Step Away from the Screens

Yesterday, I shared one of the biggest lessons Iearned during the month of our media fast. It wasn't sexy, cool, or hip. And it certainly wasn't easy, which is why I suppose it wasn't very popular.

That was just a sliver of what I want to share about my month without media. I've been asked by a few people if my time away was "productive" and what I did with all my extra time. If you missed yesterday's post, though, you're missing the heart of everything I'm about to say.

First of all, you should know this past month was different than I expected it would be.

I didn't read 1,000 books, though I certainly had the time to. Instead, I was stuck on a single book, and became pretty frustrated with reading after about a week. Sometimes, I'm too tired to read (I'll fall asleep after a page or two), so this was pretty demotivating for me as I was deciding what to do with my time. In retrospect, I should have been reading more than one book at a time, but it's not something I typically do, so it didn't happen.

I also didn't completely avoid the internet or TV. Our living situation didn't lend itself to a total, 100% fast from media like I desired. Instead of moving into our own house at the beginning of the fast, like we expected to, we are still not moved in at this point. Everything which could have gone wrong with our move has. Things are finally starting to move along (pun most definitely intended), but we currently are still waiting for our house to be livable.

So, since we weren't living in our own place, able to control whether or not media was playing through the TV, we still watched some TV and movies with friends and family. We never watched alone, because we knew we had control over at least that much. But after about a day or two of pretending I wasn't watching Dora with my 2 year old nephew, I gave in.

We decided we couldn't control our family and force them not to watch TV and suffer with us. This doesn't mean we would “suggest” what our family watched, either. We let them watch whatever they decided to watch, without our suggestions or influence.

So, no, I didn't watch any basketball during the fast - turns out I'm the only one who enjoys it in a house full of females (shocker!). Instead, if I watched TV, it was along the lines of Dora, Go Diego Go, Glee, or Private Practice (my family’s shows of choice, in case there was any doubt).

Also, we checked our e-mails frequently (which we had planned on doing), and I used the internet to play games while I took medicine. I had always played games while taking my medicine before this fast started, and I needed some kind of motivation to continue spending 30 minutes twice a day inhaling a medicine which tastes like soap. Trust me, you’d need the motivation, too.

I did start writing a book. But before you get your hopes up, allow me to shoot them down. Because I did also decide to stop working on it during this month as well. I put a lot of time and thought into this project, and decided this isn’t the right place or time. For starters, I expected to be spending most of this month alone in my new house, with very little to do and lots of space to think and write.

Instead, what I was given was a 4 bedroom house with 7 people living in it. This has its upsides and its downsides, and one of the big downsides is a lack of space. This means there was very little down time to think and write during our past month.

Now this sounds like an excuse, and really, it is. But I think God had us living with my family for this time not so I could push them away, but so I could more fully invest in them. I suspect this will be one of the last times we ever live with them (unless they move in with us one day), so I didn’t want to remember it as a time where I was constantly trying to get away and make my own space where there was none.

In addition to the issue of space, I have my own more personal reasons for quickly discontinuing the writing of a book. I’ll share those with you in a future post, because I think they merit their own time and thought. Suffice it to say I didn’t come to this decision easily. If you’d like to know more about what I was writing about, feel free to ask – I’d love to share, anyway!

By the end of this fast, I expected to be dying to regain internet access. Turns out reentering cyberspace after a month of absence is a little stressful – at least it was for me. Think of it like this: you’ve had your license to drive for a few years, and suddenly, it’s revoked for 5 years. Then, one day, you get it back and are asked to drive the Autobahn. You’d be a little stressed too. (Okay, so the analogy isn’t perfect. Work with me here, people.)

So forgive me if I haven’t been as interactive as I usually am. I wiped my Google Reader clean of quite a few blogs – this doesn’t say so much about those blogs as it does about me. I was simply overwhelmed by how much I “needed” to read and I realized I didn’t enjoy it much anymore.

I also haven’t turned Twitter back on my phone, so I haven’t been replying or retweeting many people. I’m sure I will soon, but I’ll most likely cut down the number of people I receive tweets to my phone from as well. Prior to our month of fasting from media, I discovered my little “dumb” phone (aka, non-smartphone) gets upwards of 10,000 texts per month! This. Is. A. Problem. So forgive me if I don’t reply or retweet you as often as I usually do. I promise I’m still here and I’m still reading your awesomeness. It's just that I can only handle so much awesome at once.

Consider escaping from the internet
for even an hour today!

Moving forward, I want to be intentional about spending less time with my laptop and TV, and more time with the people sitting around me. I can’t emphasize this enough. We’re addicted to our screens and ignoring what really matters, people. And we wonder why this world is so messed up.

Let go of your pride, stop saying, “Not me!” and ‘fess up. And then do something about it. It doesn’t mean that you have to fast from seven types of media for a month. But maybe that is what you need.

Whatever you do, though, don’t walk away from this post without doing something. Even simply acknowledging your addiction to the internet or television to yourself is better than nothing.

From here, move forward, deciding to intentionally spend less time with yourself and your computer or TV, and more time with people. You’ll be less lonely, you’ll probably sleep better at night (studies have shown that over-exposure to screens that lead to varying degrees of insomnia), and the quality of your relationships will increase dramatically.

Meanwhile, your Klout score or your Alexa ranking might suffer, but really, who cares? Does it really matter how many pageviews your blog had last month? Will it really matter if people on the internet forget you exist for a week or two? Are you really so important that we shouldn’t forget about you from time to time? In the grand scheme of things, will it matter whether you had 1-2% less followers?

Because that’s the only difference I’ve seen in my blog after I’ve been gone for a month. And frankly, I don’t think God is going to judge me based on my sphere of influence. I don’t think I’ll be chided for having 1-2% less influence than I could’ve had. If my focus is on the people who are around me on a daily basis, I can’t go wrong.

Step away from the screens, people. It's time to wane ourselves off of cyberspace and reality shows. It's time to realize there's a real world around us with real people who have real problems. And as it turns out, they could really use our help. If only we weren't glued to our precious screens, we could look up and see what's really going on around us and start truly living real life.

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Questions: Have you ever considered whether you're addicted to screens? What good can come from the internet or television? What bad can come from the internet or television? How have you worked to wane yourself off of depending on screens? What other thoughts do you have on this topic?

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I'd appreciate you subscribing to Life Before the Bucket and sharing it with your friends. Thanks a million for reading!

image credit - michaelaw - sxc.hu

An Announcement and a Giveaway!

Beginning today, May 11th, both my wife and I will be unplugging from the world for a month.

This is a part of our challenge with 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess. 

I know, I know - how ever will we survive?

We're still checking e-mail, so if you need to get a hold of me, that's one way. Or there's thing thing called a phone, and I think they still actually make phone calls. So if you know us personally, you can get a hold of us the old-fashioned way.

Meanwhile, this blog will be silent for a month. Trust me, it hurts me more than it hurts you.

But, as incentive to stick around, I'll be holding the Longest Giveaway Ever.

image credit: Avolore - sxc.hu

It's pretty simple. I'll be using Rafflecopter for this one, so check out the widget below this post to enter! Here are the prizes:

1  - $25 Amazon Gift Card

1 - Free-For-All Guest Post (by you!) on Life Before the Bucket (Anything goes!)

1 - Free Guest Post from Me About Anything You Please

1 - Month of Free Advertising

The contest ends at 12:01 AM on June 11th. I will be announcing the winners that morning, Monday, June 11th (one month from now!).

However, there's a catch: I won't go looking for you - you'll have to get in contact with me to claim your prize! This is a way to ensure that some people don't just go looking for a free prize without any interaction or contribution. Plus, it's a nice way to make sure at least 4 people don't abandon ship in the next month!

So there you have it! Get to entering in this contest! And remember, you can tweet about it everyday for the next month to REALLY help your chances!

And, by the way, thanks SO much to those of you who would be willing to stick around anyway. You guys mean the world to me. Can't wait to be back!

P.S. - Rumor has it that I might start writing a book during this month! You'll have to come back in a month to see if the rumor is true or not!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Less is More

Even though I'm a bit belated with updating you, our journey through 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess has continued. A quick summary to catch you up on our mutiny thus far:

Month 1: We pray seven times a day and take the Sabbath seriously. This actually causes us to bald and don robes, essentially making us monks. We eventually give up the monastic life because we hear they don't have Internet.

Month 2: We only eat seven foods for a month. My foods: rice, black beans, fish, peanut butter, spinach, pears, and coffee. My wife's foods: rice, black beans, spinach, apples, bananas, oatmeal, and almonds. By the end of this month, we crave anything and everything that is and isn't edible. We will never do that again (insert foot in mouth).

This brings us to Month 3, which we recently completed. Compared to Month 2, Month 3 was a walk in the park. We chose to don only seven pieces of clothing. This caused us to look like one of two things: bums or college students. Turns out we looked just about the same as usual.

Now I know what you're thinking: seven pieces of clothing for a month straight?! Crazy talk. Personally, I thought it sounded a little weird, too, but as long as I was allowed to eat whatever I wanted, I was okay with doing just about anything.

So we went about our month, wearing only seven clothes, which, thanks to the summer that briefly visited us in March, was relatively painless. I was only caught in the rain without a jacket once. And I was forced to shower every 24 hours because I couldn't wear a hat to school (which sounds ridiculous, but it was a pain!).

You know what the weirdest part of the entire month was? Nobody noticed or cared that I had barely changed clothes for four weeks straight. Not a single person. Not even me, frankly.

And in case you missed that, allow me to reiterate: nobody cared. It turns out that we're all so focused on ourselves that we could care less about whether or not someone wears the same clothes repeatedly over and over (and over) again. Now, granted, we're college students, and our "fashion lives" are mostly non-existent. But I suspect this would've been the case wherever I went.

This only fueled my fire for the fourth month of our experimental mutiny: I was ready to ditch every piece of clothing I had except those seven. Thankfully, my wife stopped me from completely abandoning my dresser and closet full of clothes (one of the many reasons I married her).

But, seriously, it just amazed me how much attention, time, and money we give to our wardrobe selection. We think, "Oh, I have to look just perfect, otherwise people will make fun of me." Nope, not true at all. Not even a little. The real truth that all of those department stores won't tell you is this: we're all so inwardly focused and self-conscious that we don't pay nearly as much attention to way others appear as we think we do. And that's a good thing.

Meanwhile, as I have a pair of shoes for every outfit, people all over the world (and even in our own country) are wearing shoes that don't fit and are causing them pain. Or, even worse, they're wearing no shoes at all, which causes them to cut and bruise themselves on a daily basis. And, in a worst case scenario, they don't have access to a tetanus vaccine and become direly sick as a result of stepping on rusty metal in one way or another.

Thinking about this was all the motivation I needed to purge my closet for Month 4. Even as a guy, I own entirely too many clothes. Maybe it was the fact that I grew up surrounded by women, but I've put way too much emphasis on how I look. And it turns out that the very one who I should by trying to please doesn't even take a second glance at how I appear! It turns out that he's more interested in how I clothe my heart. God wants us to adorn ourselves with himself, not with clothing that reflects even more of myself to me (since it seems nobody else cares what I look like).

And don't even get me started on the fact that by buying certain brands of clothing, we're supporting modern-day slavery. I don't know nearly enough about sweatshops, but I do know that they exist and that they support our extravagant way of living. You can turn a blind eye if you'd like, but that won't stop the reality that is our backwards way of life. It's almost like the Hunger Games, except that it's real. We're the Capitol, and they're our peons, slaving away so that we can pretend to fulfill our imagined needs (which are never fulfilled, like, ever). And that's terrifying, especially if we're seeking to live our lives to the fullest. We should never seek our pleasure at the expense of another's livelihood. 

So if you take anything away from our mutiny against excess, take this: our way of life is wrong. We're a slave to the machine that tries to sell us on the fact that bigger is better, and more is even better than that. The real truth? Less is more. So do us all a favor: vote with the dollars you do have and choose to unplug yourself from the machine of extravagance and excess. Do it for just a month. Or a week. Or even a day.

You'll quickly realize how little having every piece of clothing you want matters. Or how little some others have, while all we want is more, more, more. And all the while, our Savior beckons us all, whether we're dressed well or not, calling us to lay aside everything we have - to literally drop it all, because following him requires everything we have and everything he wants, and not everything he has and everything we want. 

... ... ...

Questions: Are you self-conscious about the clothes you wear? Do you think others would notice if you started wearing the same clothes over and over again? What areas of excess do you need to trim in order to truly be able to follow Jesus?

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I'd appreciate you subscribing to Life Before the Bucket and sharing it with your friends. Thanks a million for reading!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. I will be compensated if you choose to purchase anything through these referral links.

Why People Go Hungry

On Friday, I returned to being a normal, over-indulgent American. Our second month of 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess is finally complete.

Not sure what I'm talking about? Check out the post that started it all.

I drank my coffee with sugar and milk (and rejoiced!).

I ate sweets. Lots and lots of sweets. Also, lots and lots of processed foods.

And pizza. Oh, sweet nectar of life. I missed pizza.

You see, we went the last month only eating seven foods. And if that sounds crazy, it is.

Here's what I've been eating: brown rice, black beans, spinach, pears, fish, peanut butter, and coffee.

And here's what my wife was eating: brown rice, black beans, spinach, apples, bananas, almonds, and oatmeal.

Needless to say, we won't touch these foods with a ten-foot pole for the next week.

As with our first month, when we simplified stress in our lives, I've learned a lot from my experience. Simplifying food was not easy.

First of all, it became painfully obvious to us that we mostly live to cook/eat and not eat to live. Now, I could be wrong when I say this (I haven't actually researched it enough to know), but I suspect that humans are the only race that does this. And thus, we're the only race that suffers as a result of what we eat.

It's mind-boggling, really, how much money we spend on a monthly basis for food that ends up in the toilet. In effect, you might as well take the $150 per person (or more - that's the low end) that you spend on food and toss it down the drain, because that's what we're doing. And if that seems absurd to you, realize that we are doing exactly that by dedicating so much of our time and resources to something that ultimately ends up in the sewer.

I suspect that when I see this very problem in me, it's a sign of sickness. I was never meant to spend my life living to eat. For crying out loud, we have entire networks of television and schools of higher education dedicated to what we flush down the drain every day! As I progressed through the last month, I really wrestled with the fact that I was angry that I could only have my coffee black or that I always had smoothies for lunch and rice, beans, and fish for dinner.

Personally, I'm ashamed that I ever felt that way. To be so ungrateful for what we're blessed with is an attitude opposed to my very way of life. There's nothing fulfilling or satisfying about a negative, angry, ungrateful stance toward what we've been given.

More importantly, I learned about how ridiculous it is that so many people are hungry in the world. Here's an infographic from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to whet your taste:

If that doesn't make you angry, confuse you, or sadden you, then you need to do some serious soul-searching. It's bone-chilling to think that nearly a billion people around the world were considered "hungry" in 2010. And that was only two years ago - the problem hasn't become any better since then.

Just think about this for a moment: if the hungry were a nation, that nation would be three times the size of the United States. It would be a need too great to ignore.

Instead, though, the hungry are everywhere. They're so dispersed that it seems like a minor blip on the radar of world issues at hand. However, there's no denying that this is a major problem. Essentially, one in six people in the world does not have access to a sufficient amount of food.

This especially weighed on my heart through my food month of the 7 challenge. Rice and beans were the staples of most of our meals, and we became sick of them quickly. Now we can have fun and joke about eating the same thing for a month straight and how sickening it sounds, but can you imagine not even having the ability to eat for a month straight?

The worst part about all of this? Rice and beans are cheap. Dirt, dirt, dirt cheap. Even in the United States, where the cost of living is exponentially higher than in other undeveloped countries, these essential food items are basically free (especially when compared to our more preferred foods - beef or chicken, amongst other things).

Since these foods are cheap, this means that there is an abundance of them and that they're cheap to grow as well. To me, that raises a red flag. You're telling me that I can pay a few dollars for a bag of beans and decently sized bag of rice, but nearly a billion people around the world are starving to death? I don't know if you've noticed, but something doesn't add up here.

Last week, I wrote about my recently completed senior paper on social justice, and how I learned about the importance of caring for the fatherless. However, something that was even more prominent in my studies was the concern we are supposed to have for those who are poor.

God expresses that his will is that there should be no one who is poor in this world. And while it seems like a contradiction, God understands that we, as people, suck. And because we suck, there are going to be poor among us; in fact, Jesus says they will always be with us. So what do we do?

I suspect you know the answer already, but it's simple. God lays it out in four easy steps for us.

Steps 1: Don't be a jerk. Don't harden your heart.

Don't know what it means to have a "hard" heart or a "closed" hand? It's simple, really. If you can look at the infographic I referred to earlier and not be affected, your heart is hard.

Step 2: Keep not being a jerk. Don't close your hand.

Now maybe you were affected by that infographic and it burdens you to think about the poor among us in the world. So your heart isn't necessarily hard. But is your hand "closed?" There's an easy way to see this.

If, when you're affected by statistics like that or pictures or descriptions of the poor in the world, you hurt for those people, you have a healthy heart. However, if your first thought after, "That sucks," is, "Well, I can't help them out - I don't have enough money," then you're closing your hand.

While it may be true that you yourself are poor and can hardly afford to give to those who have not, God honors those who give out of their poverty.

Step 3: Admit you were wrong. Open your hand.

This one is simple. Acknowledge that you might actually have a lot more money than others in this world. And while I don't know every single person that reads Life Before the Bucket, I suspect that the majority of this demographic is much, much richer than many others in the world. We're richer than we know. Admitting that we're part of the problem is the first step to a solution.

Step 4: Give.

How hard is this, really? The instructions are the simplest out of any of the steps. Why do we make it so painful?

Now, don't get me wrong. Eradicating poverty isn't simple. There are dozens of organizations who are feeding those without food who will quickly tell you that the solution isn't as simple as a redistribution of wealth. However, if we never give, how could we ever expect the poor to receive the help they so desperately need?

And while you may be wary of giving to charities, there are ways to ensure that you're giving toward a worthwhile cause. Charity Navigator is one organization who helps charities to remain transparent in their finances. This allows us, who give to them, to see where our money is being spent. I highly suggest taking a look at CN's website and finding a charity that meets your expectations.

And so here we are, left with a choice. Harden your heart and close your hand, or soften your heart and give generously. It seems our excuses are exhausted, while the need is ever-growing. Will you, then, consider dedicating yourself to this cause? Help feed those who can't afford a bag of beans and a bag of rice to feed their children. Help those who are so poor that they live on less than $1 a day.

Join us in getting over ourselves and helping others today. Don't be part of the reason why a billion people are going hungry today.

... ... ...

Questions: Were you aware of how many people in the world are going hungry? What has your attitude in the past been toward these people? How will that change now that you're more aware? What charities do you support that are part of the solution to this need?


Did you enjoy this post? If so, I'd appreciate you subscribing to Life Before the Bucket and sharing it with your friends. Thanks a million for reading

Treasuring the Sabbath

So a few weeks ago, I mentioned the book 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker.

You know, the very Jen Hatmaker who is ruining my life.

Yeah, that one.

Well, today I want to continue talking about this book, because it's messed me up (the newest catchphrase at our school).

We started the book with the last chapter, which sounds weird to begin with, but don't worry - it only gets weirder. The chapter we started with was about stress. For the last month, we have been pausing seven times a day for prayer, to remember who we are and whose we are.

Okay, so I sucked at waking up at midnight. Super sucked. So maybe it was more like six times a day.

Now I haven't decided if I'm going to keep pausing now that I'm out of the stress month. Something tells me I might need to, though, because the next month we're doing deals with food.

Here's the thing though: I really like food. And my wife. She's not only beautiful, but she's a great cook too - and I didn't even know that when I married her! Heck, I don't even think she knew it!

But to go an entire month only eating seven foods?

Eek. Necesito mucho... prayer.

Anyway... that's not actually what I'm here to talk about. Sorry for wasting the last 3 minutes of your life.

You see, I love the concept behind this book. We have too much crap. We need more space. Less stuff. More peace.

But as I continue on this journey to revolt against excess, I'm starting to see beyond the less and to the more. Less of me. More of Jesus.

This has most evident to me in our intentional practice of honoring the Sabbath.

I had several excuses before the last month as to why I didn't honor the Sabbath.

Excuse 1: That's Old Testament. Get outta here with that.

Mrs. Hatmaker, in her infinite wisdom, trashed that excuse from the get go with this passage of Scripture. She then proceeded to ruin my second excuse.

Excuse 2: Jesus broke Sabbath all the time. WWJD? Break it!

Makes sense, right? I thought this was an airtight argument until I read this. And then I realized something:

Crud, I'm not the Lord of the Sabbath, like that Jesus guy. Heck, I'm not even Lord of... anything!

And then I was out of excuses.

Enter in the Sabbath - an intentional day of rest. From sundown on Saturday night until sundown on Sunday night, we have rested with purpose, celebrating through Communion and worship with people around us who like Jesus like we do. We even lit candles while we ate and busted out our fancy wine glasses that haven't been touched since our wedding.

And let me tell you - I love me some Sabbath now. However, there is one, itty, bitty, tinsy, winsy thing that I forgot to mention. No working on the Sabbath. None. I don't even read books for school that I enjoy. Instead, if I want to read, I choose something to read for pleasure, for rest.

As a college student (and a working American in general) this complicates things a little. Regardless of how sacred the Sabbath is, Monday still means work. And for us, that still means homework. This hits on something, though, that the Old Testament talks about. You see, the Israelites observed the Sabbath, but in order to rest for 24 hours, they had to work overtime to collect food for the Sabbath.

Yup, you heard me right: the Sabbath actually calls us to work harder.

We're not talking about taking a couple extra hours of overtime during your 5 day workweek, either. 

No, when God commands rest on the 7th day, he implicitly commands something else:

Hard work... for each of the other six days of the week. 

Six. Not five. Not five and a half. Six. That means Saturday. And that means not resting on Saturday, but preparing for Sunday, when true rest can occur. It's been painful, to say the least. Kalyn and I both have huge exegetical papers due at the end of the month, so working on them (along with all of our other homework and housework) for six days is brutal.

But when that Sabbath sunset rolls around... Oh, it's beautiful. It's marvelous. And I wonder why I would ever want to ignore it.

So beyond denying myself, I learned something new this past month: a better work ethic than I ever thought possible. We aren't only called to work a 9-5 for 5 days a week. We're called to work our tails of for six days so that we can rest on the seventh.

Now I realize that the week is just beginning and that it may seem daunting, but won't you try it with me? Take the Sabbath to heart and follow what God instructs and implies.

You'll be surprised - your body will fall into a natural rhythm and it won't really seem that different. In fact, you may find yourself more well rested than you ever were before. Of course, it makes sense when you consider that true rest after doing good work was God's idea in the first place.

... ... ...

Questions: Have you ever considered taking part in Sabbath rest? What are your thoughts on working hard for six days while taking off the seventh? How would better resting benefit you this week?

If you enjoy what you've read, I'd appreciate you subscribing to Life Before the Bucket and sharing this post with your friends. Thanks a million for reading! 

Concerning Mrs. Hatmaker

Jen Hatmaker is wrecking my life.

It started about five days ago.

Somehow, by some supernatural force, Mrs. Hatmaker weaseled her way into the life of one of our best friends. And somehow, someway, she convinced our friend to convince my wife to convince me to participate in the challenge presented in her book 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess.

Jen Hatmaker is a very convincing woman, apparently.

When she wrote this book in 2011 she knew. She just knew that she was going to ruin me.

First of all, she's starting by taking away my sacred Sundays and forcing me to spend it resting. And actually going to church! Ridculous, I say! I'm American! I work every day, around the clock, and only stop for coffee!

And then there's this this prayer nonsense we're doing as a part of the chapter on stress. She's treating it like it actually matters. Apparently she missed the memo that we get when we become Christians that says, "We only say we'll pray - God doesn't actually expect us to do it." Who actually wastes time with such an antiquated ritual, anyway?

And seven times a day?! What are we, monks? C'mon, Jen. I have really important stuff to do, like checking my Facebook compusively throughout the day. If I'm praying seven times a day, how do you expect me to know every intimate detail of my friends' lives?

And while I'm thinking of it: I love the number seven. But now, something tells me I'm going to grow to hate it. Just one more thing to thank Jen Hatmaker for...

And this stinkin' book just. keeps. going. 

After the stress chapter I have to basically stop eating food for a month, only getting to choose 7 foods to eat.

And then after that I have to dress like a flippin' hobo, only getting 7 pieces of clothing to wear.

And then Mrs. Jen attacks my spending habits. And my sacred media. And my possessions. And my waste (which I obviously have none of - c'mon, Jen). This is my life, Mrs. Hatmaker, and I'm not sure why you insist upon ruining it for oh, so long.

Will the mutiny ever end?!

This is gonna be a tough one, people. I'm thinking I'm going to have to add this challenge to my 52 in 2012 (which I guess would make it 53). If I don't make it, you'll know who to thank. But before you do, let me be the first to say it:

Mrs. Hatmaker, you've officially ruined my life, and for that, I thank you.

... ... ...

Questions: What do you think about the idea of simplifying your life? Do you think we live in excess? What's so bad about having so much? How can you simplify your life today?


Interested in the book? I'm giving it my highest recommendation - a billion stars out of a billion. BUY IT! (And no, I get nothing for this - Jen Hatmaker and her publisher have no idea I exist)