Simplifying Isn't So Simple...

The past two weeks have been a little crazy in this house.  Between fighting off sickness (which Biruk and I seem to be passing back and forth like it's something we actually want), traveling to Maine for 5 days to speak at a youth retreat (which included much needed time for Biruk to spend with his Nan), and planning and having our youth group 30 Hour Famine (not eating+lack of sleep+lots of teens=tiredness you can't describe), I have struggled to find any down time.  There have been so many times throughout this month I have wanted to blog and share what God is teaching me and I have struggled to find the time.  I know what most people are thinking..."welcome to parenthood!"

This is the second month of my experiment "7," and it has flown by.  At the start of February, when choosing my seven articles of clothing, I was a bit panicked.  It took me forever to decide on seven articles of clothing, because I had over 250 articles to choose from.  That fact was sobering alone.  Nevertheless, I picked them, and wearing them turned out to be 100 times easier than I had expected.  Do you know how awesome it is to not have to think about what you are going to wear each day?  Seriously...four shirts to choose from isn't really a choice!  It was actually really FREEing to me...and FREEzing.  Confession...last weekend, while speaking at the youth retreat in Maine, I decided to bring a non-sanctioned hoodie with me just in case.  By Sunday, I was freezing (how do people seriously live in Maine), and I broke down and put the hoodie on.  Oh well...for the rest of the month I stuck to my guns!

Honestly, wearing the seven articles was a piece of cake.  Deciding how I am going to live differently after this month is now over...not so easy.  It would be easy for me to justify my clothes and say, "Well, I am a bargain shopper, so the clothes I buy never cost that much."  It would be easy for me to say, "There are tons of other people who have way more and spend double the amount on clothing than I do."  It would be easy for me to go back to living the same way I did before I even started this experiment.  That kind of living is comfortable.  That kind of living is the norm.  That kind of living doesn't require thought.

What's not easy is what I know.  This weekend, while doing 30 Hour Famine with my youth group, I was reminded yet again that every 5-7 seconds a child dies from hunger related diseases.  I was reminded that billions around the world live on less than $2 a day.  I was reminded throughout this month that Jesus says a lot about "accumulating stuff, looking after the poor, and storing up the wrong kind of treasures."  I was reminded that while I may not think I am wealthy, compared to the rest of the world, I am incredibly rich.  And while I may not think I am excessive when it comes to clothing...the fact that I have over 250 articles of clothing in my room says something different.

I have been re-reading Jen Hatmaker's book, "7" and was struck by this piece on what we spend on clothing (side note...she also adopted from Ethiopia).  "We've spent enough to irrevocably change the lives of 100,000 people.  What did I get for that budgeting displacement?  Closets full of clothes we barely wear and enough luxuries to outfit 20 families.  This is hard to process, so it helps to imagine standing in front of the families of my Ethiopian children, who were too poor and sick to raise their own babies.  As I gaze upon their hopelessness, I imagine them calculating what I've spent on clothing alone, realizing that same amount would've kept their family fed and healthy for 30 years."

Wow...I am not even sure that I have totally digested that paragraph yet, and I have re-read it several times in this past month.  Jesus is pretty clear that how we treat the poor matters.  He is pretty clear that what we do with this life matters.  He is pretty clear that he doesn't care about outward appearance...he cares about the content of our heart.  He is pretty clear about what he says is important in this life.  And if we honestly know what he says...we can not keep living the way we live.

I wish I knew what my response to this month of "7" is, but to be honest I am just not sure yet.  It's like the truth (what I know) and my selfishness (what I want) have had a major head on collision.  I don't think God is done working this month out in my heart.  So, I find myself actively listening and inviting him to show me what's next...to call me to live beyond myself...to rid me of my wants...to help me to stop caring so much about outward appearance...and to show me how to be an agent of change in a world that is hurting.

Isaiah 1:17-19 says, "Learn to do right!  Seek justice, encourage the oppressed.  Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.  Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord.  Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.  If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land."  And here is my paraphrase/prayer of that passage:

"Do what I have called you to do.  Do what is right.  Do what is good.  Take care of those who are down and out.  Make it your life's passion to look after orphans and those who are alone.  Let's go!  Though you haven't done the best in the past on this, let's start over.  If you are willing AND you do what I ask...you will experience more than you could have ever imagined."