Packed with tools and practices, this study guide takes us deeper into Simple & Free: 7 Experiments Against Excess by New York Times bestselling author Jen Hatmaker, helping us combat the areas of overindulgence and excess in our lives, freeing us to feel less stressed and more fulfilled. In Simple & Free , first published as 7 , Jen Hatmaker gave readers the story of how her reckoning with excess and materialism turned into a social experiment—which soon propelled a spiritual movement. Now, in this study guide, Hatmaker invites us to delve deeper into solutions and practices for our own seven areas of excess—from stress to spending to social media. This nine-week study guide walks us through these excesses and equips us with practical tools for creating solutions—and making this idea a way of life, not just an experiment. Taking the best from Simple & Free and packing these points with Scripture followed by prompting questions, this resource is broken down into focused, thematically organized weeks for readers to explore patterns and solutions around sustainability and gratitude in greater depth. What’s the payoff from living a deeply reduced life? It’s the discovery of a greatly increased connection with God—a call toward simplicity and generosity that transcends social experiment to become a radically better life. Jen Hatmaker  is the author of the  New York Times  bestsellers  For the Love and Fierce, Free, and Full of Fire.  She hosts the award-winning For the Love podcast, is the delighted curator of the Jen Hatmaker Book Club, and leads a tightly knit online community, reaching millions of people each week. Hatmaker is a co-founder of Legacy Collective, a giving community that grants millions of dollars around the world. She is a mom to five kids and lives happily just outside Austin, Texas, in a 1908 farmhouse with questionable plumbing. Chapter 1 Week 1 Intro What do you hope to gain from the Simple & Free experiment? How has excess in your life distracted you from things that actually matter? Have you ever fasted before? If so, describe the circumstances. If not, what do you anticipate as you fast from excess during the Simple & Free experiment? How do you feel about pursuing “less of me, more of God”? As you begin the Simple & Free experiment, what do you think God wants to do with your life? What do you think He’s calling you to give up? Where do you think He’s calling you to serve? Getting Ready When my son Ben was around eight years old, he moped into the living room in a demonstrative, performative huff. Lots of dramatic sighs. Tons of flopping on the couch. Several side glances to make sure I was seeing his distress. Expecting a genuine difficulty or painful experience, I said: “Ben? What’s wrong, honey?” And throwing his hands in the air, he hollered: “Mom? Why can’t I just have a horse?!” Of course I burst out laughing and he fled to his room, disgruntled and persecuted because we wouldn’t put a horse in our teeny suburban backyard. But I must be honest with you, good reader, here is a small fraction of the thoughts I’ve entertained: Why can’t I just have a newer car for once in my life? Why can’t I just have cuter clothes and more of them? Why can’t I just have nice pots and pans instead of these wretched, scratched ones? Why can’t I just have fluffy towels like at Hyatt Regency Hill Country? Why can’t I just have a house with two more rooms? And a jet bathtub? Why can’t I just have a few fancy vacations? Like to Italy or something? Good reader, what have you wished you could “just have” lately? Jesus talked repeatedly about people with privileges, riches, advantages. He was always saying how rich people were favored and that our luxuries were granted to us on merit. Enjoy them, rich folks! It’s all for you, and you’re awesome! OPPOSITE DAY! Just kidding. I can’t find a single word Jesus spoke that bodes well for rich people at the top of the food chain. Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your comfort. (Luke 6:24) As for the seed that fell among thorns, these are the ones who, when they have heard, go on their way and are choked with worries, riches, and pleasures of life, and produce no mature fruit. (Luke 8:14) “The Parable of the Rich Fool.” Nice title, and here is the punch line: That’s how it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. (Luke 12:21) He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. (Luke 1:53) Read Matthew 19:16–22 Luke 18:18 further tells us this young man was a ruler, so not only does he have money, but he has power and position. In Matthew 19:16 he asked, “What good must I do to have eternal life?” What does the young man’s question to Jesus tell you? Why on earth, of all the ways Jesus could’ve challenged him, do you think He answered like He did in Matthew 19:21? Then, naturally, we get this gem in verse 23, in which I feel deeply connecte