Countless folks suffer through caffeine headaches and FaceBook withdrawls during lent. How about you?
This year lent is from March 1st to April 13th and here in BIG Life we’re suggesting a radically different sacrifice. How about we sacrifice some of the “stuff” piling up in the house? Simplify your life, de-clutter your house, and discover what’s truly important.
(print your ’40 Bags In 40 Days’ list here)
Lent is a wonderful thing.
It’s a personal sacrifice of something you love, in exchange for time and reflection on Jesus Christ. If you’ve never experienced it, I encourage you to dive in this year. The typical sacrifices are coffee, soda, chocolate, or FaceBook. If none of these speak to you and you’re searching for a little somethin’ somethin’ different, join me for 40 Bags in 40 Days.
Here’s the truth, we love our stuff. Our old stuff, the stuff we’re always yelling at the kids to pick up. The stuff we had to buy Rubbermaid boxes for. The stuff that now steals our parking spot in the garage. The stuff we pay 40 bucks a month to store in some air conditioned storage unit in town.
Why not give up “STUFF” for Lent?
News flash: YOU ARE NOT WHAT YOU OWN! (Seriously watch an episode of Hoarders!)
So here’s the plan: Make a list of 40 areas in your home and over the next 40 days, tackle one area per day purging one bag of unnecessary stuff. 40 Bags in 40 Days. (Totally brilliant and totally not my original idea, but you can love me or hate me anyway for sharing)
One bag. Just one bag today in one area. Tomorrow we’ll move on to the next area and fill another bag.
Start living more out of intention than living out of habit. Habit is to just keep all that stuff and keep buying more … intention is making room for the BIG Life you were created for.
I can hear you now …
“But I’m not a hoarder.” “I don’t have a huge house.” “I can’t think of 40 areas.” Let me address those now. I move often, living in fully furnished vacation homes where the only things I actually own are suitcases, a few dishes and a desk … I have very little. If I can do this, you can do this. Kitchen cabinets can be divided in to several days. Some of you could spend a whole freakin’ week in your closet. This isn’t a full one hour project every day and who says it has to be a jumbo sized garbage bag? The exercise is more about a conscious effort to get rid of a little every day and choose Jesus over the “stuff”. Do you really need that extra bottle of lotion under you sink that has 5 drops left in it? I think not! Bag it!
Want to supercharge this Lent, commit to not buying any more stuff for the next 40 days too!
Print your 40 Bags in 40 Days list here.
I’ll do it!
I’m going to do it too!! I’ve been needed to do some organizing and decluttering, even if they are plastic grocery bags 😉
I’m going to do this 40bags in 40 days! I’m that person with the lotion bottle which has only a few drops left. I will donate the bags to a local church or organization to help with those who have been displaced from their homes due to the lava flow here in Hawaii. What a great idea!!
I need help brainstorming 40 areas
Junk drawer, hall closet, car, garage shelf, bedroom closets (4 or 5? – one at a time), laundry room, coffee table, under bathroom sink… one little piece at a time, that’s the point. Don’t try to do whole rooms at once, you’ll get overwhelmed and give up. But 40 bite size pieces…anyone can do that. Good luck!
Large utensil drawer, fridge, cleaning supplies, bath towels, kitchen towels, shower/bath area, medicine cabinet, etc…
Glad you ladies will be joining us. Be sure to post your pictures on facebook and tag us.
I’m in for the 40 bags/40days!! I CAN DO THIS!!
I’m in too! I desperately need to purge and give to those in need. I have fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, chronic EBV or mono so I feel sick and unable to finish a project I start. I really need help. Anyone know of any way I can get the extra hands on help? I’ve tried churches ect..to no avail.
I’m not sure about extra help, but how about a 5 minute timer? Do whatever area you choose for 5 minutes and 5 minutes only. Don’t take everything out of a cabinet with plans to go through, wash, purge, and put back everything. Open the cabinet, set the timer and purge what you can do in 5 minutes. When the timer goes off, you’re done. Doing this several days in a row will give you a great sense of accomplishment; I’m willing to bet.
Any idea how to purge books. Mostly are Christian reference or ones I want to keep to reread.
We had hundreds of books in our home library, but committed to begin moving all across the world with nothing more than suitcases … so I began going through each book and copying the highlighted parts into my journal. Now I have a few journals that hold all the best of the best and I was able to bless others with my books.