew it, the digital copy of the book was in my hot little hands :) Happy!

I dug right in and finished that puppy in a couple of days. When I was explaining to my husband what the book is about, he gave me a look and said, "oh, no." Yep, it's that kind of book. In her new book, Jen (I feel like if I'm reviewing a book I'm supposed to refer to her as "Hatmaker," but that seems weird) in her own words, embarks on:

"A seven-month experimental mutiny against excess, tackling seven areas of overconsumption in the spirit of a fast; a fast from greed, irresponsibility, apathy, and insatiability. Each area boiled down to just seven choices for a month:Food.Clothes.Possessions.Media.Waste.Spending.Stress.Only seven foods for a month. Only seven pieces of clothes for a month. Give away seven things we own a day for a month. Eliminate seven forms of media for a month. Adopt seven substantial habits for a greener life. Spend money in only seven places. Practice "seven sacred pauses" a day and observe the Sabbath...a deeply reduced life to find a greatly increased God."

Yeah. It's that kind of book. I knew before reading it that I would be challenged to experience the mutiny for myself. She has a way of writing that is so inspiring and convicting, but never from a condescending point of view. It is so clear in her book that the Hatmaker family struggles with making these choices every day, just like my family struggles to not complain about things like the DVR not working. I mean, really, people. But somehow as Jen writes about these things, she can be so witty and hilarious!

So, even though my family was pretty much against it at first, we started the month of January giving seven things away every day. You know what the sad thing is? Here we are on the 6th of the month and it hasn't even been hard. Like no sacrifice. Like I can't even remember what we gave away on day one. And that's part of this, I guess. Not only to make sacrifices, but to realize how MUCH we have and how we only seem to want more. It seems the perfect time for me, and our family to an extent , to do something like this. (I had to promise my 9 year old I wouldn't make him do it. Explaining it to him left him in tears, saying "that sounds like the Old Testament law! Jen, can you come explain it to him? It didn't sound like that at all to me when reading your book!) If you are reading this, you already know that we are adopting two children from Haiti. We are now in the huge abyss that is the time between paperwork being done, and going to get them. It could take years.

So, for me, this is going to be a fast of sorts. And a way to remember my children in Haiti. To pray for them, to acknowledge that my life is overflowing with stupid things and stuff that I don't even care about, and to focus on Jesus more than my crap. Anyone else in?

I will also be holding a giveaway for, ahem, my HUGE throng of readers! (which means the chances are extremely good that you will win, mom, Dawn, Laurie, Tammy, or Karen!) Stand by for the details on the giveaway for a copy of Jen's book!! Hooray!!

Thank you, Jen Hatmaker, for putting into words some honest truth.
(Now will you friend me on facebook?)