Remember when I told you I read not just one but two books in August?! Welp, it was a full month of Jen Hatmaker reading. I've followed Jen on Twitter & Facebook for a while now, but then I heard her speak at IF: Gathering earlier this year. She was speaking about a lot of the things God was already stirring in me.

I was excited to pick up her book Seven: An Experimental mutiny against excess.

What I love about this book is that she took seven areas of her life to examine, and allow God to challenge her in. Which are probably a lot of areas we all struggle with as well. I know I do. Sometimes I struggle with the balance of things, what is my responsibility in these areas? How do I make sense of these areas the way God would want me to? Is there a relation between these areas and God's word?

The book talks about it all. It's written in diary format, her thoughts along her journey examining these areas of her life and what God wants to teach her about them and himself.

This book made me think about my own life. My own "excess" in my life. I already knew that this was a year God was stripping me of things that I'd made idols of in my life, so this book was so timely for me during this season.

God really used it to speak to my heart. I think we're a culture that craves more and we buy into the lies that tell us we need this or that. We can let it get out of hand if we don't have balance, perspective and Jesus. This could be anything really. Anything that pulls your time away from Christ, anything that isn't glorifying to the Lord in your life could be considered excess.

I am reminded about what "treasures" I'm storing up, and do they reflect in my life how much I love Jesus?

So go grab Seven, read on and be challenged. I promise you will be.

Andrea Worley