Book Review: 7 - An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker

I love finding books that are outside my usual fare: books that challenge my comfort zone, inform my ignorance, or expand my awareness. I usually avoid trendy and trite. My contact with this author was minimal, having heard an interview of her on a Catalyst podcast. But what I had heard intrigued me, for she was both outrageous and genuine. I think this book was on sale for a short time (I rarely like to pay full price) which is why I bought and sent it to my kindle.

Another thing to point out is that I don't fast or like to think about fasting. With my stressful life, that's a stress I don't want to add. It's something I need to deal with, but for now I'm trying to at least keep life simpler. So it took a bit of courage to wade in to a book about fasting, though since it wasn't just about food, I figured I might not feel too guilty.

Her first few pages took a little bit of getting used to, since she tends to write in a stream-of-consciousness way. She's an extrovert to my introvertness, and a say-whatever-she-thinks or even say-before-she-thinks kind of person. But I eventually settled down and enjoyed the wild ride through her 7 month experiment.

Jen's purpose statement:
7 will be an exercise in simplicity with one goal: to create space for God's kingdom to break through.
Her method:
I approach this project in the spirit of a fast: an intentional reduction, a deliberate abstinence to summon God's movement in my life. A fast creates margin for God to move. Temporarily changing our routine of comfort jars us off high center. A fast is not necessarily something we offer God, but it assists us in offering ourselves.

By the end of the introduction I was hooked. I, too, wanted God to fill my life. I needed to empty out some stuff. I was eager to hear what she had to stay.

The first two months she did on her own, and the other months they did together as a family. By the end, they were all more intentional on how they lived, consumed, and reached out. It was not an end, but part of a process of loving God and others more.

Here's what she did during the 7 months:
Month 1 - Food: Eating only 7 foods
Month 2 - Clothes: Wearing only 7 items of clothing (underwear didn't count)
Month 3 - Possessions: Give away 7 things every day
Month 4 - Media: Turning off 7 media screens
Month 5 - Waste: Doing 7 habits for a greener life
Month 6 - Spending: Spending money in only 7 places
Month 7 - Stress: Resting, prayer, and observing 7 "Sacred Pauses" each day

Interspersed in the book is research on hunger, poverty, consumption, food production, and so many topics that give validity to the need to simplify our lives. A lot to think about.

Intrigued? I hope you are. I would love to hear that you get the book, read it, and begin to open up more spaces for God to fill.

I (and my stuff) must decrease and He must increase.