All the stripes.

I am so many things this month.

Some days I love my strictly assigned wardrobe. It feels like I'm getting to experience the mythical "benefits" people who wore school uniforms always talked about growing up.

Then other days I sit on my bed and just gaze into my half-open closet. Daydreaming about wearing that denim shirt with the enthusiasm of a girl fantasizing about her wedding dress.

And somewhere in the middle are days that are just gray and confusing. When my mind is all over the place and my perceptions are challenged. When the things I thought to be true about myself are questioned. Days when I'm a carefree, uniform-wearing Jesus lover one moment, and then a panicked, frightened cardigan addict the next.

Let me tell ya. The clothing swings are real.

I wore the same dress to two separate events in one weekend. Trust me, it was inevitable. I was fine until I got home after outing #2 and the thought hit me: what if pictures get posted from both? What if people see them NEXT TO EACHOTHER? What if everyone scrolls through their newsfeed and smirks because of my obvious inability to come up with more than one cute outfit in 24 hours?

Then something occurred to me this past week: Literally, no one cares.

Ouch.

A tough pill to swallow, but so true. After three straight weeks of wearing the same two outfits to teach dance, kid you not, one of my students said to me, "Oh, I haven't even noticed!"

Uhh... what?? That one comment rocked my world and taught me more in 5 seconds than I think I've learned all month. It's funny how God uses the seemingly small, inconsequential daily happenings sometimes, to reveal the most paradigm-shifting truths in our lives. That's how He tends to work, though, catching us off guard in the unexpected.

I've come to realize that each day is a gamble in this whole "7" thing. There are no guarantees that I will wake up tomorrow thrilled about wearing the same striped tank top for the approximately 240284th time this month. But I guess overall I've learned to start caring a little less how my closet tells me I should feel, and a little more how God says I am secure in Him and Him alone.

It hasn't been perfect. But it sure has been something.

- Morgan

p.s. I feel like my face says everything about the love hate relationship I've developed with this favorite shirt of mine. 7 more days, friends. 7 more days.

The rich young Pinterest addict

See what I did there?

If you don't already know the story, a rich young man comes to Jesus and says: "Hey! I believe in you, I am ready to go! I follow all the rules, I'm a good person - am I going to make it into Heaven?"

Jesus replies, "Alright that's great, but one last thing - go sell what you have, give that money to the poor - then come follow me."

The young man went away sad, because he was very wealthy.

Oh, how many mean thoughts I've had for this young man. Growing up in church I came to understand that he made the wrong choice, he had a bad heart, he ultimately chose money over the chance to follow Jesus. Obviously I would never make such a horrible mistake.

Can I tell you that in these last few weeks, this young man is on my mind almost everyday. And I have never felt so heartbroken for him.

I look at my closet and feel a tug on my heart that gets stronger all the time. I've made my clothes an idol - and it's time to start sorting through that. But every time I think about it I just go away sad.

And this is where the blog post stops... I don't know what to do. I don't have an idea on how to proceed, I'm just running out the clock on this month. I'm scouring the internet for a minimalists closet structure I can live with. Now I'm asking you for help.

I need to get a handle on my closet, and I am open to suggestions. 

Last night we were in Sports Authority and this cute pink sweatshirt caught my eye. I reached for it, then backed away when I remembered my fast. In the next heartbeat this soul-draining thought popped into my head: "I just need one more sweatshirt - then my wardrobe would be complete."

Ugh. That is the heavy, exhausting never-ending hamster wheel I've been running. I've said that about every single thing I've purchased this year... just one more ____ and then I'll feel whole. 

Oh, it makes me tired to the bone. And standing there in the store I thought there has to be another answer- there has to be a way out of this endless trap. I can never win, these clothes that I buy are never enough. 

They don't solve my problems at work. 

They don't give me lasting peace, security or comfort. 

They don't actually help anyone. 

These clothes that I keep buying just perpetuate this cycle of eternal longing bandaged up with temporary trappings. 

This month in particular is why I'm on this fast. This is why I need a long term solution for my closet. Because I am so tired. I am so very tired. 

I'm asking for help, because I need a hand up out of this pit. Shoot me some thoughts - I'm ready to listen. 

-Emily 

7 outfits I will never wear again

Okay, this is hard.

I knew I loved my clothes, but I thought I would be able to coast through this month no problem. I'm not that addicted to my wardrobe, I thought. And I get 7 completely different outfits! Totally doable.

This coming from the girl who moved to North Carolina for 2 months and packed enough clothes and shoes and scarves and jewelry and cardigans and skirts and... you get the point... that I didn't have to repeat an outfit for a whole month. My roommate at the time can attest to this amazing feat.

But being the glass half full type of person that I am, I still entered April with a shiny, I-can-do-it attitude. And I'm discovering that I can't. I cannot do it.

The importance I place on what I wear is far greater than I originally thought.

I teach dance sometimes 4-5 days a week, so I have 2 "dance teacher" outfits to work with (a number I wish was much higher after these past 7 days). I need comfy clothes to wear at home, and comfortable PJs for crying out loud. So there goes 2 more of my allotted 7. Which leaves 2 outfits that a normal person would wear in public (and still look presentable), and 1 dress for nicer occasions, or for the beautiful spring day I'm hoping arrives at some point this month.

And that's it.

Sounded like a lot more in theory. In practice, it feels unbearably limiting compared to the excess of options normally at my fingertips.

So here at the beginning of week 2, I'm praying for God to change my "I can't" attitude. I'm praying for Him to break my heart for what is truly important in His Kingdom. And praying that by the end of this month my clothes have taken a backseat to far more important things.

- Morgan

p.s. I've discovered these floral keds of mine are truly a mental and emotional lifesaver, on days when wearing the same shirt for the third time in one week feels especially tough.

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This is not a joke

I'll be brief, because I don't know what to say. I was switching out pieces of clothing until 11:30 last night, and staring into my closet like a lost soul.

I love my clothes, and I'm not even sorry about it. I have a separate Instagram account for my closet.

So here's to Month 2 of our lifestyle experiment...

This month is about excess clothing. Essentially, I feel like someone found a bruised rib and put their elbow in it. Over and over and over again.

I've been in denial, if we're being honest - yesterday I made an order on Zulily. Why? Because I was ignoring the fact that I won't be wearing those clothes when they arrive. I'm in denial.

Jen Hatmaker's challenge of choice for her second month was 7 items of clothing. God bless her, but she writes from home. I wish I could write from home, but I answer phones in a professional setting. So instead Morgan and I have chosen 7 outfits each and we'll be wearing them all through April.

We had an awesome response to our blog last month that encouraged us to take this experiment at our own pace, while still capturing the heart of the project: letting go of what we don't need. As a result we feel comfortable adjusting things this month so that they continue to be eye opening, while still being manageable.

I don't need all my sweatpants, but by golly I want them.

I encourage you to join us this month - no sweet potatoes required, I promise. It's a great time to jump in for the rest of the journey, or even just for the next four weeks.

We'll keep you updated, and probably post an outfit-of-the-day or two. But  my heart is sad. I'd just like to say that. My heart is so sad about my sweatpants, and my cardigans and having to choose between my striped shirts. I have 32 of them.

Each month we pray for something different - and we'd love to pray for you! Let us know what's on your heart and we'll add it to our list this month. There's something serious about fasting and praying, it's referenced all through the Bible, and we're experiencing the truth of that in our own lives. So seriously, we'd be happy to fast and pray over whatever it is you need.

If you'd like more details, please feel free to text, call, Facebook message or comment below. We'd love to give you more information so that you can do this too, but I also don't really want to talk about underwear on the internet. 

-Emily

P.S. To all my female friends... and sisters... since I won't be wearing 99.9% of my wardrobe this month I'm opening it up to you. If you want to borrow or just outright steal something from my closet, this is your opportunity. I'm even willing to mail it to you. Call, text, smoke signals - you know the drill.