Seven

Oh man.

I have been reading this book by Jen Hatmaker titled 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess.  And woah, this book is getting to me.  What a controversial read in the midst of a society plagued by consumerism...myself included!

I will be the first to tell you I have my vices and that I justify & rationalize them away until I feel better about myself.  But this book goes straight for the heart behind it all and you can't avoid taking a look at your own life.  There is freedom in observing where more joy might be found in the simple versus the surplus.

In Seven the author takes a month a piece to focus on seven different categories: clothes, shopping, waste, food, possessions, media, and stress.  She works through all the emotions tied to getting rid of the excess in these categories of her life and in the process is so relatable, so honest,  so funny. I literally would sit alone cracking up while reading over a cup of coffee.  Here are a few passages that are my personal favorites:::

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"When the jars of clay remember they are jars of clay, the treasure within gets all the glory, which seems somehow more fitting."

"This life is a breath. Heaven is coming fast, and we live in that thin space where faith and obedience have relevance. We have this one life to offer; there is no second chance, no plan B for the good news. We get one shot at living to expand the kingdom, fighting for justice.  We'll stand before Jesus once, and none of our luxuries will accompany us. We'll have one moment to say, "This is how I lived."

"Jesus' kingdom continues in the same manner it was launched; through humility, subversion, love, sacrifice; through calling empty religion to reform and behaving like we believe the meek will indeed inherit the earth.  We cannot carry the gospel to the poor and lowly while emulating the practices of the rich and powerful."

"He wanted it made.  He thinks the world is good, and He loves it.  It is His world; He has never relinquished title to it.  And he has never revoked conditions, bearing on His gift to us the use of it, that obliges us to take excellent care of it.  If God loves the world, then how might any person of faith be excused for not loving it or justified in destroying it?"

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I came out of my time consumed in this book feeling like I had taken a breath of fresh air.  That I have a choice, that I don't have to submit to the social norm of our culture.  Actually I have a choice to do otherwise.  And while it may feel like sacrifice, actually it is pretty freeing.  Don't you just feel so tangled up in the web of excess sometimes? Ah I do and it just feels heavy. Oh the joy of simple living.

Hope you have a little down time to pick up this book.  Seriously, its worth a read.

xo, Kelsey Belle

Seven

Afternoon Reading

Lately, I have passed by these comfy green chairs in my living room and thought how wonderful it would be to take one outside and sit in the sun.  It has been so lovely outside and seeing has we have no patio furniture, I was dreaming of how nice it would be to crate on of these things outside so I can sit and read.  And you know what, I finally did it.  How often do we think of these type of ideas and never really get around to it.  Yes I looked silly carrying my green velour chair down my back steps so I could sit in my driveway.  Yes I might have looked a little ummmm...not so class? But I don't really care. One thing I didn't do was let the mundane get a hold of me and instead I spiced up my afternoon by reading The Little Prince in my green chair in the driveway! Really I should say my roommate's green chair, but you know what I mean.

Go enjoy some pretty weather!

xo, Kelsey Belle

Afternoon Reading

Good Reads

What are your reading right now? Any suggestions?  

I am an avid reader, but must admit that I have been in a reading drought lately.  What is that might you ask? Oh ya know, those dry weeks, months, etc. where you feel like you have no drive to read a book.  Yep, I've been there for the past month or so.  But HEY! I am back in the game and ready to roll! I feel this overwhelming desire to read, read, read and am looking for suggestions!

I am actually about to pick up When Crickets Cry but feel that I will fly through that rather quickly.  I am also feeling a little whimsical so might thumb through The Little Prince for some inspiration.

And I shouldn't ask for suggestions without dishing out some of my own! Here are a few of my favorite books of all time:::

For some good cultural reads:::

The Book Thief, Little Bee, Three Cups of Tea, Persepolis

For some good Christian living reads:::

Crazy Love, Forgotten God,  Prodigal God

For some good reads that inspire one to live a full life filled with adventure:::

Love Does, Bittersweet, Cold Tangerines

For those books of whimsy that make you feel as if you could fly if you tried:::

The Alchemist, The Little Prince

Just a few of my favorites.  Hope you will check them out. 

And seriously, lend me your suggestions please!

xo, Kelsey Belle

Good Reads

Your Big Moment

“Today is your big moment. Moments, really. The life you’ve been waiting for is happening all around you. The scene unfolding right outside your window is worth more than the most beautiful painting, and the crackers and peanut butter that you’re having for lunch on the coffee table are as profound, in their own way, as the Last Supper. This is it. This is life in all its glory, swirling and unfolding around us, disguised as pedantic, pedestrian non-events. But pull of the mask and you will find your life, waiting to be made, chosen, woven, crafted.

Your life, right now, today, is exploding with energy and power and detail and dimension, better than the best movie you have ever seen. You and your family and your friends and your house and your dinner table and your garage have all the makings of a life of epic proportions, a story for the ages. Because they all are. Every life is.

You have stories worth telling, memories worth remembering, dreams worth working toward, a body worth feeding, a soul worth tending, and beyond that, the God of the universe dwells within you, the true culmination of super and natural.

You are more than dust and bones.

You are spirit and power and image of God.

And you have been given Today.”

-Shuana Niqueist

Shauna is one of my favorite authors and I highly recommend her books Cold Tangerines and Bittersweet.  They are books that tell her stories and what God has taught her in the midst of them.  I find myself feeling like she as an old friend as I read her stories and laughing out loud as if we are having discussing life face to face.  Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy, you won't be disappointed.

xo, Kelsey Belle

Your Big Moment

Date A Girl Who Reads...

“You should date a girl who reads.
Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes, who has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag. She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she has found the book she wants. You see that weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a secondhand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow and worn.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas, for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry and in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who read understand that all things must come to end, but that you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes.”
― Rosemarie Urquico



I found this quote via my sweet friend Mary Cate Ownby who is even more of a reader than myself.  She is a lady with many layers and so many beautiful facets to her character.  I love her dearly and find her to be quite an inspiration.  Also, she happens very reliable source for finding new books and beautiful words.

xx, Kelsey Belle

Date A Girl Who Reads...