My Annual Lenten Observance: The 40 Things In 40 Days Decluttering Challenge

Lent is just around the corner, beginning on Ash Wednesday, February 18! With that  I want to share one of the ways I have traditionally observed this season, The 40 Things / 40 Days Decluttering Challenge. If you google 40 Days / 40 Things (Some challenges are to remove 40 bags of stuff!), you'll likely find a number of posts on the topic, which is how I originally discovered the idea over a decade ago. But, as with so many things, I like to personalize things and make it my own, using my own graphics and colors that appeal to me, which is why I am hosting my own challenge here this year.

The idea is that during the season of Lent (February 18 - April 4), you challenge yourself to remove 40 items that you no longer want or need from your house, old clothes, old books, kitchen gadgets, sports equipment, furniture, you name it, if you've got clutter (and don't we all!) and you want to free up some space, this challenge is for you! I think it's perfect for this season as we are emptying ourselves to make room for the Spirit to move and work, decluttering and making space in our living spaces seems like a natural extension.

I was very intentional in making this a part of my Lenten observance last year, and I've already got my box at the ready with a few more items already in it! So I thought I'd invite you to join along! If you want to participate, it's super simple

- Comment on this post and say, "I'm in!"

- Find a box (or boxes) to store the items as you collect them.

- Download the 40 Things / 40 Days Decluttering Challenge Track Sheet, and beginning next Wednesday, start filling your boxes. Every time you add an item to the box, color in a square and continue to do so until you reach 40 items! You can also donate more, but the idea is to donate a minimum of 40 items, 1 item for each day of Lent. You also don't have to follow this day to day. If you do a deep clean and collect 10 items one day, then you color in 10 squares, and you may have days when you don't add anything to the box, and that is fine. The goal is to simply have 40 items in the box and ready to donate.

- Then, any time after April 4, take your collected items and donate them to your favorite thrift store or other ministry.

During the challenge I'll post about my progress from time to time, and if  you join along feel free to leave a comment and let us know how you're doing!  I'll also be making a button for my side bar that will link back to all the posts about the challenge to make it easy to find.

This is such a fun challenge, and it always feels so good to clear things out! I'm actually going to be doing this in conjunction with my spring cleaning, which I'll be doing during Lent, as well. I'll post more about that soon, if that's something you might be interested in following! Once my house is cleaned and de-cluttered, I'm planning on doing a house blessing, which is something I've wanted to do for awhile now, and again, I'll be sharing more about that soon, so I hope you'll visit here with me again!

Until then, my friends, have a lovely afternoon!

❊