Brittany's Note: This post is part of the Bloom (in)Courage Book Club link-up. This session we are reading Seven: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker. We're only on Chapter 2, so if you're interested, jump on in!
I have to admit, I spent most of chapter two amazed that Jen could live with seven articles of clothing for an entire month. I don't think I could do it. I think I'd be way more likely to happily live off of seven food items than to part with all of my accessories.
To put it into perspective, I went to SLC with the exact command to myself to NOT buy clothes... and ended up back in Small Town with half a load of laundry that I had to take tags off of to wash.
I also spent $80 on makeup in Nordstrom.
Vanity is a struggle of mine. It's easy to not think that because I don't walk around thinking I'm super fantastic. I don't even wear a lot of makeup in Small Town because no one appreciates it.
But pretty things make me happy. New trends make me happy. And putting on lipstick before I take a picture really makes a difference in my face.
I love clothes.
There, I said it.
I love them. Part of why I intentionally didn't go to law school in Big City was I knew I would waste all of my loan's cost-of-living money at the outlet malls.
What stuck with me the most in Chapter two was this observation of Jen's:
"The Isaiah 58 fast is not about the mechanics of abstinence;
it is a fast from self-obsession, greed, apathy, and elitism." {pg. 57.}
And that, sisters, is exactly what I need to eradicate from my own broken, insufficient life. No Jimmy Choos (that I lusted over and then walked away from since they would pay three months rent), no clinique eyeliner and no Free People jeans will make me less self-obsessed, greedy, apathetic or elite. Only God should be my healer - and in truth, he's the only thing that CAN heal me.
And don't even get me started analyzing what sort of amazing things I could have done with all the money I spent on vanity this last weekend.
What Jesus says about fashion... his clothing protects us against the evil of this world.
Which, honestly, sounds a lot better than trying to be as fashionable as the best fashion blogger.
I might try this month. I will have to keep you posted. But for now, I'm just going to live in awe that Jen wore one pair of jeans and two t-shirts over and over again for one month straight - and didn't go insane.
Are you reading SEVEN with the Bloom Book Club? Let me know what you thought of Chapter 2 in the comments :).