morevember

"He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less." John 3:30.

This October, Lars and I did a fun workout challenge called Squatober. Essentially, it's a workout program where you do workouts every weekday, and every workout involves at least one type of squat. It's pretty fun, and it's been giving a cool structure to our month that I didn't want to just give up with the dawning of a new month.

Having another shared goal with Lars was fun. Sometimes it was tricky fitting the workouts in with our already busy schedule but finding creative ways to fit Squatober in was a neat problem-solving exercise. Plus, we also got a lot stronger physically. With all the benefits, I started thinking about carrying over a new theme into November about two-thirds of the way through October.

Together, we are stepping into November with a new template in mind: Morevember.

The idea is to seek more of Jesus and less of ourselves.

To know God more.

To be with God more.

To read God's word more.

To give more and reach out more to those around us.

To spend cozy days at home with hot drinks, blankets, and our Bibles.

And we want to invite you to join us! Here's what we're doing:

1. Reading through the entire book of Psalms.

Obviously, if we want to get more of God, the best source of that is through reading His word. This November, try reading through the whole book of Psalms. Psalms is a book of praise to God, but it is a lot more than that. The book of Psalms provides us with a snapshot of what life can be like here in our current earthly reality, a glimpse of the hope we have in Jesus, and it really showcases a lot of who God is.

While you're reading these Psalms, ask yourself:

· What does this say about who God is?

· What does this say about how God sees people/me?

· How can this inform the way I view the world?

For this challenge, I've created a Psalms Tracker so you can have a visual reminder of the Psalms you've read. There are 30 days in November and 150 Psalms. To break it down, that means you need to read 5 Psalms on average per day. Most of the Psalms are pretty bite-sized, so you can space them throughout your day whenever you have a five-minute block of free time. That being said, I understand that some days are busier than others. If there are days when you only have time to read two or three Psalms, that's okay! The goal is to add a little bit more, not to overwhelm you. Fit it in where you can!

The beauty of this tracker is that you don't necessarily have to read the Psalms in order if you don't want to. You can keep track of each one that you read and check it off!

Bonus tip: keep an index card or a notepad with you while you read to jot down realizations that jump out at you.

2. Having an open-Bible policy.

While we are being intentional about reading through the book of Psalms, another aspect of digging into more in our relationship with God involves an open-Bible policy.

You may have heard of an open-door policy in a business setting, where a manager will keep their "door open" to employees who want to discuss anything and everything. Given our current weather conditions, this option is not very sustainable. But an open Bible on the kitchen table, your nightstand, or your coffee table will remind you to snatch a verse or two whenever you can without turning into an ice cube in your own home!

Having an open Bible policy is exactly what it sounds like: keeping a Bible that is open to your passage of choice in a highly-trafficked area of your home. This way, whenever you have a moment, instead of reaching for your phone or some other distraction, you will reach for God's word for a little bit more.

3. Being with God

Right now, we are attending a small group led by our pastor Dave. He is taking us through a book entitled Emotionally Healthy Discipleship, and one of the principles in the book is that we are to be with God before doing things for Him. One of the ways that we've started to do this is to simply sit in silence for a minute or two before reading the Bible. This calms our minds from the blatant distractions that are so persistent in our culture and realigns our hearts to really listen to God. During Morevember, we are going to be continuing this practice of more silence and stillness with God.

IMPORTANT: being aware that being silent and still with God is good. Awareness is the first step towards change. However, I have been aware that being silent with God is important for over three years and I have only just now started putting it into practice. Don't put it off! The first time or three that you sit in silence may be a bit awkward, but after a few times, you will realize how indispensable this time really is.

4. Giving and Reaching Out

God values people a lot. The Bible outlines God's plan to rescue and restore humanity to a right relationship with Himself, which came at the cost of the life of His Son. God held nothing back in His pursuit of the human heart, simply because He loves us so much.

By seeking more of God and becoming more like Him, we will come to value what God values and love what He loves. This translates to valuing and loving people. If we value and love others, we will be on the lookout for ways to bless them and to be with them!

Here are some ideas for how you can give and reach out this Morevember:

· Pay for the person behind you in the drive-thru.
· Write someone a thank you card (and actually give it to them! I’m notorious for writing cards and not delivering them. As I write, there is an embarrassingly large box on my bookshelf with dozens of handwritten thank yous from our wedding. Yikes).
· Deliver some foodstuffs to your local food bank.
· Bake some cookies for your neighbours.
· Shovel the snow from someone’s sidewalk (alliteration? Even better!)
· Make a gift basket for someone you love.
· Invite a friend over for a visit and some tea (or coffee, if you are of that ilk).
· Call someone to pray for them.
· Make space for someone to merge in traffic.

There are so many ways to give and reach out! Try to do one kindness for someone each day of Morevember. Remember, it doesn't have to be expensive or huge. Small things make a big difference. If you like to track things, you can track your kindnesses on this calendar below.

5. Cozy Days

We want to build more rest into our lives. The fourth commandment reads "remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God..." The Hebrew word for Sabbath actually translates to English as "stop" or "to cease."

God modeled this resting for us when He created the world. And yet, rest is a gift that we often don't even make time for. This month, we are committing to building days of rest into our schedule where we stop our regular activities to be with God and rest.

I should clarify that we're not going to be having these cozy days during the work week. We're not going to call in to work and say "sorry, God told us to rest so we're not going to be coming in today." These will be weekend days where we will be giving our time to God.

On these days we are planning to spend time together with God. In prayer, in His word, and with each other.

We are definitely beverage people. We like to make coffee and tea with almost everything. Since it's now cold outside, it's really just a survival tactic to make hot drinks to accompany our resting. You'll find me with a matcha or adaptogen latte in hand, and Lars will be having some creamer with his coffee. Either way, we'll be cozied up in thick, warm blankets with the Scriptures to take in more of God.

This is certainly not an exhaustive list of what you could do in Morevember. The options are only as limited as your imagination. Please feel free to come up with your own ideas that will work with your schedule, ideas that will propel you forward to knowing God more. My prayer for you as we head into a new month is that you would know God more and that you would know Him as He truly is, not how you believe Him to be. Now let's dig in and get ready for Morevember!

P.S. Don't worry: Lars is doing even more! Movember is on the table. I will not be participating.

♪ - listen to Psalm 45 (Fairest of All) by Shane & Shane.