Regret...

re·gret  

/riˈgret/

Verb Feel sad, repentant, or disappointed over (something that has happened or been done, esp. a loss or missed opportunity).

Noun A feeling of sadness, repentance, or disappointment over something that has happened or been done.

Synonyms verb.   rue - deplore - repent - lament - mourn - be sorry noun.   repentance - remorse - sorrow - grief - contrition MISSED OPPORTUNITY... hmmm we've all had those.  What is our response to those missed opportunities? I wish I would have added a huge hamburger to my 7 food list :-/

I am not usually a person that lives and camps out in regret.  Usually I am a positive person but this whole 7 thing has me looking at life and everything differently... through a different filter than I normally do.  Day 2 was extremely hard for me the night before I hadn't slept well and the thought of only being 2 days in and knowing I had 28 more ahead was killing me.  All day I lived in the world of REGRET!!!  After lunch time I was doing the dishes (which never ends haha) and I had this realization that all day I had been negative and living in a place of, this is too hard... why did I go so extreme... I should have not limited myself so much... why didn't I add this food or take away this one... why why why??  As the day went on I began to think of a man that has changed our lives so much, his name is Josh.  A homeless man we met on May 1st.  I began to think about him and his addictions and where he lives and how his life must be full of regret.  I was becoming so overtaken with regret of decisions and choices that I could then relate to Josh and how he would turn to his addiction to alcohol to numb the pain of regret.  

I know my situation and Josh's situation are VERY different, in 21 more days I can go back to my normal way of eating and I will always have a full belly, never in fear of where my next meal will come from.  BUT all that led Josh to where he is today is a few bad decisions that led to regret.  In Josh's case it wasn't even HIS choices that effected his life but the choices of his parents.  His mom left when he was 4 and his dad was a drunk and ended up in jail... off to foster care Josh went and separated from his brother.  I am sure the same questions of why and if I had only... were in his face everyday as he bounced from one home to another and now to living on the streets.   We all have choices in life, they are hard and a lot of the time we pound our fists and stomp our feet like a toddler at the things that we know are right and are difficult.  But those hard things that we choose to do lead us to a path of victory and a life free from regret.  Freedom lives when we surrender our hearts and lives to the Lord not living in the past of who we used to be but trudging forward in our new identity of who we are today in Christ.  We have to accept our choices in life and live them out with JOY and not regret (hard to do... I know).  Sometimes we make the wrong choices and it makes life a tad more difficult but do we stay in a place of regret that leads to pain or hand it over to an unseen God, trust that our Heavenly Father cares and sees our needs.  Just like Josh the Lord sees him and loves him even in his poor choices and desires to use us to care for each other and see each other as brothers and sisters in Christ.   I am no longer regretting my food choices... I have 21 more days and I am so grateful that after these 30 days I get to return to a fruitful life that is free from fear.  I am so grateful for the seasoning and variety in life we have... So many choices.  We truly are a blessed nation and sooo wealthy.  Thank you Lord for choosing this to be my home I am so grateful and humbled.   Philippians 3:13-14 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Matthew 25:31-46 if you want to be rocked... has nothing to do with regret but about feeding and clothing Jesus.  AHHH tugs at my heart soooo stinkin much.

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Easily motivated...

Only a few things within life can drastically change my life... the Lord, my family and many times books.  It doesn't take a lot to motivate me.  I am a 110% in kind of person, I read it... I like it... I change something to become that.  This last month has been an exciting, scary, crazy, RADICAL one.  Many things stirring in my heart.  I know that many times the timing has to be just right for things to completely impact you.  Some books that I have read that have altered my life were...
Crazy Love
1000 Gifts
and NOW 7 by Jen Hatmaker

Yep that's right the title is just one simple number 7.

She journals and documents her journey on "An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess".

At first this just seemed like an interesting read and I am always up for reading someones journey to be radical for Jesus.  Something that always appeals to my (easily motivated to sell my first born child and move to some tribe in the jungle and live off the land) heart.  But Jens experiment began to really move something deeper within me and draw me to scripture on what is Gods complete heart for us and the world that we live in.  

Their is something within our natural tendency to live a simple life free from the bondage of things, schedule, and appearance.  That is why I believe that Jesus spoke so much about freedom.  That deep natural tendency drew me to do something radical... I am selling my first born off for money to move the rest of our family off to a tribe and live off the land... pray for us.  

Not really but we did consider every possible thing for our lives... selling our house, having friends move in with us, selling all our "stuff".  Through wise counsel we decided that so many things were stirring in our hearts and we knew we were called to do something but we were so unsure of what that was we decided to do the 7.  So here is what our journey will look like.

Over the next 7 months (starting on May 15th) and each month I will be "fasting" a certain area that we live in excess.  

Month 1- Food (only eating 7 foods for an entire month)

Month 2- Clothes (wearing only 7 clothes items for an entire month)

Month 3- Possessions (Giving away 7 items a day for an entire month)

Month 4- Media (ridding of all media except for email/blogging and phone, but no apps or social media)

Month 5- Waste (we will recycle, compost, try to eat completely organic and take better care of the earth)

Month 6- Spending (we will only spend money at 7 establishments Gas, grocery ect.)

Month 7- Stess (I will stop pause and pray 7 times a day with reading of scripture and a moment of reflection)

WOW... I am excited and scared all at the same time.  

So this brings me to today I am in Day 3 of the food... of course I started with the hardest one for me first.  The Lord has already revealed some cool things that I can't wait to share here.  The things that we are learning and have learned are changing the way we do ministry, the way we relate with others, the way we lead people, the way we give, the way we parent.  I don't think anything like this has ever changed us like this journey we are walking through today.  Welcome to our journey.  

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