7 - Book Review and GIVEAWAY!

I have been excited about this book release for months and was so excited to get to review a copy for you guys. 

I knew Jen Hatmaker many years ago when we went to OBU together. Then, for mine and Big Daddy's 10th anniversary, we went on a cruise and Jen and her husband were on there too. Talk about a small world! Running into her again after all those year, led me to look her up on facebook to stay in touch. She has several other great devotions but this book was different. Watching her live it out on facebook, and knowing how hilarious she is, made me more excited to read 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess.

In 2011, Jen and her family embarked on a 7 month journey towards simplicity. She decided to intentionally reduce 7 areas in their lives in order to make more room for Jesus and His work. The 7 areas were: food, clothes, possessions, media, waste, spending, and stress. They tackled one area a month and this book is a humble journal of her thoughts and discoveries during this time. There are so many things that hit home with me that I can't even begin to do the book justice (which is why I am excited to be giving away a copy of it to one of you!). I found myself agreeing with and "virtually highlighting" so many things as I read along. Here are a few of my faves:

• "At some point, the church stopped living the Bible and decided to just study it...."
• "So when I say I don't have time, I'm a gigantic liar. I have time. I just spend it elsewhere."
• "We've invented a thousand shades of gray, devising a comfortable Christian existence we can all live with; super awesome, except the Bible doesn't support it."
• "Sometimes the best way to bring good news to the poor is to bring actual good news to the poor. It appears a good way to bring relief to the oppressed is to bring real relief to the oppressed. It's almost like Jesus meant what He said. When you are desperate, usually the best news you can receive is food, water, shelter."

Ouch. I love Jen's honest critique of herself and her family. I also love that this book isn't written to make you feel guilty or as a cookie cutter answer to the world's problems. She truly has a heart for the "least of these".  Noticing her excess and making reductions was done in a spirit of repentance. This project opened HER eyes, and through her sharing, MY eyes to our excess in so many areas. How many times have we said we have nothing to wear or eat when our closets and pantries are overflowing? How many times do we not have time to go serve the needy when we waste hours on TV and facebook? It's embarrassing, really. We have so much and are so blessed.  It's time to take notice and then use our "excess" to bring actual good news to the poor and oppressed.

I could go on and on about this (and likely will in the next few months as changes begin to take place in the E household!), but let's get to the giveaway...I received a copy of this awesome book from the publisher to give away to one of you. WooHoo! All you have to do is follow my blog publicly (click the button at the right...hey, everyone wants more followers so I'm totally taking advantage of this!) and post a comment below. Easy peasy! I'll close the comments on Friday night and have the kids pick a random winner on Saturday.

Whether you win or not, go read this book and be ready to have your eyes opened!