The Day Before

Month 1: For the next month pick 7 foods and eat only those.

Hello!

I'm Morgan, for those of you who don't know me. Emily and I have been friends for years - ever since we were little sophomores in High School and screaming over shared struggles from our corner spot in Starbucks (annoying every person in the room no doubt). We have faced life together side-by-side for the better part of a decade. And this is simply another chapter to add to our story.

A 7-month-long journey of decluttering our lives in every sense of the word, dealing with the discomfort that comes along with it, and being open to what God has to teach us through it all.

The biggest question that's been invading my thoughts the last couple of days is "why?" Why in the world, after a 5-minute-long phone conversation did I agree to such an endeavor? What most people would say no to even after weeks of consideration, I readily hopped on board with after mere minutes. Am I crazy?

Quite possibly.

But I think the real answer to my "why" is simply that the Lord had already been preparing my heart for some time now. Only because of the Holy Spirit's prompting did that immediate "yes" fly out of my mouth. (That, and the fact that I love Emily LeVault more than words and I knew I couldn't let her go this alone.) God made it clear within moments that this was a season I was meant to enter into. And I'm looking forward to it. Preparing for these 7 months with a sort of optimistic determinism that I can't quite describe. But I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared too - dreading with everything in me some of the challenges I know are waiting in the near future.

But mostly, I'm excited.

Bursting with anticipation over what God has to teach each of us. Looking forward to how He is going to wreck my heart and then build it back up again. Expecting some serious life change and transformation to take place. So if you are joining us on this journey, or are curious and simply want to gawk at craziness for the next 196 days (holy cow), here are a few parameters Emily and I established at our "Mo and Em Official Meeting" (which, shocker, was not so official):

1. We will be committed to each month's focus for exactly 4 weeks. Following Jen Hatmaker's example, we want to give ourselves 2-3 days of rest between each month in order to prepare for whatever the following life change will be.

2. Each month will be prayerfully focused. We will obviously be praying about what God has to teach us through each unique set of parameters. But along with that, both Emily and I will decide on a personal prayer focus to specifically bring to the Lord during those 28 days.

3. The 7 foods we've chosen for month one are:

• Wheat bread (we decided that whole wheat tortillas are also acceptable)
• Apples
• Eggs
• Chicken
• Sweet Potatoes
• Kale (Emily is choosing spinach)
• Avacado (Emily is choosing plain Greek yogurt)

*Note that there are other options within these such as 100% pure apple juice, dried apple slices, and chicken stock.

As you can see, our lists differ slightly. And that's okay. We've both chosen foods that fit our specific needs and will have the most nutritional value during this process. But something that's clearly going to be a challenge for the both of us is making Month 1 not about good food, but about a good fast.

At our uber-official meeting, it was all too easy to drift towards manipulating the process - planning the strategic use of each ingredient in order to make everything taste as good as possible. But to truly fast, I need to accept that bland, wheat bread with no frills is about to be 1/7 of my diet for the next month. And Emily needs to accept that plain, sad, sour cream-like Greek yogurt will be 1/7 of hers.

Bottom line: It's not about our comfort, but about turning to God for fulfillment in our discomfort.

I'm nervous. Dealing with anxiety already about future months and fighting to let tomorrow's troubles just stay there for now. But despite my nerves, I think I'm ready for this month. I have a guppy friend by my side and a God whose plan for these first 28 days is bigger than I could ever imagine.

So if you're going on this journey with Emily and I, welcome! Let us know in the comments if you're in and how we can be supporting you.

T-24 hours until 7 begins.

- Morgan

p.s. I already miss coffee.