7: An Online Read-Along Adventure

I recently began reading Jen Hatmaker's 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess. It's good stuff people. Good. Stuff. Turns out some lovely ladies in my Bible study are reading it as well and a few others have decided to include it on their summer reading list. As much as I would love to host a book club every week to discuss the chapters, it's not gonna happen. So, I decided to do the next best thing and host an online read-along. Lest you think I'm a genius, I want to make it clear that I am borrowing heavily from the read along that Marla Taviano did back in February. I'm going to use her format and borrow some of her discussion questions, because she rocks. I may also steal a sentence or two, like her description of 7:


The book in a nutshell: Jen picked 7 areas of excess in her life (food, clothes, possessions, media, waste, spending, stress) and took some simple, but drastic, actions to fight back against the greed, materialism, and over-indulgence that was taking over her family’s life.

Intrigued? Cynical? Looking for something to read with a little more substance than Fifty Shades of Gray? I'd love to have you join us! Here's what to do:

1. Get the book. 

2. Read a chapter a week.

3. Come back on Friday for our discussions - We'll discuss the first chapter on Friday, July 13th. Your options for involvement include, but are not limited to:

•  Write your own blog post with your thoughts from the chapter and link to it.
•  Answer one or more of the discussion questions (that I provide) in the comments section.
•  Reply (kindly) to one or more comments.
•  Read and reflect at your own leisure with or without commenting.

4. THE IMPORTANT PART: (Again, borrowed from Marla.)

Please take a minute or two to introduce yourself by answering the following question in the comments section of this post. YOU ARE NOT COMMITTING TO ANYTHING. Just saying hi.

•  Your Name & Location (be as vague or specific as you’d like)
•  Which chapter (area of excess) do you feel most smug about (because it’s not really a problem for you)?
•  Which chapter scares you the most?
•  (Optional) What do you hope to get out of this Read-a-Long?

Here's my answers to help you get started:

1. I'm Alicia and I live in South Jersey.

2. I think I'll have the least problem with stress.

3. The media chapter scares me. I love the Internet. And TV. And my smartphone. 

4. I love having discussion and how hearing how God is moving in others' lives. I want to be more focused on what really matters. 

That's pretty much it. I look forward to hearing from you! :-)