Possessions

We're up to discussion chapter 3 of Jen Hatmaker's book, 7.Check out our discussions with Marla on Chapter 3: Possessions.

This was probably on of my favorite chapters....I loved it...I hated it. You see, this particular topic is something God has been doing some corrective love in my heart about for a few years. Years! (I am comforted at times that the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years)

To be totally honest, in our past, my husband and I were really too busy and mostly too lazy to keep up with our stuff the way we should have. We were both working two jobs, we never saw each other and we didn't enjoy much of life. So, what does this have to do with possessions? Our home became last place. We didn't put much effort, time or care into it. Then God started to do stuff.

God did some big stuff. He showed up in ways that are undeniable. The result: we had to really grow up. We made some tough decisions. We had to pack up all our stuff in about 24 hours. It was at this point we were faced with what we had been doing (or...ahem..not doing) in our home. I was overwhelmed with the volume of things that we had collected and the layer of dust and cat hair that had settled upon it. God worked in us and showed us as we sorted and cleaned. We recognized that our lifestyle was keeping us from living out our calling. We saw that by not taking care of what we had we couldn't open our home to others or be available to to be used by Him in the ways we knew he had called us.

So as quickly as we could we purged and sorted. We donated, pitched and gifted. We moved across the country and God gave us an amazing gift. We restarted. His mercies are new and we had a chance to do things differently.

As I've mentioned before, we are on our way to adoption. A new opportunity from God to clear out the unnecessary to make way for His blessing. We have dug deeper through the boxes that remained unpacked for a few years. All the boxes are gone! The stuff that was in the way of people is mostly gone...(we are still in debate over a box or two of VHS tapes...I mean really, we don't even OWN a VCR!!).

This chapter about possessions tied in deeply with much of what happens in chapter 7 Stress. We were too busy to enjoy/take care of what we had. We were too busy because we had to be in order to keep the stuff we had. Crazy, right??

We have been blessed beyond measure since our heart change. We have been able to live out our dream of having people in our home to meet to live out Jesus. We can have college kids come do their laundry with out quarters....and a maybe a meal that doesn't involve ramen.

This heart change has flamed great conversations about how we would like to train up our child(ren) in regard to possessions.

The pain we inflected on ourselves because of our disobedience, our mistrust, our hard-hearted-ness.
God's transforming work...it has been more than worth it.

Thank you, Jesus! Thank you for new mercies and second chances!!

Clothing

     I wasn't sure how this chapter would impact me. The general challenge of this chapter was to examine the excess clothing that soaks up so much of our resources. Jen limited herself to 7 articles of clothing (not including undergarments) for an entire month.
      I'm in no way a "fashionista." I appreciate those who can pull together an outfit that represents their personalities. I'm not really one of those people. I also know that being "plus size" limits my ability to find clothes that are affordable AND fashionable....and addressing the "plus size" is part of what God has worked on in me over the last year or so. But, THAT is another story....I'm sure more of that will come up later.
     Despite not being driven by clothing options I did get some worth while things from this chapter. I still have far more clothing options then I need and certainly have clothes that I don't/can't/won't wear. My pledge is to do the purge!

     Jen writes: “As I gaze upon their hopelessness [the families of her Ethiopian children], I imagine them calculating what I’ve spent on clothing alone, realizing that same amount would’ve kept their family fed and healthy for thirty years.” I've been thinking about this a lot. I recognize that I am blessed so that I may in turn bless others. How horrifying it is to me that it my unnecessarily extravagant living could be used to help others live. I believe that God does immeasurably more in our lives...and the purpose of that is to bring Him glory by blessing others.
     I can choose to adjust my budget so that I can provide relief to someone else. I can choose to be responsible in my clothing choices so that those involved in the process are being treated with dignity.

My goals in this area:
-purge the closets
-buy from socially responsible suppliers
-use what we have before buying new (I see a trend....)

Food

I am a little late on the discussion this week. We've had some big happenings going on at our house. I'm sure I'll blog more about the process soon but we're officially finishing up our home study for domestic adoption.

Anyway.....food.

This was a great chapter to kick things off. I have been, over the last two years, been trying to work on this area of my life. We believe that it is best for us (nutritionally, financially) and our community to buy locally. We like the idea of knowing where are food is grown/raised and the name of people doing the work. We bought our beef directly and we bought into a CSA (community supported agriculture). I highly recommend it! Our CSA is open for us to be part of the fun. There are lots of varieties of CSA arrangements.

So, we addressed the buy local area that we felt God was calling us to. I've felt that there was more. There is the obvious to those who know me in real life that I'm overweight so I know that there is a food issue. I've been working with my doctor to get healthier....and all my numbers in every indicator of health are really improving! I'm trying to keep up the work. Make wise choices. Stop being lazy...which is hard because eating out is so much more fun and easy.

My new goals:
-Use what we have first.
-Shop every 2 weeks.
-Stick to the meal plan.

I've been praying:
O, God,
      We've wasted
             We've complained
                   We've grumbled
      We've misused our resources
      We've confused
              our needs
                    with our wants.
For these sins,
      Father forgive us.
Help us
      reset our priorities
            according to Your will.

Amen.

-Norma Johnson (Lobatse, Botswana) 
(I found this in the More-With-Less Cookbook by Doris Janzin Longacre)

7 - the introduction

Apparently, I'm kind of dense. It is a good thing God is patient. Over and over again for quite a while the idea of simplicity and coming to terms with "enough" has been coming across every area of my life.

Enter 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker.

Okay....so this book...well, God used this book...to MESS ME UP!

Today I've joined several other people with a read-along blog to discuss the book. I had already read the book and was swirling stuff in my head about it so I was excited with Marla announced this for the discussion.

7 is all about:

"Seven months, seven areas, reduced to seven simple choices."

• food
• clothing
• possessions
• media
• waste
• spending
• stress

"7 will be an exercise in simplicity with one goal: to create space for God's kingdom to break through."

I was so excited to read someone else's practical application of how to cut back, live a full life, to believe in the idea of "enough." 

Jen poses the question: "What in my life is just too stinking much?"

I'm asking God about this. I'm listening. I'm praying for a listening heart and his power to be obedient to change it. 

What about you? What is just too stinking much in your life? How are you changing it?

Rearranging

I've had a couple of out dated entries and old blogs that no longer serve the purpose they were created for...so today I've taken some time to get things reorganized. I've deleted some posts and added some posts from other places. So there will likely be a few posted added today.

Also, BIG NEWS for today! I've joined the 7 (by Jen Hatmaker) read-along. Check it out over here. Thanks Marla! AND....welcome fellow 7ers. I'll be posting about that sometime today. Lots of thoughts still swirling around.

Hopefully, you find here a chronicle of my journey. As this grows we will see what happens but I'm looking to develop a few different areas to discuss with the world. I've been "radio silent" for a bit as God has worked through some junk in me. What I would like to talk about here are slices of my God story (and please share yours!).

Thanks for coming back. Please feel free to comment.

He works on us in all sorts of ways. But above all, he works on us through each other. Men are mirrors, or “carriers” of Christ to other men. Ususally it is those who know Him that bring Him to others. That is why the church, the whole body of Christians showing Him to one another, is so important. It is so easy to think that the church has a lot of different objects – education, buildings, missions, holding services…the Church exists for no other purpose but to draw men to Christ. to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose.

- C.S. Lewis

Abundant Living....

I have been thinking a lot during this "frugal" living era about living abundantly....or is it abundant living?
So often I consider how God is so big and extravagant. His grace and mercy are overwhelmingly more than I deserve but he extends more and more to me. I was meditating on Ephesians 3:20 recently: "God can do anything, you know- far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us."
Sometimes I catch myself not living like I believe that this is true. I KNOW God can do anything and he HAS done more than I could have imagined, but there are times when I don't consider what his doing deeply and gently within me. I just boldly step forward without waiting for him to do "anything" rather wanting him to let ME do my thing.

Also, at this weekend retreat one speaker shared about God being the God of enough. While he can do anything, he does provide enough.... The speaker retold the story found in 1 Kings 17 and how God provided enough flour and oil to the woman. She talked about how that woman must have retold the story of the miracle flour and oil every time she saw bread :).

All of this has me thinking of my response to God. Perhaps being "God-ready" means living out to the world the amazing truth of God's enough-ness in my life and truly allowing God to DO anything and getting out my way out of his way.

Lessons from the Vines

Our new-to-us house has some great treasures that we are still discovering. For example, we have had to rip out some walls and the ceiling in the master bed room to fix some damage from a roof leak....we were hoping that a hundred years ago someone might have hidden a few gold bricks or some rare documents from the Civil War or something. We did find something 100 year old insulation!

Don't get me wrong, we LOVE our house. God has blessed us beyond measure. He chose this home for us for this time, no doubt about it. 

Since spring has finally arrived we have been able to find out what kind of botanical treasures are growing in the yard. As the green nubbins have emerged from the bony branches and the verdant tubers pushed through the grass we've waited to see what they'll be when they bloom. What have we discovered so far? rhubarb (one of my favorites), peonies, tulips and my number one favorite flower....lilacs!! Our yard is bursting forth with all kinds of color and fragrances, mostly.

I say mostly because there is this area of our yard that I am pretty sure that Briar Rabbit and his kin dwell. As the weather has warmed up I have started to work on cleaning up, I've dreaded that viney mess. Yesterday I couldn't put it off any longer. Something had to be done. It would seem that this jumble of vines are grape vines....old ones. 

Now I have studied and been taught about the passages in Scriptures about the vines. John 15 comes to mind most clearly. I have always thought about that passage from the perspective of the branches that are being pruned. I have prayed that God would prune away those branches that keep from being abundantly fruitful. I learned somethings from the vines yesterday. 

First, vines are stubborn. They go where they want to go without care or concern that where they are headed are ugly and dangerous. They have these tiny little tendrils that wrap themselves around anything: dead branches, weeds, other plants. There were so tightly holding on to the junk that had to go I had to really cut them up to get them freed. I firmly but gently pushed the vines into the position they needed to be in so that they would support each other rather than weigh each other down. 

I learned that living and fruitful vines come from what looks like dead vines. It made me think of those that are struggling with the past. People who are breaking the patterns of sin that have enslaved generations before them. People who are learning to trust in a God who has been invisible to them and there families for ages. The hope that while we may experience the pain of a sinful legacy, we have a God who delights in a personal relationship and seeks to help us grow even in the face of the impossible. 

There were tons of observations that I made about the vines. Vines and sheep are pretty similar. But the biggest lesson I learned from the vines...the perspective I had never considered much before? The gardner. Pruning those vines was not easy. The Gardner experiences pain in the process. I had always pictured God lovingly snipping out the parts of my life that needed to be removed so that I might be fruitful. Imagine the gardeners at Disney that sculpt foliage into characters and whimsy. But after my own experience that picture has changed. He is still the loving gardner but His body is bruised and cut in the process of making me fruitful. He is in the jumble with me. I had to stand inside the vines to really know what had to go and what had to stay. He lovingly, with great passion and sacrifice prunes my character to become fruitful. 

I know this was a long post today. I have a great deal to think about this....I'm sure there is more to consider. What have you learned from the vines? What is God cutting or cultivating in your character?