Customer Reviews

7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess

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You must read this book! Here's what it's about: Jen (the author) did an experiment in which each month for 7 months, she and sometimes her entire family fasted in an area she felt they were excessive in: media, stress, possessions, shopping, food, clothes, and waste. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that sounds all preachy and super-spiritual and hard and you don't want to read it. Thankfully, it's the complete opposite. It is laugh-out-loud hilarious, totally real-life, 100% empowering, and 0% guilt-inducing.

You must go immediately to purchase this book and devour it whole. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. Do not stop to brush your teeth or feed your children. While you're out, buy Depends to wear because you will pee yourself while reading from laughing so hard.

Some other suggestions of how to read this book:
Keep a notepad handy while you're reading to write down notes and thoughts because ideas and action points will come to you like nobody's business.
Do not read this book right before you go to bed because you will not be able to sleep due to the millions of thoughts running around in your brain.
Read this book with your girlfriends.

Wow - loved this book. Read it in two days and am ready to read it again! Jen is funny and honest as she walks us through their family's 7 month journey to take a stand against the excess that all of us Americans are surrounded by. Each "month" left me thinking about how I could make changes in my own family. I can't wait to put some of these into practice and start living Jesus, instead of just reading about Jesus. I virtually highlighted things in each chapter that hit too close to home...and thank her for her raw honesty and desire to change the world, one reader at a time.

Jen Hatmaker's "7" is like a voice screaming in the midst of chaos that is the American lifestyle. The message delivery of "7" is atypical of most Christian-based "self-help" or "as Christians we really should be doing X" type books. First of all, the author approaches each topic within 7 from an attitude of repentance and humility that comes across as completely genuine. I don't know that I'd be willing to admit some of the things Jen does. Successes, struggles and failures are laid bare for the world to see, which is very refreshing. There is no condemnation or lofty attitudes from the author that she is better or superior to any average reader.

One of the key words I've seen after someone has read the book is "wrecked". This is a great one-word summary of how deeply these topics should impact each reader. If you're not spurred to some kind of deep self-reflection or action after reading this book, I believe there are only two reasons why - you live an extremely minimalist lifestyle or you live in extreme poverty. Jen humbly points out how these various areas of life have distracted the church from its purpose. We've stopped distinguishing ourselves, we've stopped being all we can and should be as God's hands and feet on this planet.

The truths from God's word and examples from Jen's life are revealed in simple, humorous and refreshing ways. You'll laugh, you'll sob, your heart will break, you'll repent and most importantly you'll be ready to say "I'm in!".

The main concern I had before reading this book was that it would be a book only for women. While there certainly were portions of the book I could not identify with as a male and even found myself rolling my eyes a few times, men NEED to read this book. There are far too many Christian men living life on the sidelines, and the message in this book will light a fire that's been a slowly dwindling ember in so many!

Oh this book. This book took me completely and utterly by surprise. A friend gave it to me for Christmas because she thought I'd like what she took to be the general theme of the book from the blurb in the back-- this lady scales back in 7 aspects of her material life. Yeah I love that stuff. What is not glaringly obvious from the main blurb in the back is that this book is written by a pastor's wife who's also a speaker on Christianity. You have to look at the fine print for that pattern and then it's like "How in the hell did I miss that?"

When I started the book, this was an unpleasant surprise. Holy bible quotes everywhere. Not to mention the fact that God, Jesus, Christ, Jesus Christ, Lord, Holy Spirit, etc. get mentioned about 5 times per page. Usually bible quotes with a zealous use of Jesus name drops is not a good thing for me. My hypocrisy senses start tingling and I usually back away as quickly as possible without drawing attention to myself.

But this is a book, not a person, and there WAS the whole thing about cutting back the excess in the seven areas of her life: Food, Clothes, Spending, Media, Possessions, Waste, and Stress. And she even broke it down into monthly projects. Which I always am a sucker for.

Oddly enough, I had lately been thinking about the Republicans and the huge conservative shove to strip down "entitlement" programs in favor of a smaller government and more money in their pockets in the form of lower taxes that they have somehow mixed up with a fervent "We love Jesus and the Bible and truly want to protect Christianity" message.

And I kept thinking about how damn hypocritical it was because even though I don't practice anymore, I sure as heck know all about "Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ" thanks to being raised by a really strict Catholic family and going through Catholic education from Kinder through High School. I've read the Bible front to back . Heck I even used to read the Bible as I was one of the lecterns at Church. And if there's one thing I know about the Jesus that is in the Bible I read over and over again, it's that he can't possibly be the same Jesus Republicans vow to love and protect.

It turns out Jen Hatmaker apparently sees a lot of the glaring hypocrisies in American Christian churches today that I do. I can't stand churches and I can't stand the Christians that practice this hypocritical Capitalism is Awesome form of Christianity.

Let's face it guys, Jesus was a dirty homeless hippie. And if you really think the same dude who gave away free wine for his first miracle and later sat on a mountain giving away fish and bread all day would be against programs like Food Stamps or WIC, you're wrong. And if you think the same guy who made it a point to always seek out and include society's shunned ones would be against extending this sort of assistance to as many people as possible, you'd also be wrong. If you really think the same guy who walked around healing lepers, restoring sight to the blind, and even raising people from the dead would be against free health care for everyone, you'd be totally and completely wrong yet again.

Jen Hatmaker turned my insides cold when she made an observation that speaking on a personal finance level, you could interpret "Love your neighbor as you love yourself" into an equation where you live off 50% of your income and use the other %50 to love all of your neighbors. It was sort of a huge DUH moment and gave me so much to consider.

Jen's story is inspiring, moving, and interesting. Lots of people do projects where they eliminate this, that, and the other from their lives in big ways. But until Jen's book, I was yet to read someone who took the experience and turned it into a call to action to help those around her. De-cluttering is only half the battle.

Personally, I don't think you need to be associated with a faith or a church or anything to look around you and do good for the world but I would likely be very interested in at least linking up with a church like Jen's because it would give me an excellent way to lend my helping hand to the community. That moves me greatly. Personally I found that my favorite thing about the book was the fact that I would read her experiences and think, "That is a brilliant idea. I want to do that for someone. How would I even start to do something like that?" Her book is at the same time a reflection and a call to action. A really loud, persistent one that somehow manages to remain humble and honest at the same time.

I strongly recommend the book even if you're like me and things like churches and Jesus Christ give you the Hypocrisy Heebie Jeebies. Because I actually think Jen Hatmaker might be authentic. What she is teaching and what she is practicing makes more sense to me as an example of a true Christian than the classic modern representations of Christians today.

If you feel there is just TOO MUCH in your life-- too much crap, too much stress, too much noise, too much madness, too much sadness, too much to deal with-- grab this book. I think you'll be moved.

Okay, let me tell it like it is: much in keeping with the habits of self, somewhere in the middle of the night (is there any other time?), I download this book, and as I begin the intro, I'm thinking: "No way, don't do this to me!" Discomfort Descends like an all-enveloping black cloud that follows each moment of reader immersion. "You simply can't do this to me, Ms Author-Whoever-You-Are!" This is one book I can promise you I am NOT going to like ... Not one bit. At the moment, I am screaming at that black cloud to get off of me and go chase somebody else! "Do you hear me, Black Cloud? Go AWAY!"

Truly, I already feel harbingers of conviction, and I have only just begun ... haven't even started the meat of this book yet ... only gotten through with the intro.

I will press on! I will come back with a follow-up! I am a Christian, and I take my life lived before my Lord very seriously. When I am hit with immediate conviction like this, I know that I know there is something within these pages that I need to see, listen to, and truly hear ... that is where I am at the moment! In that uncomfortable place of emerging conviction!

This book has given me a lot of thought, especially with things like this:

"I used to say, 'But we tithe, and that money goes to stuff Jesus was all into.' Except many churches use it for marble floors and shiny buildings and cool videos and expensive mailers and pretty landscaping and fancy sound equipment and, in one recent case, an awesome multimillion-dollar jet.

How have we let church deteriorate like this? How is this ok? How can we endorse these expenditures? When did this become standard protocol for the Bride of Christ? We've engineered an elaborate two-step to justify this egregious spending ON OURSELVES.

We are far from Jesus' original vision; the whole enterprise would be unrecognizable to our early church fathers.

The earth is groaning, and we're putting coffee bars in our thirty-five-million-dollar sanctuaries. Just because we can have it doesn't mean we should.

I marvel at how out of place simple, humble Jesus would be in today's American churches."

As the mom of internationally born children I am very aware of the disparity between the average US family's life circumstances and that of families living in poorer parts of the world. We take so much for granted. Many of us KNOW that intellectually, but getting a real grasp on what that means is difficult. The basic idea of this book-- reducing our choices in a way that makes us think-- takes a really good stab at changing that head-knowledge to a deeper heart-understanding.

If you could only eat 7 foods for a month, what would they be?
If you could wear only 7 items of clothing for a month, which would you choose?

Think. Then be thankful. And in that thankfulness, perhaps you may also choose to change your life in a way that will benefit others.

This is a deeply intriguing book.

What American doesn't have a love/hate relationship with consumerism? We claim to have too much stress, too much food, too many possessions--but finding ways to live different can feel almost impossible. In Seven, Jen Hatmaker decides to tackle her own consumerism by eliminating or reducing seven areas of excess over seven months.

The results are hilarious, poignant and truly life-changing. Hatmaker doesn't do it perfectly or even well sometimes. But what she does is write about it with honesty, humor and just enough of a challenge to make you want to change. If you struggle with your deep desire to live a Gospel-like, transformed life, Seven might be just what you need to truly live differently. For a longer review: [...]

I was scared to read this book at first...because then I would know. I would know what had grabbed the Hatmaker family and wouldn't let go until they surrendered to it. This is a journey through 7 months of purging every area of their life. From trashcans to closets and media to diet. No area was left untouched. While it is heavily peppered with women humor, men will get the message. My husband was forced to hear many excerpts and appreciated it. This book will change you if you allow it to. But you have to have the courage to read it, finish it, and do it! It will keep you up laughing from the antics of the council and the journey through adoption. I loved it and will read it again and making plans for '7' in my own home!

in jen's signature conversational and casual manner, her humor drives home many points that were hard to digest and convicting in the best way possible. she draws from great outside resources and manages to leave self righteousness at the door while inviting us to take this difficult and eye-opening journey with her.

i didn't want to put it down. i loved it. i'll read it again, you should too!