Spending too much, who me?

Ooh, this one is tough.  Cause I actually think I'm really good about spending.  Until I actually take a look at my spending.

Jen has some questions for us to ponder, here's one I really like:

If someone looked over your checkbook/bank statement/credit card statement, what would they say your spending priorities are?  Does this assessment accurately reflect your heart?

Something from this chapter that really stood out for me was from day 20.  Jen asks if our choices really matter when we look at the big picture, then lists what we spend annually in the US on cosmetics ($8 billion), US & Europe on Pet Food ($17 billion) and US &  Europe on Perfume ($12 billion).  Then on the flip side, she lists the global totals for clean water ($9 billion), basic education ($6 billion) and basic health and nutrition for all ($13 billion).  This turns my stomach.  As a "world" how could we possibly be spending more on Pet Food, then basic health and nutrition for all people?????

She refers to a United Nations report that states 86% of total private consumption expenditures come from the top 20% of the world's people from the highest income countries.  In other words "20% at the top buying 86% of the stuff".    So if we changed our habits, which way would we go - would we spend less and save more or spend less and give more?

I'd like to close with a passage from Isaiah, translated in The Message version.  Ponder the promises He makes, if we do what He is "interested in seeing us do".

Isaiah 58:7-12

The Message (MSG)

^6-9 “This is the kind of fast day I’m after:
    to break the chains of injustice,
    get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
    free the oppressed,
    cancel debts.
What I’m interested in seeing you do is:
    sharing your food with the hungry,
    inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
    putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
    being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
    and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
    The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
    You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’

A Full Life in the Emptiest of Places

^9-12 “If you get rid of unfair practices,
    quit blaming victims,
    quit gossiping about other people’s sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
    and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
    your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
    I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
    firm muscles, strong bones.
You’ll be like a well-watered garden,
    a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
    rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You’ll be known as those who can fix anything,
    restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
    make the community livable again.

Do we have to wear tie dyes and flowers in our hair too?

Ok, maybe that's going a little too far :)  When you think about it, this month's topic is more about adopting new habits than fasting from a particular item or object.  So, if you are not ready to take up gardening, composting, recycling, conserving, buying only local/thrift store or used items, and driving only one car.... then here are some other suggestions Jen provides for you to consider:

• Eliminate 7 convenience products that contribute to landfills/deforestation or pollution (paper towels, water bottles, baggies, paper plates, fast food, plastic grocery bags and soda cans)
• Take inventory of your pantry, bathroom cabinets and cleaning supplies - assess the following 7 areas
• what items come heavily packaged with multiple layers of cardboard or plastic?
• what could you buy in bulk rather than individual packages?
• can you buy a concentrated product, add water and re-use an old spray container?
• with what products could you reduce plastic consumption?
• where can you replace paper with cloth?
• what products are unnecessary and could be eliminate altogether?
• what containers could be reused?

Something else to think about from this chapter is a quote Jen refers to from Wendell Berry "The ecological teaching of the Bible is simply inescapable:  God made the world because he He wanted it made.  He thinks the world is good, and He loves it.  It is His world; He has never relinquished title to it.  And He has never revoked the conditions, bearing on His gift to us of the use of it, that oblige us to take excellent care of it.  If God loves the world, then how might any person of faith be excused for not loving it or justified in destroying it?"

I look forward to digging in deeper with you all on the 13th when we get together again next time.

Step away from the technology...

Welcome to Chapter 4, the Media Fast.  Oh boy!  Jen did this media fast with her entire family.  I am leery of even mentioning a media fast to the entire family, they might tie me up and throw me in the closet!  I didn't think our family was too addicted to media, but then I took some inventory.  After mentally counting the iPod Touches, smartphones, lap tops, TV's, Nintendo DS, desk top computer, Wii, xbox, blah blah blah, I re-evaluated.  Not sure what the family will say, but I'm going to present them with some of the alternative fast ideas Jen gives in the leader guide.  Maybe your family will be open to trying one of these - remind that that next week is the week before Easter - a great time to fast! Here are some of Jen's ideas:

• dedicate only one hour a day to any media or technology
• let each family member pick only one screen option for the week, and only for a limited time
• choose a cut-off time in which every family member turns in phones, laptops or games each day
• make a media-alternative plan for each day/night (family game night, picnic for dinner, bike to the park, invite another family over, take a family walk, kids make dinner night, serve together, you get the idea)
• choose people to connect with IN PERSON this week instead of using media
• dedicate 7 hours a day to no screens
• declare screen free zones of the house or times of the day

A final thought for today.  Jen suggests we take a look at Proverbs 6:6-11  in relation to social media, so here it is for you:

Proverbs 6:6-11

English Standard Version (ESV)

⁶ Go to the ant, O sluggard;
    consider her ways, and be wise.
⁷ Without having any chief,
    officer, or ruler,
⁸ she prepares her bread in summer
    and gathers her food in harvest.
⁹ How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
    When will you arise from your sleep?
¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest,
¹¹ and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
    and want like an armed man.

Then she poses this question:

Does social media activity decrease your productivity?  

Lastly, a thought from me:

Consider the amount of time you spend in social media vs the amount of time you dedicate to spending with God each day.  How could your life be different if you adjusted these amounts even a little?

How do we fast from "Possessions"?

In the chapter on possessions, Jen's family pledged to give away 7 items a day for the entire month.  That would have equalled 210 items.  They actually gave away more than 1000 items.  WOW!  Can you imagine giving away 1000 items in one month?  What I really loved about that was that they tried to be specific, and find actual recipients for the items.  It's great to donate to an organization like Goodwill, but imagine the feeling of actually handing your stuff to someone who really needs it.

Passion for Community (part of NLCC) runs a program called Spring.  Spring serves under-resourced families in the Chantilly, Centreville, Reston, and Herndon areas, by providing household items, clothing, furniture, and baby items to families in need.  If you have never had the opportunity to deliver items with the Spring delivery team, it is something you could sign up to do this month.  I volunteered for Spring for 4 years when it first started, and it completely changed my life.  The first delivery I every did was to a single mom in Reston.  She had basically nothing for her baby and wasn't getting much support from her family.  I brought her a carload of donated items that Spring had collected, and she was blown away.  She knelt down on the floor and put her head in her hands and cried.   And I cried.  I felt like God used me to love that women that day, and I knew that I wanted other people to experience that.  Spring delivers to many families each month and can use your help.

Other options suggested by Jen for this chapter are:

• each family member purge 7 items a day for a week
• give away 7 items from each room in the house
• choose 7 categories to purge (toys, clothing, kitchen good, linens, home accessories, furniture, etc)
• for big ticket items, sell them online and donate the proceeds
• this is a great month to involve your family in fasting if you haven't yet
• dont buy anything new (unless related to survival) for the next week (month?)

I'll end today's post with Matthew 6:19-21 from the Amplified Bible (you can find tons of different bible translations at www.biblegateway.com).  Think this week about how these verses apply to your life.  

Matthew 6:19-21

Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁹ Do not ^[a]gather and heap up and store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust and worm consume and destroy, and where thieves break through and steal.

²⁰ But ^[b]gather and heap up and store for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust nor worm consume and destroy, and where thieves do not break through and steal;

²¹ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

 

Chapter 3: Possessions

This book is messing with me.

I am enjoying it very much, don't get me wrong.  Its just making me think, and rethink, and not want to think, about a lot of stuff.  About my stuff.  Too much stuff.  I don't even feel like I can write about it yet.  I'm still chewing on these chapters about clothing and possessions, trying to figure out what God is trying to teach me in all this.  Knowing for sure that He doesn't want me to just read it and forget it.

So I will leave you with some words from God, then some words from Jen:

Matthew 6:21  Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

"The only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.  Can you think of 5 simple choices you can make that will draw you closer to the right treasures, and in doing so, help put distance between you and the wrong ones?  Pray about it.  God is so for you in this department.  He wants this for us."

What are you thinking about all of this??

Chapter 2: Clothing

To be honest, I approached this chapter thinking that fasting from clothing might not really be important for me.   I do like a cute outfit, but I am definitely not a "fashionista".  I work with preschool students, so at work I wear jeans most days, and I regularly expect that I will get paint, Play-doh or some type of runny nose goop on my clothing at least once per week.  I don't consider myself a frequent clothing shopper.  A lot of the items I see staring back at me from my closet are things other people accidentally shrunk and just passed down (one of the benefits of being short).  I figured I was doing pretty well in this area.

Then Jen said she had 327 articles of clothing (including accessories, shoes, etc) and challenged us to count our own stock.  I didn't count the pantry items during the food chapter last month, so I decided to go ahead and start counting clothing, sure that I wouldn't come near the number she had.  Then I started counting.  I was pretty surprised at how much was actually in there!  It was a good wake up call for me, and encouraged me to do two things.  The first is really consider what I NEED before I buy (instead of just what I WANT) and the second is that it is time to clean that closet out and donate some clothing to charity.  My husband is on board with that idea and plans to clean his side out too (which ironically has more than mine).

I was excited when I started reading about about Day 9 - when Jen's friend described her experience at the Austin Women's Clothing Swap.  What a great idea!  The Women's Ministry happens to be sponsoring a modified version of this at the nZone on April 27th.  We are calling it "Bring the Bling" and we hope to have a fantastic accessories swap that night, so that ladies can go home with some great "new" items for free.  It's basically recycling at its best.

So the question is,  where will this chapter take you?  What kind of fasting, if any, can you do in the area of clothing?  Do you think this is an important area for you?  What does the bible say about clothing?  Check out the Message version of Matthew 6:28-33 for some insight.  And have a great week!

Matthew 6:28-33

The Message (MSG)

^27-29 “Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
^30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

Leviticus anyone?

Chapter 1: Food

Week 3

Welcome to the last week for chapter 1!  Hope you have had time to think about the chapter, and to try some type of fasting from food if that was something you wanted to do this month.  

For this week's post, I've got a question for you...When was the last time you read a chapter from Leviticus?  It's been a while for me too, but Jen suggests we read Leviticus Chapter 11, so to make it easy for you, here it is.  I will add a bit of commentary from Jen at the end.

Leviticus 11

New International Version (NIV)

Clean and Unclean Food

11 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ² “Say to the Israelites: ‘Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat: ³ You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud.

⁴ “‘There are some that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, but you must not eat them. The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you. ⁵ The hyrax, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. ⁶ The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. ⁷ And the pig, though it has a divided hoof, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. ⁸ You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.

⁹ “‘Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams you may eat any that have fins and scales. ¹⁰ But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins and scales—whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water—you are to regard as unclean. ¹¹ And since you are to regard them as unclean, you must not eat their meat; you must regard their carcasses as unclean. ¹² Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be regarded as unclean by you.

¹³ “‘These are the birds you are to regard as unclean and not eat because they are unclean: the eagle,^[a] the vulture, the black vulture, ¹⁴ the red kite, any kind of black kite, ¹⁵ any kind of raven, ¹⁶ the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, ¹⁷ the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, ¹⁸ the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, ¹⁹ the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.

²⁰ “‘All flying insects that walk on all fours are to be regarded as unclean by you. ²¹ There are, however, some flying insects that walk on all fours that you may eat: those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground. ²² Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket or grasshopper. ²³ But all other flying insects that have four legs you are to regard as unclean.

²⁴ “‘You will make yourselves unclean by these; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening. ²⁵ Whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening.

²⁶ “‘Every animal that does not have a divided hoof or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you; whoever touches the carcass of any of them will be unclean. ²⁷ Of all the animals that walk on all fours, those that walk on their paws are unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening. ²⁸ Anyone who picks up their carcasses must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening. These animals are unclean for you.

²⁹ “‘Of the animals that move along the ground, these are unclean for you: the weasel, the rat,any kind of great lizard, ³⁰ the gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink and the chameleon. ³¹ Of all those that move along the ground, these are unclean for you. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean till evening. ³² When one of them dies and falls on something, that article, whatever its use, will be unclean, whether it is made of wood, cloth, hide or sackcloth. Put it in water; it will be unclean till evening, and then it will be clean.³³ If one of them falls into a clay pot, everything in it will be unclean, and you must break the pot. ³⁴ Any food you are allowed to eat that has come into contact with water from any such pot is unclean, and any liquid that is drunk from such a pot is unclean. ³⁵ Anything that one of their carcasses falls on becomes unclean; an oven or cooking pot must be broken up. They are unclean, and you are to regard them as unclean. ³⁶ A spring, however, or a cistern for collecting water remains clean, but anyone who touches one of these carcasses is unclean. ³⁷ If a carcass falls on any seeds that are to be planted, they remain clean. ³⁸ But if water has been put on the seed and a carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you.

³⁹ “‘If an animal that you are allowed to eat dies, anyone who touches its carcass will be unclean till evening. ⁴⁰ Anyone who eats some of its carcass must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening. Anyone who picks up the carcass must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening.

⁴¹ “‘Every creature that moves along the ground is to be regarded as unclean; it is not to be eaten. ⁴² You are not to eat any creature that moves along the ground, whether it moves on its belly or walks on all fours or on many feet; it is unclean. ⁴³ Do not defile yourselves by any of these creatures. Do not make yourselves unclean by means of them or be made unclean by them. ⁴⁴ I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground. ⁴⁵ I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.

⁴⁶ “‘These are the regulations concerning animals, birds, every living thing that moves about in the water and every creature that moves along the ground. ⁴⁷ You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between living creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten.’”

Jen talks about the reasons behind these laws and shows that by giving them to us, God is protecting his entire creation.  She states that "most of the clean animals are herbivores, and the unclean are carnivores...God forbid the consumption of scavengers, predators and bottom-dwellers.  These animals are capable of ingesting and processing tremendous amounts of poison and waste in short periods of time...by abstaining from these unclean animals we do not rid the planet of its necessary clean-up crew, nor do we ingest the toxins they were created to filter."

Think about God's amazing plans for us in regard to food.  Every single detail thought out in advance, from providing all of the fabulous, nutritious and diverse plant foods we have to choose from, to adding a wonderful and complex system of creatures for us to eat, God has a plan and design for everything.  

I look forward to talking to you all about the previous month, and cant wait to read chapter 2!

Questions about Fasting

Chapter 1:
Week 2 - Food

So, how's it going?  Have you considered fasting from food in any way this month?  I have considered it...but haven't done it yet.  I am realizing the value of accountability here.  If I don't tell anyone, I can change my mind, postpone it, cut it short, back out - you get the picture.  So, although according to the bible we are not supposed to make a "big fuss" over our fast (see below), I am going to lean on my sisters for accountability.  So here is my promise, I am going to do two 24-hour fasts before we meet on the 9th of February.  Just telling you that I plan to do it sort of "seals" my commitment and will make me stick to my word.  So thank you for that!

I wanted to look at some outside input on fasting this week, so I went to one of my favorite websites for questions related to Christian topics.  www.gotquestions.com  Take a look at what they have to say about fasting, and dig deeper by reading the scripture verses they reference.  And if you need some accountability like I did, please post a comment and we can pray for each other.  Have a great week!

Question: "Christian fasting - what does the Bible say?"

Answer: Scripture does not command Christians to fast. God does not require or demand it of Christians. At the same time, the Bible presents fasting as something that is good, profitable, and beneficial. The book of Acts records believers fasting before they made important decisions (Acts 13:2; 14:23). Fasting and prayer are often linked together (Luke 2:37; 5:33). Too often, the focus of fasting is on the lack of food. Instead, the purpose of fasting should be to take your eyes off the things of this world to focus completely on God. Fasting is a way to demonstrate to God, and to ourselves, that we are serious about our relationship with Him. Fasting helps us gain a new perspective and a renewed reliance upon God.

Although fasting in Scripture is almost always a fasting from food, there are other ways to fast. Anything given up temporarily in order to focus all our attention on God can be considered a fast (1 Corinthians 7:1-5). Fasting should be limited to a set time, especially when fasting from food. Extended periods of time without eating can be harmful to the body. Fasting is not intended to punish the flesh, but to redirect attention to God. Fasting should not be considered a “dieting method” either. The purpose of a biblical fast is not to lose weight, but rather to gain deeper fellowship with God. Anyone can fast, but some may not be able to fast from food (diabetics, for example). Everyone can temporarily give up something in order to draw closer to God.

By taking our eyes off the things of this world, we can more successfully turn our attention to Christ. Fasting is not a way to get God to do what we want. Fasting changes us, not God. Fasting is not a way to appear more spiritual than others. Fasting is to be done in a spirit of humility and a joyful attitude. Matthew 6:16-18declares, “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Chapter 1: Food

So....have you read Chapter 1 yet?  I have and really enjoyed it.  I actually burst out laughing when, on Day 19,  she was talking about standing in front of Starbucks wanting so badly to buy a coffee and she said "the only possible way I could act more disturbing is if I ground up some beans, made a line with a razor blade, and snorted it in the middle of aisle 9" - hilarious!

Other parts of the chapter made me cringe, like when the she mentions standing in the kitchen looking at the variety of food in the fridge and cabinets, and saying 'there is nothing to eat', or throwing away left overs just because there is plenty of new food to eat today.  I have done both of those things, and even today, I threw away some uneaten left overs (they really were past their prime) but her words were ringing in my ear as I did it.

So, the question on my mind is... are you thinking of fasting from food in some way this month?  In the leader guide,  Jen gives some ideas about ways to fast that you may not have thought of...

• cut out 7 ingredients (for example:  high fructose corn syrup, sugar, caffeine, hydrogenated oil, etc)
• no fast food or processed food - only whole food
• choose a country and eat their simple diet
• eat the same simple breakfast, lunch and dinner for 7 days
• eliminate your 7 'go-to' foods 
• eat what you already have - no grocery shopping for 7 days!
• fast from one meal a day, for 7 days

Jen lists some famous fasts in scripture, and talks about how after them, God really moves. (see Esther 4:16, Ezra 8:21-23, or Daniel 9:3, 20-21) The fasts positioned God's people for a breakthrough.  She states "what wasn't possible, suddenly was.  What wouldn't move, came unstuck.  What hadn't worked, finally did.  What was totally blurry, became crystal clear".

If you decide to fast sometime this month, don't worry too much about the rules - just establish what you are going to do and stick to it - then focus more on the spirit of the fast.  Remember, you are fasting to allow room for God to move in your life.  If you are having trouble figuring out exactly what you want to do with all of this, please pray for answers.  God will show you the way.

Cant wait to hear how it's going!

PS - regarding our conversation about gratitude in kids - I found this book - I like the description, might be worth a peek...

Thanksgiving Heart: Cultivating Gratitude in Young Children All Year Round (with access to 12 bonus printable pages) for Kindle

With practical ideas, faith-filled stories, and a heart for moms with young children, Stacie Nelson shares simple ways she's growing gratefulness in her own life--and the lives of her three girls.

This is not a book with activities or ideas for Thanksgiving Day; nor is it a book with a prescribed formula or ten-step program to make your child grateful. Instead, Thanksgiving Heart is a Christian book focusing on simple, practical ways to guide and train your children in growing a grateful heart all year long. It’s about learning to giving thanks in ALL things at ALL times.

Week 1: introduction

Hi Ladies,

 

Hope you are having a great week.  Thank you so much for coming out on Saturday morning.  I thought we had a really great group, and I am looking forward to some interesting conversations  :)

 

Here are some thoughts and questions for this week pertaining to the introduction:

 

Jesus spoke a lot about the difficulty of rich people getting into heaven.  Check out these verses (and the surrounding context):

 

Luke 6:24

Luke 8:14

Luke 12:21

Luke 1:53

 

Jen Hatmaker writes:  "the day I am unaware of my privleges and unmoved by my greed is the day something has to change."  Have you thought about how much you have, and if your "stuff" (whatever that is), is taking up so much room that you are allowing it to squeeze out Jesus?  She suggests that we spend time in prayer about this and asks "If we have a blind spot, a very grave one according to Jesus, dont we want to know it?"

 

God gave us a tool to "heighten our spiritual sensitivity and perhaps expedite His intervention" That tool is fasting.

 

Scripture gives six extreme circumstances that may command a fast.  They are:

mourning, inquiry, repentance, preparation, crisis and worship.  Which area motivates you to fast from your own excess?

 

Read Isaiah 58:1-7

 

Questions from Jen:

What is God begging us to refrain from here?

What does their reaction in verse 3 communicate to you?

How can you relate to this confusion?

 

I will end with the descriptions of fasting from Jen:

 

"Fasting is an intentional reduction, a deliberate abstinence to summon God's movement in our lives.  A fast creates margin for God to move"

 

Are you ready for God to move in your life?

 

 

Keeping you all in my prayers this week, Leslie