Month 3: Seven Possessions

Well, today is the end of Month 3 of Seven. If you’ve been here for a while, you know that I am participating with a group of girls in following Jen Hatmaker’s challenge to take on seven areas of excess in our lives in seven months. This month was Possessions, in which the goal was to giveaway seven things every day.

Friends, I have to admit that here at the end of Month 3, I am struggling to stay focused.

I want to hurry and finish up giving away and cleaning out all the things I really, really meant to this month.

Plus I need to get my head and heart ready to start Month 4 tomorrow, which is MEDIA!! As in Social. Which is going to be a wee bit of a problem for me. I am still struggling with figuring out how much blogging, tweeting, picture sharing, etc that I am going to allow myself.

So in the midst of all of this head spinning, today I was super encouraged by these words from Jen Hatmaker:

When you purge your closets and give to a struggling family…that counts.

When you skip those new shoes and sponsor a child with that money…that counts.

When you help fund your friend’s adoption in some small way…that counts.

When you spend more energy on people than decorating…that counts.

When you give, share, contribute, provide for someone else…that counts.

Every day, we have incremental chances to store up heavenly treasures, to foster good eyes, to be filled with light, to serve and love our God and His people. None of these alone will define us; individually, these moments won’t draw a line in the sand declaring, “This. This is the day it all came together.” Nor will any of them alone disqualify us from this conversation or seal our fate as Money Slaves.

But together, the dots start connecting in a certain direction. Each small decision connects to the next and slowly forms a new pathway.

From the Study Guide to Seven: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker

Okay, I feel like I can take a deep breath. I can be satisfied that every little thing I have done this month COUNTS. Even though I didn’t do all I set out to do, some really great things have happened. (I had a Great Book Giveaway! I found new homes for lots of toys. Whitney had a great clothing giveaway in which I got new clothes.  There was a multi-family garage sale that raised money for foster kids.)