40 Bags in 40 Days

You are probably wondering what is going on here. 

Well, I was checking out Kimberly Scribbles and she is doing a great thing for Lent.  Kimberly has so graciously given her permission for me to post an article that she wrote for her blog on this subject.  So here it is:

Something I love about the blog world are the ideas and inspiration I get from reading what others are doing in their lives.  There are such incredible ideas out and about just floating around in blog space.  I tell ya, you bloggers are brilliant!

Ash Wednesday is next week and so begins the 40 days of lent.  I have never 'celebrated' lent (is that what you say?  Celebrated?).  It was just something my family never did.  But this year I plan to change things.

Lent is described as a period of fasting or penitence.  A time of giving up and letting go. 

There are a couple of ways in which I plan to celebrate but one of those ways is something I picked up from a few bloggers which is the 40 bags in 40 days.

The idea is to get rid of (donate or throw out) 40 bags of "stuff", one per day that has accumulated in our home over the year.  Old toys, books, clothing.  Stuff that we don't love, never or rarely use and don't even know we have.  Stuff that others could likely put to better use.  For example books we've read that could be used by our town library.  Toys that could be used at the local daycare or Good Will.  Clothing that could be sold at the Salvation Army.  The added bonus is it de-clutters our home and simplifies things. 

I am a firm believer that we have too much "stuff" in our lives that we really don't need.  We live in a super consumerist culture where we are in a constant state of needing more and more and every bit of marketing we see tells us that.  I have really tried to go against that grain.  My urges to shop continuously for clothing or other things I don't really need has been curbed quite a bit as I really try to be content with what I have.  When I feel the need to shop for new clothes I just think about my packed closet and know that I don't need more. 

So 40 full garbage bags in 40 days.  I don't know if I can do it or if we have enough "stuff" in our home to fill them all but I have a sneaking suspicion I will do okay. 

I can't wait to start and can't wait to share with you how it goes! 

If you would be interested in joining, just jump right over to kimberlyscribble.blogspot.com.  Yesterday was Ash Wednesday.  So today, I started on my first bag.  Now perhaps, I will not be filling a bag each day, but I plan on having 40 bags to take to the Goodwill at the end of the 40 days.  At that time, I plan on my house being alot less heavy with stuff.