WWJD Poster Children...or not.

     I can't remember when I felt it first. Maybe it was in the checkout line at Wal-Mart when I signed my name to a 202.00 receipt. Maybe it was while I literally stuffed clothes into one of the EIGHT places we store clothing in our house. Maybe it was while throwing away several pounds of food that went to waste in our refrigerator. I can't pinpoint the exact moment, but over the past several months I have become aware of this seriously excessive lifestyle that our family lives.
     I can't stop buying clothes! Seriously. I could probably wear a different top every day of the year. We just closed on our house, like, what? 4 months ago? And, already, we talk about the bigger, better one we'll buy one day. We eat out, at relatively pricey places, like, 5 or 6 times a week! My kid...don't get me started. His room looks like Toys R Us exploded in there. The point is...I'm not complaining. We are incredibly blessed. But, I just feel guilty. There just has to be more than this sick cycle of acquiring, hoarding, and wasting. And, with all of this stuff, we're so well off that we don't need Jesus anymore. Ugh...even writing that makes me ill. We fulfill our needs (but, really, our wants, mostly). We give to ourselves. We keep for ourselves. And, others go without because of it.
     It's just...time to change. Unfortunately, I think this habit is so deeply ingrained that I can't just say I'm going to change. I need a plan. And, I need it to start down deep. I need to start from scratch. From the very beginning. And, so, there is 7.
     I blame my husband for this little adventure. On Valentine's Day, he drove me to Barnes and Noble to feed one of my addictions of excess: I got to pick out a new book. (Ah, the irony.) I suppose he expected me to pick out a sweet, little novel. But, I happened upon this treasure:

     And, so the adventure begins. Ms. Hatmaker outlines this experiment in drastic reduction. She addresses 7 areas...some of the very areas I have been writhing (in vain) against for some time. They are Clothes, Shopping, Waste, Food, Possessions, Media, and Stress. In the next (roughly) 7 months, our family will spend one month reducing in each of the 7 areas. And, you, lucky audience, will get to have a front seat to it. I hope we entertain you. I hope we inspire you. And, I hope we don't whine too much. 

     Many have heard this Gandhi quote, but I feel like it has never been more pertinent to my life. He said, "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." So, sure. We're raging against excess to experience more de-cluttered lives. We're doing it to teach our little boy how to break the cycle of destructive acquisition. We're trying to live more economically- and environmentally-friendly lifestyles. But, mostly, at the risk of looking like the poster-children for the bizarre WWJD campaign of the '90s, we just want to look more like Jesus. We want to get rid of stuff to make room for him. Anyhow, game on and Happy Reduction.