Cutting down.

Recently, I've been reading this book and, in the words of the author, it messed me up. Man, that would sound so much better said in her Texan accent. I appreciate that 'messed me up' sounds a bit destructive/harmful/messy but really, I mean it in a good way. See, Jen Hatmaker's '7' is all about how excessive our lives can be. When I first picked up (ahem...downloaded...Kindle for Iphone...21st century people!) this book, I thought it would be properly funny as she's one of my favourite and most humorous bloggers. It is. But it's also deeply challenging.

Her main point is that, so often, Christians get caught up in the consumer culture of the West and she notes that it's a far cry from what Jesus calls us to and a poor substitute to life as it should be. I do sociology at uni (which you probably know) and the word consumerism pops up nearly as much as Weber and Marx WHICH IS A LOT. But, actually, how does it relate to me? Am I part of this massive consumerism mess?

I'm trying (and failing) to read more this year, and for some reason unbeknown to me, I often read Christian books. The thing is though, I so often read them like a novel, not thinking about what they say or how they apply. So, I might have mentally asked God to help me actually take this one on board. The craziness (in a good way) that I'm about to embark on is the result!

Jen Hatmaker decides to spend seven months cutting down on various things (like possessions, food, social media --- eeek!) to trim her lifestyle and she might have, subconsciously, convinced me to do it with her. WHAT?! Well, technically, I'm gonna cheat and do seven weeks. I'm not doing this to show people how incredibly super holy I am (because I'm not!). Seriously, one of the things that she cuts down on is food and I'm already having nightmares! Expect lots of 'midnight Mcdonalds runs' to occur that week! To be honest, I'm not really sure why I'm doing this but something about what she did and how she changed inspired me so I'm about to give it a go! Watch this space :)