7 One Month In

I meant to write more often than I did in month one.  Things got crazy, and since I'm not a professional writer; I made the choice to put the writing to the side.

May was the coldest and wettest May in the history of Colorado.  Sometime during the second week I changed my seven to eight and added a jacket.  The day with snow, winds above 40 mph, and temps hovering in the teens forced my hand.  So, my seven was an eight.  My gym shorts also broke (tie string snapped), so I swapped those out for pajama bottoms.  I considered dropping the PJ's to keep things at a clean seven, but we just got two teen girls in the house (currently fosters, but praying for forever kiddos), and the thought of me sitting on the couch in my boxers while my one pair of jeans washed sounded like fodder for CPS, so we went to eight.

I realized that the spirit of minimization needs to be flexible, and if I were to hold too strongly to a number I would be legalistic in my approach instead of allowing God's grace to change my heart.  He's not after a number, he's after me.

So, month one is done.  We went 28 days juggling 7/8 items of clothing.  At the start I was very self-conscious about the move, and was sure that people would begin commenting on my very small rotation of t-shirts, but nobody said a thing.  As far as I know, the only people that noticed were those people I confessed to, and they were more amused than anything else.

I watched my pile of shirts and pants sit in my drawers and closet, and I didn't miss them at all.  I have never been a big spender on clothing, so this was not a huge stretch for me, but I realized that I've spent way too much on clothing.  I've been dragging clothes across the country in the defense that I "may need them."  I have clothes that fit me 40 pounds ago, and I don't for-see a time coming up where I'll suddenly put on my pregnancy weight again.

At the end of the month Kate read a post online which said that the personal storage industry is the fastest growing in the country.  More real estate is used for extra storage than any other purpose.  Every person in the United States could fit under the collective roofing of our out of home storage.  Ugh.

At the same time, there are people in this country who are cold, hungry, unable to keep the heat on, or even pay for a place to live.  And we spend money to store things that we will probably never touch, but will drag all over the country in case we may need the things that we've most likely forgotten about.



I am ready to give things away, and look forward to that month.  The day after we finished our clothing focus I put on a different tee shirt and felt extravagant.  I wore another shirt yesterday.  Today I'm back into my black tee, and I feel better.  I did wear my hat, but beyond that I looked like I did all month.  I have enough tee shirts to get me through a couple of weeks.  I have a closet full of dress clothes that I wear only 2-3 times per year at most.

I'm not sure what we are going to do in a couple of weeks.  I think this month was probably the easiest, and God did amazing things with my heart.  I'm nervous about what comes next, but am more excited to be changed by grace.

7 Day 6

I have officially worn all of my clothes.  Yesterday was cold and rainy, and my decision to trade the jacket for a belt was called into question, but we made it through.  When I made the choice to go with the belt I understood that there could even be snow, but that's okay.

Yesterday during the cold my initial response was to think about how cold I was, but almost immediately, my thought turned to those people who were waking up cold every day.  For me the act of leaving my coat at home is an act of intentionalality, but there are millions of people who do not get the luxury of choice.  While I was walking through the parking lot to my heated office my heart and prayer went out to those who were cold, hungry, scared and scarred.

When I turn my thoughts away from me and onto those people God calls us to love most deeply the rain, wind and cold don't cut so deep.


I imagined the clothing month would be extremely easy for me, but six days in, I find myself being self-conscious about my repeating wardrobe.  I worry that people will notice and think something about me (I have no idea what they'd think, but that's beside the point).  I didn't realize how much my slightly larger rotating wardrobe had ingrained itself into my self perception.  Now, I generally have one shirt on top of the pile, one on, and another hanging in the closet or in the laundry.  The other 15-20 tee shirts sit gathering dust.  Do I really need a closet full of shirts, dress pants, jeans, and a nearly full armour holding my tee shirts, socks, underwear, winter clothes, dress socks, sweaters, concert clothes (yes, I have them), and whatever else is in there?

I don't spend much on clothing, and most of what I have has holes and is very old, but it is still sickening to think of the money spent on clothes that are rarely worn.

My prayer is for a heart change, a life priority shift from the trappings of comfort and possessions, to a life of extravagant giving.  I want this family to be seen as mildly crazy for our generosity.

Lord, this is yours.  Use these next few weeks and months to rock this home.

7 Day 3

Day 3 officially begins.  Only one change made so far ... the sweater has been dropped in exchange for a short sleeve polo shirt.  So, nothing to cover my arms for the month of May.  This is a gamble since it snowed last year on Mother's Day, but there is also a risk with the sweater - mainly that I would alternate between two tee's while the sweater collects dust in the closet.  It was really hot yesterday, and will remain so all week.  I can deal with cold, but the idea of a black sweater in 80 degree sunshine sounds horrid.

Yesterday was my first real opportunity to ditch this exercise or commit.  The dishwasher soap opened up in the car when Kate was coming home from the store.  In the cleanup process I got a bunch of it on my one pair of jeans, and that soon dried into a white mess on the front of my new dark denim.  We had church coming at us, so I could have sneakily swapped the jeans for a less marred pair.  Nobody but me would have known.  I have to admit it was tempting.  I mean, what would people think of a man who went to church in a gray tee shirt and dirty jeans?!?

I stuck with the jeans - nobody noticed.

It felt so teen-agey to be worried about what people may think of my jeans.  I know that I would not notice another man's pants, but for some reason I picture the other men of the church worried about the state of my jeans.  Sheesh.

So much energy spent on worry about the outside while the inside is left unattended.  The inside is the soil that God is focused on, that is the garden he is tending for us.  We groom, buy, and primp so we can put on a show at church (our show is pretty weak even without the dirty jeans, but it still crossed my mind, so is an issue), then we get there and by-and-large avoid making any contact with any people there.  We've been going to this church for over a year, and hardly know a person.  I forget names before I hear them, and check the box off of my weekly to-do list.  Is that what church and community is supposed to be?


All of the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord's Supper), and to prayer.

A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.  And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity - all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

-- Acts : 42-47

I need to get over myself.  Church is for community.  If we are there just to feel good about ourselves we are not there for the right reason.  Lord, change my heart.  Give me courage to engage, and truly invest and trust your people.

7 Begins

Jen Hatmaker wrote a book called Seven.  It is a book about an intentional rebellion from the excess that by-and-large defines the American life-style.  We live in a world where luxuries are considered needs, and to meet these "needs" we ignore the struggles and true need of others.

Seven is an exercise in saying "no" to the excess around us.  It is 7 months with 7 fasts.  Each month we will restrict ourselves to 7 items for one month.  During this time we will use our discomfort as a reminder that what we define as "needs," and allow God to work on our hearts to align our priorities with those that Jesus taught his followers to meet.

The seven months are clothing, food, spending, media, possessions, waste, and stress.

Month 1 is clothing:

Seven items of clothing for an entire month.  There are many families who get by with less, but looking at my closet and drawers, I am a little stressed about the idea of leaving most of my clothing tucked away.  I am also a little disgusted with how much I have that I never wear, but we will probably deal with that when we get to the possessions month.  The second stressful part is that we live in Colorado where the weather can swing from freezing to hot in 20 seconds, and I've decided that I need to wear a belt more than I need a jacket, so it could be chilly (but at least my pants will stay up).

Here are the items I'm wearing this month:
1 Pair Jeans
Shoes (2 pair - jogging and work)
Belt
Running Shorts (also work as pajamas)
Black sweater
Black "Champion" Tee Shirt
Gray Frigidaire Tee Shirt

That's it.  Socks and underwear don't count - we get to wear socks and underwear.  The only jewelry I'm wearing is my wedding band.  No hats, watches, headphones, sunglasses ... nothing else.

When I feel uncomfortable or self-conscious I will try to reflect on those people who go through every day with only one set of clothes.  I will remember that Jesus did not come here to bring me comfort, but to give life.

I have no idea what will happen over the next 7 months, but I am excited to see what kind of heart change the Spirit brings into our lives.  I am tired of living in a bubble of greed.  The culture of consumption and excess is sickening, and is so very far from the vision that was the church of Acts.

Lord, this is your time.  Use it for your purposes.  Let us be changed and reflect the life that you desire, and not the life that our culture calls us to live.