This is all Jen Hatmaker's fault. 

I can't even remember how I stumbled up her book 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess, but it was around the holidays, a time of year when I always feel disgusted with consumerism and our society's (and my own) obsession with stuff. 

The book details Jen's attempt to fight greed, materialism, and overindulgence in hopes of living a more Christ-like existence. The idea was to choose seven areas -- food, clothes, spending, media, possessions, waste, and stress -- and spend 30 days on each topic boiling it down to the number seven. Only eat seven foods, only wear seven articles of clothing, and spend money in only seven places. Her plan also called for her to eliminate use of seven media types, give away seven things each day for one month, adopt seven green habits, and observe “seven sacred pauses.”




Am I doing Jen's experiment completely and to the letter? Hell to the no. 

But I am inspired to do some altered version of it in hopes that it will help me streamline my life so that I can spend more time, energy, and resources on things that really matter. And my prayer is that I will begin to look more like Jesus along the way. 

Hubster and I went out for Mexican food last night. I kept referring to this meal as
The Last Supper!

Just as Jen did, I'm starting with food. Jen's experiment was inspired by one of her friends who did a "Pick 5" fast. So since Jen added two items to her list, I'm going to add two to mine. (See, this is my problem. I'm such an American. Always trying to have more.) 

Also, I'm doing this for 21 days, not 30. Every January my church has what it calls 21 Days of Prayer -- a special time of prayer and fasting to kick off the new year. This year my plan was to fast sweets for 21 Days of Prayer, which began today. Then Jen Hatmaker came along and turned my world upside down and I've now decided to fast nearly all of the foods I love. 

For the next 21 Days I will only eat the following: 

• lean white meat and fish 
• green vegetables
• sweet potatoes
• apples
• eggs
• Greek yogurt
• peanut butter
• wheat bread
• almonds

This list is similar to Jen's but for meat she only allowed herself chicken and for vegetables she only ate spinach. Her list included avocado, which I replaced with almonds. I added Greek yogurt because one of my doctors has been encouraging me to eat this for breakfast for nearly a year. Peanut butter is here because a nutritionist in my favorite magazine recommended PB on wheat bread as a mid-morning snack. 

Jen only allowed herself to use salt, pepper, and olive oil to flavor to her food. She's a better woman than I am. I will allow myself to use some low fat, low calorie condiments, but in moderation and I won't be frying up any of meats on my list. 

As for beverages, Jen only drank water. I'm allowing myself green tea as well simply because I spend a lot of time in coffee shops meeting with fellow writers and working on my blog and I need to buy something in order to not feel guilty for taking up space and Wi-Fi. 

Looking at my plan you're probably thinking this won't be so bad because I have plenty of variety. If you're thinking that, you clearly don't know me well. My friends know that I believe the human body needs cheese more than it needs water and that I think most of life's problems can be solved with a cupcake. I could beat a 16-year-old boy in a pizza eating contest and I'm convinced the manna from heaven God sent down to the Israelites was some form of Mexican food. (Look out! It's raining chimichangas!) 

And for the next 21 days I can't have pizza, Mexican food, or sweets. Lord, help me. 

But, seriously, my prayer throughout my entire streamline project will be the same as Jen's:

"Dear Lord, may there be less of me and my junk and more of You and your kingdom."

And when I say less of me I mean that figuratively and literally. If I happen to streamline my waistline over the next 21 days I will be a very happy girl. 


This was cross-posted at Streamlined Birmingham, a new blogging project by myself and some other women in Birmingham who are also looking to streamline their lives in 2013. 

image via

Today marked the beginning of my church’s annual 21 Days of Prayer – a time of intensive prayer and fasting. While the word fasting may to some of you only mean giving up food, our pastor also encourages us to abstain from anything that may be a hindrance to our relationship with God or others.  

This morning I went to church with my mind made up to give up meat for the next three weeks in hopes that this would force me to make healthier choices in my diet. A month or so ago I had considered also giving up social media – including Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Pinterest, and even blogging. But I later decided against it, mainly for the sake of GeorgiaMae.com and my goal of growing this blog.

Then Pastor Chris began his sermon for today and started talking about idolatry, which simply means putting other things before God. “Have you made social media an idol?” Pastor Chris asked. “Of course not,” I thought to myself. Suddenly I felt something inside say, “Really?”

Uh oh. Then I remembered all those nights when I was up late reading through my Twitter feed and browsing my favorite blogs for post ideas when I should have been using that time to pray or study the Bible or I should have gone to sleep so I could wake up early the next day and have a longer morning devotion. These thoughts would even go through my mind as I surfed the web, but I would rationalize my choices saying I was too tired to do something like read the Bible because that would take so much concentration; on the other hand clicking through a few links wouldn’t require much brainpower.

But the bottom line is even though I’m not one of those people who update their Facebook statuses constantly and tweet every five minutes, I was putting social media before God. And I have been for quite some time.  

So for the next three weeks I’m taking a social media sabbatical. Don’t worry; Edd will hold down the fort at GeorgiaMae.com and I am confident I will return with lots of energy and ideas that I will pour into this blog. If you need me, you can always reach me via e-mail. And if the Lord’s willing and the creek don’t rise, as the old folks say, I’ll be back Sunday, Jan. 29.  

xo,

j.