Our Month Ahead: Shedding some Excess

This year, the month of November is going to be different than it has been in the past for our little DeJong family. I have just finished reading Seven by Jen Hatmaker and it helped me pinpoint some of my discontent with the way I have been living. For a long time I have been frustrated with how I spend money, the amount of waste our family produces, the unneeded stress, the wasted time on facebook/tv/#younameit and the way this takes me away from my real mission.

I want to love God with all my heart which means, in turn, I want to be overflowing with love and energy for his creation, both our earth and all its inhabitants. I am turning a new leaf in the month of November by reducing my excess in 7 ways:

1.       Waste: I will not purchase any individually wrapped snacks or drinks (With the advent of preschool, I have started to purchase a lot more of these things which are definitely not as healthy as fruits, vegetables or snacks that I prepare and also produce a massive amount of waste!)

2.       Food: All food that I purchase for our family will be either locally grown/raised or the least harmful to our planet that we can afford.

3.       Media: I will not post or look at my Facebook newsfeed. (Sadly this will be very hard for me!)  I will make one exception. I am hoping to blog about insight that God grants me throughout this month. I will post the link to my Facebook page but I will not even read any comments!

4.       Media: Our family will abstain from watching TV (Since we do not have cable, this includes all modes of watching it! We are even suspending our Netflix account! Matt asked for one exception, Sunday football games once in a while and I thought this could be used a relaxing family time so I agreed ;)

5.       Time: I will take time to pause and pray each afternoon/evening alone to ask God to reveal other areas I need to reduce or reallocate my time and efforts.

6.       Money: I will wait 7 days before making a purchase outside of our necessary food and household maintenance items we need. This is intended to give me time to reflect about how I am spending money and evaluate needs vs. wants before rushing into purchasing things just because I want them.

7.       Stress: Our family will take time for Sabbath. For the glorious month ahead, we will begin our Sabbath with dinner on Saturday nights with candlelight, thanksgiving, and communion, and we will take time rest in Him until Sunday night. Our Sabbath may look different each time. It can include sharing it with friends, staying at home, hiking outside, going to a friend’s house. It will include worship with our church family (including setting up, teaching, and tearing down everything for church. Which I do realize is work but we decided not to become so overburdened by the law that we throw our hands up and decide there is no time for rest in our fast paced world.)

I can’t wait for the month of November to begin. I look forward to the shedding of excess in order to make room for the Holy Spirit. I can feel him calling me to walk closer but I keep getting distracted by all this noise. I am eagerly awaiting the crisp November air and the extra time with my family.