thinking. deep thinking.

Every since arriving home from the 2:1 Conference I’ve been in this state of catchup – catch-up on laundry, on cleaning, on rediscovering the floor in the little boys room, on reorganizing the garage, the schoolbooks, on and on and on. Honestly, deep down, it’s felt like too much. Well, seriously, it is too much. Too much stuff. Then, in my facebook feed a fellow blog that I follow shows up {a moment cherished} and has this one word in it’s title that catches my eye. Seven.

Curious, I sit down, in front of the computer during a time when I don’t normally use the computer. {Yes, I have boundaries and limits on media time. I want my children to see my face, not the top of my laptop lid…grin} I sat there and started reading – the little were downstairs playing, olders on the swings, and the real olders cleaning up the kitchen – and I just read.

I read her words about this book 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess and then clicked to the author of that book, Jen Hatmaker’s blog. Convicted. Totally convicted.

I’m living in excess. Too much, too much, too much. I’ve become immune, numbed to this constant culture of needing. And all of that numbing, that gathering of things, I’ve realized pulls away from me as a parent. I have to clean and manage rooms bursting with too many things to do. Oh, I can hear the argument in my brain, but you might use it someday or how will you replace it or it was a gift. Yeah, yeah, yeah, all true. But buying these lies has gradually begun to suffocate all the freedom out of the room, in our time, and in our family.

Instead of being intentional and interacted many times I’ve found myself intentional about cleaning. Sorting. Organizing. Complaining. All of which pushes me, the lone mom, into overwhelm.

Overwhelm, as an emotion, tells me that something needs to change. That stuff? Excess. I don’t think it was a coincidence that I pulled up the very inspiring blog a moment cherished this evening and then proceeded to read in a very calm and quiet house Jen Hatmaker’s blog. And it was convicting – so convicting that several times I’d stop reading, get Todd’s attention, and then read aloud what I read.

I don’t know what I’ll think of the book, or where it will lead, and all of that.

I do know that I am going to be ordering the book. And I do know that I will begin to intentionally remove stuff from our home. Creating breathing space. I don’t think I’ll follow everything – living without gluten is already such a discipline – but who knows, who knows what might really happen.

Here’s the book link. And please know {in full disclosure} that I’m an amazon affiliate so if you purchase the book I’ll get some pennies, but also know that those pennies help fund this blog, which I love to write, but stay up late many many nights doing it. So I truly do appreciate that help.

And that’s it for today. Have any of you read Jen Hatmaker’s book Seven? Thoughts? Opinions? I’d love to hear your impressions as well.

I do know I’ll be doing a little bit of decluttering today….

rachel

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