Friday, February 19, 2010

Giving it all away (well, some of it!)


Lent is a special time in this house -one we look forward to with enthusiasm.

Rather that punishing ourselves by giving up treats and such for the 40 days, like I used to do when I was a child, we challenge ourselves in a different way -not to give up but to give away!

Lent is a time when we choose new charities to give to, and enjoy the fun of discussing what to give and to which charity. This year I am thinking in particular of UNICEF as one of the candidates.

Lent is also a decluttering time, when we go through our possessions and give away the things that are still useful to charity shops, Freecycle and the like. Last year DH gave away his beloved SLR film camera, and was delighted to find someone who would love it and use it.

The result of all of this is a cleaner house and gives us a great deal of satisfaction.
If you would like to know what brought us to this point, this blog might explain it

http://the-go-between-god.blogspot.com/2010/02/what-do-you-think-god-is-like.html

This weekend we are off to a retreat at one of the 'thin places' here in WA -New Norcia, the Benedictine town. People have been praying here for almost as long as there have been Christians in WA. The picture above is of the town from a distance...that will get closer in a few hours!

It will be quiet and restful, and I imagine also inspirational.

I wish for you some of the same!

2 comments:

Beth Dargis said...

What a great idea, using Lent as a decluttering time and time to pick charities. I think that's something I'd like to implement.

Anonymous said...

What a great idea. I just finished a 40 days of prayer and fasting and learned so much.