You may remember that back in January, we invited everyone along on a 7 month adventure. A good-sized group of women (and some men, too) joined in and finished the first month, which was all about food, in February. Everyone did it in different ways: some of us ate only 7 foods all month long, some of us gave up 7 foods, some of us decided to only eat out of our too-full freezers. But whichever way we tried it, we all found it…well, challenging. At the same time, we found out there is much good in going without. I asked some of the folks involved to share what they had learned from this first month of trying to give up excess. Here are a few of their comments:
What I learned: I DO have self-control after all, I just CHOOSE not to use it OFTEN… What was hard: My selfishness, bad attitude, impatience, worry, and other negative emotions rose up to the surface in the midst of physical hunger….
The timing of this month was not an accident. We had many difficult situations… It became evident that I use food to stuff my emotions away. Every time worry and fear flooded my thoughts, I chose to affirm God’s faithfulness. This month I learned to seek the Holy Spirit in a more intimate way, rather than cover up my feelings with food (chocolate!)
It was good to think more about what I’m putting in my body and why. I learned that I eat way more than my body actually needs and am refreshed with a new appreciation for simple food.
I found out quickly that my habit had been to run to food and/or drink to fill some sort of need. Stress. Anger. Boredom. Happy. Sad. You pick. I am going to be mindful of that from now on and try to handle things differently.
I learned that I put way to much thought in what and when I’m eating and this month I did not. I feel like my head was cleared of some distractions that I didn’t even know were there.
This is strangely giving me a peace through one of the most tumultuous times I have been through.
And now we are halfway in to month 2, which is clothing. We are limiting our clothing choices: for some of us that means no accessories, or no clothes buying. Some of us are wearing drastically reduced wardrobes. Some of us are wearing only 7 clothing items all month long. So if you’ve seen someone lately and thought “haven’t I seen that shirt before?” – chances are, you HAVE.
Especially if it’s one of these:
You see, there’s a great organization out there called Pure Charity, and when they heard about our #7FN challenge, they offered to send us their shirts to wear this month. They are big fans of Jen Hatmaker (the author of the book 7 that this is all based on) as well. And we were excited to wear the shirts to help let people know about them. Basically, Pure Charity provides a way for you to set up an account online so that when you shop at certain stores, a percentage of your purchase goes to the charity of your choice. It’s really easy, too – just click here to watch the video and find out more.
So – a new month, a new challenge, a new shirt, and a new way to give! We will check back in next month with things we learned in March and our next challenge for April.