March Change Challenge - Too Much Stuff!

This change challenge is one that I am going to be doing right along with you all.  Lately, through my time reading the Bible, and through things I have read in books and online, and sermons I have heard recently, I feel like God has been speaking to me about this area of my life, my stuff.

Take a minute and just look around where you are right now.  Are you in your house?  Your living room or office?  Have you ever really noticed how much stuff you have? Where I sit at my dinning room table, I can see into our living room and kitchen. I can see that we have A LOT of stuff.

I have been convicted of this recently, to really look at the amount of stuff that we have in relation to others in the world that literally have nothing.  I am beginning to believe and understand how our stuff can creep into our lives and become an idol, something that is more important to us than loving God and loving others.

How much stuff is enough?  We can only wear one set of clothes or one pair of shoes at a time, our kids can only play with one toy or read one book at time.  We can can only use our stuff one thing at a time (for the most part, except for us multi-tasking mamas!), how much stuff is enough? I'm not exactly sure what the answer to this question is, but I do know that we have MORE than enough. 

I challenge you to think about and change your relationship with your stuff.  Now, I'm not going to say that you should get rid of all your stuff, obviously some of our stuff provides basic necessities for us like clothing and food.  But, this month, I am going to ask you to evaluate your relationship with your stuff.  How you think and feel about your stuff, and then, if you want, we're going to get rid of some of our stuff.  For myself, I have committed that in March I want to go through our stuff like clothes and toys, books and miscellaneous things, and purge stuff that we don't use and don't need.  I want to get rid of a lot of our stuff. I just don't want our stuff to have a prominent or important place in our lives.  It's just stuff, and as my dad always said to my sisters and I when we were growing up, "The best things in life aren't things at all."  I believe that, and I want it to be reflected in the way that I live. 

Please, just take a minute and reflect on your relationship with your stuff.  Are you content with what you have?  Or do you always feel like you want or need more?  Do you think that once you get or have (fill in the blank) that you will be happy, life will be good?  Do you hold tightly to your stuff? Do you keep it for yourself? Or are you generous with what you have, giving and sharing freely with others? Are you jealous of other people's stuff?  Do you wish that you had clothes like your friend's, or a car like your neighbor's?  How about this - where does all the stuff that you have in your house come from?  Who made it?  What processes did it have to go through to get where it now sits in your house?  What resources and people were a part of making and getting your stuff to you?  How does the stuff that we buy and use in our homes impact others outside of ourselves and our family?

Are there any other questions that you are asking yourself about your stuff.  Maybe you already have a proper relationship to your stuff, if so, please share your story.  I'd love to hear your thoughts, as I'm asking myself these same questions right along with you.