An Ode to Jen Hatmaker

Oh, Jen. I know we could be best friends if we lived closer, but right now, I'm wishing I had never read your book or heard your name!

I read Seven: The Experimental Mutiny Against Excess this summer and it rocked my world. Since diving into it, I have been purging things from my cabinets and closets (and secretly from all the toys my boys just haaaaddd to have) for months. But, friends, this just got real.

I began to talk to two dear friends a week or so ago about "doing" Seven...maybe not to the 30-day extreme that Jen did (I mean, she IS Jen Hatmaker), but at least taking baby steps. We've now grown to a group of six (we really need one more crazy girl to join us to make it a complete seven!)!

So, five of my sweet (Read: craziest) friends have come on board to do this thing with me. We're doing seven days instead of 30 but we're doing it, nonetheless. We have reserved the right to repeat a week, if necessary.

Food is first. We started yesterday. I chose to "give up" seven things while most everyone else chose to only eat seven things. I felt like "giving up" things would be more beneficial for me (from what perspective, I'm not sure. Blah.) since these seven things make up, well, 90% of my daily caloric intake.

It's Day Two of Food Week; if someone came near me with a Dr. Pepper right now, I might attack them. You've been warned.

Here they are:

1. Dr. Pepper
2. Chocolate
3. Cheese
4. Candy
5. Chips
6. Sweet Tea
7. French Fries

(Don't judge. I have serious vegetable issues, people.)

When I told my dear, sweet, and oh-so-supportive husband, he said, "Can you just eat those things?" After receiving "the look," he responded with, "Really? Dr. Pepper? I think you should reconsider this."

So, here I am, almost 48 hours in and here's what I've learned thus far...

1. I drink waaaayyy too much Dr. Pepper...says the girl popping Aleve because her head is pounding.

2. I eat a lot of junk. It's really amazing I'm not fatter than I am.

3. I am resistant to change...especially when it involves cutting cheese out of my life.

4. I am ungrateful and selfish. Seriously. Instead of focusing on the millions of options to stave off my hunger (options my five sweet friends do not have!), I've been focused on what I CAN'T have...this is pretty much the story of my life.

God has poured out blessings upon blessings on me and my family. Yet, I continue to chase after what I can't have...what I WANT that will "make me happy" instead of being grateful and appreciative for what I have already been blessed with.

And herein lies problem. Just like with food, in my life I am constantly wanting more or something different or oftentimes, things I don't need that are - more often than not - bad for me. I have found myself constantly trying to fill any void in my life - the void can only be filled by daily and deliberate time with Him - with junk.

Yeah. This week is going to be big for me. I've already found myself face down in prayer asking for strength not to eat a bag of potato chips several times...and it's just Day Two.

So, my dear friend Jen, you've got me. You've got me started on a path I don't really want to go down, I'll be honest. But I'm here and I've got five amazing friends here with me willing to let God have His way in our lives and with our stuff.

Let's do this...