It wasn’t even a full half hour after I had posted yesterday when I remember yet another thing I was going to give away. It’s simple math really. What happens when Jeremy and Amy purge 102 items of clothing? You end up with 58 empty hangers! Doesn’t 58 hangers sound excessive to you? It does to me! So 2 dozen hangers have been added to the bags that are piled up in my computer room. 34 hanger still seems excessive, but I’m waiting to see if I feel like giving more away as the week goes on. This seems to be my habit. Hangers are pretty cheap so on the off chance I get rid of too many, I know that it wouldn’t be the end of the world to get more. We’re not talking about a car or a flat screen TV. (Ugh, what if God called me to get rid of one of those – I would for sure be seen as a radical. Pretty sure that my husband’s eye is twitching as he reads this. Don’t worry, hubby, I would ask you first.)
As I mentioned I am keeping a giant pile of bags in my computer room. I don’t want to rush off and give my stuff away ASAP. I’m not being lazy, I’m giving myself time to add more. I’m hoping that each day I will be able to add more to the piles. I also don’t want this week of fasting to be something I breezed through in 2 days. I see the pile in my computer room and I am reminded of how the Lord has blessed me. I’m pretty sure Jesus didn’t give me all this excess. It was partially my fault. I doubt God thinks, “I’m going to give Amy so much stuff that she will be totally comfortable with life, find her security in her possessions and not have to trust me in the process.” I’m crazy if I think excess is a blessing. I should really view it as a curse. Anyway, all this to say, I hate clutter. I hate things feeling undone. Leaving a pile of bags in the middle of my room is an act of obedience not to rush through this fast. It’s a visual reminder to keep going, to be thankful and to think of others.
Tonight and tomorrow I plan on opening more drawers than I did on Monday. I plan on looking over my books and movies. I think those two categories are going to be hard to purge from. It’s easy to give way stuff you haven’t used in a while like a towel, but a movie or a book is something that I might want to watch or read later. Honestly, I get pretty connected to my books and almost treat them like friends. However, after my Christmas/Birthday book buying spree, I am yet again out of space on my bookshelf. The American way would be to buy another bookshelf…but I don’t want to keep the cycle of excess going. This is going to be hard. Please don’t make fun of me if my book “purge” consists of two books. I’m going to try. Jesus will need to help me. I don’t want to be so tied to stuff – even stuff I like… even stuff I love.
New total – 205 items leaving the Scott household!
Amy Scott's Thoughts 