The Marraige of the Happy 7

Recently I read two books that have made me want to do my own kind of study. The first is, "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin. In it, Gretchen takes the year to find out of different things can make someone happy or happier than they already are. There are a couple of things in her book that did not really resonate with me, but there were enough that made me think I would like to try some of her ideas. The second book is by Jen Hatmaker and is titled, "The 7 Experiment". If you are wanting an eye-opening kind of book or are looking for ways to draw closer to God, this is it. Seriously. Stop reading and go get it. I'll wait........The idea of this book is to take 7 months and pick a focus of a fast for that month: Food, Clothes, Spending, Possessions, Media, Waste and Stress. The ideas in this book really hit home for me and I wanted to put her plan to action as well. So being the thinker that I am, I decided to do them together. Now, unless you have actually read both of these books, you might think that sounds simple enough but let me tell you, finding an idea in Gretchen's book that went along with Jen's was easy. For two of the seven months. Jen's book is about fasting from the things we overindulge in as a way to see God's bigger picture - if you dont need it, why are you buying it? Oh, it's on sale? Then by all means, please do.....whatever. Gretchen's book is about self gratification. (One of the suggestions is to make little splurges. It's on sale? Sales make you happy. Buy it for Pete's sake.) So marrying the two is a little more that just saying the first month in Gretchen's book can go with Month One of Jen's. After praying about it and talking to the Honey - he just said to let him know what he is/isnt suppose to do - this is my plan: March - Spending (Hatmaker)/Buy Some Happiness (Rubin) April - Food (Hatmaker)/Aim Higher (Rubin) May - Possessions (Hatmaker)/Boost Energy (Rubin) June - Clothes (Hatmaker)/Keep a Contented Heart (Rubin) July - Waste (Hatmaker)/Pay Attention (Rubin) Aug - Media (Hatmaker)/Pursue a Passion (Rubin) Sept - Stress (Hatmaker)/Lighten Up (Rubin) Obviously, this is subject to change and there may be months that I don't do the fast just as it is written. For example, Month One is Spending. The idea for this month is to only spend in 7 places (Target, Publix, Farmer's Market, etc). However, Randy and I just moved and with the move came A LOT of changes. For one, I am the only one working and I pay the bills. Not a lot left for other expenditures. So for this month, I am praying about what I really should be focused on and how to be more mindful of my spending. My goal for this process is to blog each night on how my day went; how I was able to incorporate the two together and see how I change in the process. My prayer is that I become more mindful to the things of God, while becoming who I really want to be and who He needs me to be. If you are interested in the blogs these ladies did with their books, here are their links. http://www.happiness-project.com/ http://jenhatmaker.com/ As I gear up for the 1st of March, I will be blogging as a way to get in the habit of nightly entries. So for the next week I will be explaining what each month means and how I plan to incorporate the two. I am looking forward to the Journey and invite you to come along. TTFN Amy