Month 1: Check

Well that's a wrap, folks. 1 month down, 6 more to go.

Each is supposed to last for 28 days, but we actually ended March a little early because of Easter. As a joyous day intended to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior, it just didn't feel right remaining in a physical and spiritual state of fasting. So we ended on the 26th. Well, technically halfway through the 25th when Emily mentioned the homemade coffee creamer in her fridge.

It was all too fitting to enjoy that first glorious cup together. My mom made some ridiculous comment at the beginning of March that after so many days apart I might not like coffee as much. I'm happy to report she was 100% wrong.

I'm gonna be honest, though. Beyond the lack of caffeine, it was a pretty rough month. I had to haul this diet all the way to St. Louis for the weekend and make it work at a dance competition - in a hotel room nonetheless! Emily's husband will tell you that his wife has been just a little less agreeable than usual. And unfortunately not everyone has been supportive of this process - voicing criticism when it doesn't line up with what they believe "true fasting" to be.

These things and others were extremely frustrating. But God remained good and met us where we were, even amidst the mess of how utterly awful some days were.

The 3 biggest things I learned:

1. This journey is ours, not Jen Hatmaker's. I was reminded of this after sharing our blog in a writer's community on Facebook. One woman who previously completed "7" left a beacon of hope in my notifications when she said to remember that our journey doesn't have to look just like Jen's in order to be successful. It's all about the heart and intention behind each month's decisions. How freeing!

2. I expected to walk away from March with some neat, pretty, wrapped-up, Christian lesson learned about being grateful for what I have. What I didn't expect was the ugliness in my heart. The selfishness and entitlement I didn't realize was even there. Talk about shocking. Yet so, so good. I learned a lot about myself and a lot about the person who God wants me to be.

3. When you make room for Him, God is faithful to answer prayer. Emily and I both had a very specific prayer request this month that we were focusing on. And what do you know, the Lord revealed answers to both of us!

Overall, March was challenging, revealing, infuriating, and never ending at times. But oh so wonderful. We may still be a little nutty for doing this. But I'm convinced now more than ever that it's all worth it.

- Morgan

p.s. Check back in the next few days for an update from Emily about Month 2!

Come Hungry.

Hi there. 

Our first month is almost at an end. I should've blogged a lot sooner, but I didn't. I kept waiting for some amazing insightful thing to hit me upside the head, but I just kept feeling hangry instead.

As I mentioned before, I like comfort food. But I didn't think I had a problem with food, or giving up food for a month. Of course, I was super wrong.

Instead of a great insight about my future path in life I've kept running into this problem I have with using food for comfort. I've labeled it a few ways this month like: I'm just hangry, I'm low on caffeine, if I had a cup of tea I wouldn't be crying so much. 

I've developed plenty of excuses: 'I'm tired of sweet potatoes, I just want ONE chocolate chip cookie, if I just had some coffee I could get through this day, if I could just eat a real meal I wouldn't be so mean' etc. 

The example from Jesus' life that I've been focused on this month was his time spent fasting in the desert. The longer I eat spinach for breakfast the more frustrated I become with his experience.

See, Jesus knew he was about to tempted and that this would be the beginning of his ministry here on earth, and that people would write it down and talk about it for thousands of years afterwards.

He still arrived hungry.

I know for a fact that when I am well fed, when I have my caffeine, when I'm not trying to find a new way to cook eggs, I am a more mentally and emotionally balanced person. If you have doubts, you haven't spent enough time with me lately.

So why would Jesus arrive hungry to something so difficult?

The longer I feel hangry the more I am forced to realize: when I can't rely on a venti vanilla soy latte for comfort, I am much better at placing my faith in my Heavenly Father, I pray more often, I do a better job of reaching for His promises, and I work harder to memorize His truth.

Perhaps Jesus knew this about the human body - that we can get so bogged down and distracted by the calories of this life.

Call out time - because I'm hangry and reckless and you chose to read this blog:

I am willing to bet another week of sweet potatoes that you were hoping this would be a lesson in gratitude. And more than likely your excuse all along had something to do with already being fairly grateful. Ha.

Jesus has more to teach us than gratitude friends. Stop settling for a kindergarten understanding of your own faith. Challenge yourself. Get freaking uncomfortable.

I don't have anything nice or warm or milky to tell you about what Jesus has for you when you get over yourself. So, again, I invite you on this journey of getting past the excess in your life. Stay tuned this week for more updates on April's challenge!

In the words of one of our eighth graders:

"I'm sorry, but I do not regret my actions"

Peace.

-Emily

Resisting the Matcha

I survived week 2 with my sanity (and health) intact! Mostly.

I feel like the past 7 days have gradually brought about a sense of peace and acceptance about this meal plan. I even managed to sit inside Coffee Hound for a meeting, and be (almost) completely okay with not having a cute little house cortado sitting in front of me. Like I said, almost. But I was getting into the groove of things. Handling each day fairly well in my opinion.

Until Friday.

I was getting ready to drive to Springfield to celebrate my sister's birthday when the aforementioned coffee shop announced 10% off a matcha freeze for all it's' loyalty members. (It's sort of like a green tea smoothie for those of you that don't speak hipster. Don't worry, I didn't know what it was either until a friend handed me a cup of it last month. So good!)

I know, only 10% off. Nothing to freak out about. But like a switch got flipped in my brain - content Morgan disappeared as selfishness and entitlement flared up inside me like I couldn't believe.

Kid you not, I almost did not make it out of town without getting one. I was literally a block away; it would have been too easy. The voice in my head was screaming "Morgan, it's healthy! There's no coffee in it. What's one delicious smoothie on the way home going to hurt?" I couldn't convince myself, though, without some affirmation. So I texted Emily. Hoping she would say something that even slightly suggested I go for it. Throw all caution to the wind for an hour, get the drink!

No luck. She was a good friend and empathetic. But not an enabler.

So I kept driving and glared at my plain, boring water with a hatred I don't think I've ever felt towards a beverage. I may or may not have even let a few tears slip. Don't judge me, going 2 weeks without coffee can make anyone a little emotionally unstable.

But why? After so many good days, why did a smoothie make my world come crashing down in seconds? To tell you the truth, I don't know. I can't pinpoint it, but it felt like some sort of breaking point. The first time my feathers were really ruffled in this process... but also the first time God was really able to get my attention.

And when I finally chose to stop whining and listen to His quiet prompting instead, He reminded me that all I could ever want or need has already been given to me in His Son. In His love, I find complete fulfillment. Total satisfaction & fullness of joy. He has already given me grace upon grace. And only when I recognize that am I able to move past my unwillingness and look beyond my selfish desires and frustrations.

Only there am I able to resist the matcha, and do so with joy.

Praying for you friend, if you're having a hard time at the halfway point as well. Stay strong, you've made it this far!

- Morgan

p.s. I'm going to Coffee Hound again this morning. Wish me luck.

photo cred: @the_coffee_hound on Instagram

Soup Success

So, truth time. It's been a rough start to 7. Sounds pretty pathetic after only 6 days, right?

Wrong. So wrong.

And it hasn't been rough for the reasons you're probably thinking. I actually don't hate the 7 foods that much yet. This first week for the most part has consisted of a bunch of adjusting - getting used to only having 7 different options in my kitchen, figuring out which combinations go best together, and accepting that I need to wash my pans by hand Every. Single. Night. Because I will most likely need them again the very next morning. Probably to cook some eggs. So many eggs.

But everything is still new enough that I'm not totally freaking out yet. I mean, I miss things like condiments, other fruits and vegetables, and my dear, dear almond milk. And you don't even want to know how many times a day I just look at my Keurig. And for about .2 seconds try to convince myself that it wouldn't be the end of the world if I just had one teensy little cup.

I haven't, though, thank you very much. Hang in there friend, just a few more weeks of separation.

No, what's been hard is that from night 1 I have been sick. Like, blow your nose 20 million times a day, headache, weak, achy all over sick. AND I got a canker sore in the back of my throat. (Yes, apparently that's a thing.) And the only way to get rid of it is to eat yogurt. So without even making it a full 24 hours into 7, I consulted Emily, made a Hyvee run, and then pumped as many probiotics down my throat as I possibly could. Hey, there's always tomorrow.

Thankfully the canker sore went away, but the being sick part just kept getting worse and worse. And it's been so frustrating because I feel like since I've been sick all week, my attitude towards this process hasn't even had a fair shot at being optimistic.

You know how it goes, you stub your toe or you spill something and all of a sudden every other thing in the room becomes the most despicable, loud, unnecessary annoyance to ever exist. It hasn't necessarily been that extreme, but I feel like I've been living in a general state of misery and discomfort the last five days. And it's only served to amplify the things about this journey that are challenging now or that scare me about the future.

I'm finally starting to feel a little better, and I'm hoping by the official end of week 1 tomorrow that I can go to bed and start week 2 healthier and with a better attitude. Because I'll admit, I'm starting to get just a little sick of the limited options I have, and the weird food combinations I've been forced to come up with. But each time those thoughts creep in and I start to get pouty and annoyed, I turn to prayer.

Because honestly, this is a small sacrifice compared to what some people on the globe live like every day of their lives. The amount of times this week I've heard people say "Oh, I could never do that" has been so frustrating. Because they could. We all could. So many in this world live on so much less. So I'm trying to stay focused on gratitude and being thankful for the blessings I have. Because they're too infinite to count. And 28 days without almond milk is nothing to get upset over.

Hang in there, friends. If you're participating in 7 and also had a rough start, know you're in good company. Feel free to comment and tell us how your first week is going!

- Morgan

p.s. I made soup today. I was nervous, but it turned out really good! Literally just chicken, kale, sweet potato, chicken stock, salt and pepper - who knew. Solid end to a pretty shaky week.

AKA: the 7 things I will never want to eat again

Hey there. How are you? It's Day 2 in our world and honestly, I thought it would be at least Day 12 before I wrote this post of pure sadness. Instead, it's Day 2 and I want to tap out.

I thought that this month would be an easy one for me. I didn't think I was that attached to my food, I like eating healthy sometimes and for goodness' sake, who can't go four weeks without a strawberry milkshake???

Me. That would be me. I am currently raising my hand.

Here's the deal: I'm a stress eater.  I know, I know  you're shocked. Emily? The one who drags her friends to Mazatlan after a bad day? The one who has cravings that could rival a pregnant woman? The one who wakes up early to stop for donuts instead of doing her hair? Surely not.

Yes. That Emily.

Work has been stressful this week, applying for grad school has been stressful this week, starting this 7 month project has been stressful this week. I am stressed.

And the first thing that pops into my mind...Dunkin. How quickly can I get to Dunkin Donuts? Or McAllister's? Or Chipotle? Or Chi? 

At the very least, I want a hot cup of tea. With cream. And honey.

I would like to take this opportunity to blame my mother. My entire life, after any encounter with a doctor I have been rewarded with food. Unfortunately, I now work with doctors everyday. Imagine that. Also, she makes great cinnamon tea, and she smells like cinnamon tea and she makes cinnamon toast for you if you're sad. So, really, this isn't my fault at all.

All of this to say, today I dropped my lunch on the floor of my car. And as I was dusting Luke hair and random filth off of my apple slices, I was torn between crying, driving to McDonald's, or doing both. Instead I prayed, and I laughed, and I told the Almighty how much I appreciate him creating cows and convinced myself that eating my own car floor dirt wasn't that bad.

So here's my encouragement to you: when you think you're going to give up, just push through, phone a friend, and tell Jesus how thankful you are for vanilla soy lattes, strawberry milkshakes, and moments that give us laughter on hard days. He is our comfort, and He gives us what we need.

Feel free to update us on your 7 experience, and don't feel bad if you're already sick of sweet potatoes.

-Emily