Ash Wednesday and Buh-Bye to Stuff

As a good Presbyterian, I'm preparing myself for the Lenten season. Having grown up in a totally different denomination of the Christian faith, I have learned more about Lent over the last several years and the purpose and ideas behind it. In these last years, I have not always observed Lent, as I believe that whether or not you participate, and to what extent of what you do and do not do, is completely between you and God. For a general overview, if you are unfamiliar with Lent, look here and here.

This year I have decided to take part in the "40 Bags in 40 Days" challenge that Ann Marie from White House, Black Shutters is doing. She got the idea from Sarah from Clover Lane who got the idea here.This is a fantastic idea and goes right along with all the decluttering I've been doing around the house. My pastor always asks us during Lent, "What is it that keeps us from spending time with God?" For some it's too much television, Facebook, or any other hobby that many of us make into an "Idol." And for some (like myself) it's STUFF. With all the junk I've accumulated, I spend the majority of my time, picking up stuff, putting away stuff, organizing stuff, and trying to find stuff. And if I see cute stuff on sale, you better believe it's coming home with me. See what I mean? I'm tired of being a slave to my stuff.

So for the 40 days of Lent leading up to Easter (this does not include weekends), I am going to take a bag a day (whether it's a Wal-Mart sack, or black lawn and leaf bag LOL!) and fill it up with the stuff that's cluttering my home, my mind, and my LIFE and take it out of my house. Normally I would pile all my stuff that I take out of my house in the garage and save it for a yard sale... OH, BUT NO!!! This time I'm going to sacrifice the money I would usually make from my yard sale and give all my stuff to the Downtown Rescue Mission where they can sell it in their store and help the homeless. Everybody wins this way!

Another way I'm preparing myself for the Lenten season is reading a devotion everyday at breakfast with my girls as well as reading our way through a wonderful International Children's Bible that I borrowed from our church (I'm going to post about this next week). Today we started in Genesis and read about the beginning of all things. JR commented that there were LOTS of pages for us to read to get to the end. LOL! How observant is that??? That kid cracks me up...

Now, where did I put those garbage bags?!? Kidding! They're under the sink in the kitchen. I cleaned out THAT cabinet a week and a half ago. ;) I'll post pics of the progress. Stay tuned!!!