7: Stuff

In a long overdue attempt to reflect on how the book, 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess, is changing my outlook on my faith, decisions and real life - check this out.


STUFF

"I have come to see that the great tragedy in the church is not that rich Christians do not care about the poor, but that rich Christians do not know the poor." ~Shane Claiborne 

For the chapter on our possessions, Jen Hatmaker gives away 7 things a day for 1 month to see what changes this causes in her perspectives and attitudes. Our small group decided to take on this challenge in a similar way. Rather than a specific number, we were struck by the way she gave stuff away. Jen sought out organizations that needed her stuff. She prayed over the items she gave away and she sought to get things into hands of those who actually needed it. Goodwill has its place in all this, but isn't the only solution. More on that in a second.

So I transformed my dining room into a center for give-aways. I put post it notes on my walls and brown grocery bags on the floors and started sorting - much of it was clothes after just examining how much I actually own. Other stuff was housewares mostly.

With the help of several friends who were spring cleaning we sent stuff to:

• Cook Elementary School, one of my churches partners, to inspire kids to think about college by giving them college Tshirts
• El Buen Pastor one of my churches partner organizations, does an annual yard sale so we donated some of our nicer fall clothing for the women as well as some housewares. 
• World Relief in High Point  - We gave housewares including linens, towels, pillows, blankets, artwork, shelves, shoe racks, toiletries, kitchen utensils, and a rice cooker to help furnish refugee families' houses when they get to America with nothing more than a suitcase. This awesome organization is actually holding a donation drive this month. If you're doing any spring cleaning - consider helping out!

Give on June 20th!!

• Hope Phones who are "an innovative way to fund the global efforts of Medic Mobile, parent organization that advances healthcare in 16 countries with mobile technology." - We sent 11+ phones to Hope Phones. *Perk - they let you print a packing slip and doesn't require a trip to the post office! 

our contribution to Hope Phones

• An urban high school - I gave some coats and clothes that match the SMOD to some high school girls through their school counselor. 
• Goodwill did get a lot of donated clothes, which is great, but I did wonder - does everything we take there actual get sold? And if I have clothing that isn't in that great of shape, what should I do with it then? Then I ran across this video and learned why we should send any textiles there, even if they can't be resold in their stores. You should take 4 minutes to watch this video.
• Dress for Success was on my list, but after volunteering to sort some of their current donated goods, I decided to send my business clothes elsewhere. They have tons of stuff at the moment, so I'm working on getting UNCG to officially partner with them as a referral agency instead :) I took those items to the Shalom Project, a clothing closet as part of the ministry from Green Street Methodist Church.
  
• My credentialing body for Nationally Certified Counselors sends counseling textbooks to countries without established counseling training programs to help them have understanding of theories, practices, treatment plans, etc. So between a few of my counseling friends and I we donated 21 books to be sent to places like Bhutan, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cyprus, Greece, Jamaica, Kenya, Macedonia, Malawi, Nigeria, Philippines, Portugual, Romania, Tanzania, Turkey and Uganda. :)
• The Reynold Library took my old issues of Real Simple, Rachel Ray, Health and Women's Health to be sold and make money for the library. 

That whole process took about 6 weeks total. My dining room was kinda crazy during this time and I was spent by the end. It was both inspiring and disheartening at the same time. I was inspired by the many places I learned we could take things that we don't use anymore, both from a "reduce, reuse, recycle" standpoint (a future blog) and a "getting things into the hands that need them most" standpoint. But I was also disheartened that I had so much stuff I could part with and still have so much stuff. I've already reassessed the space in my drawers and have another bag to take to Goodwill.
This book is making me really look at my life and the ways I place values on things instead of relationships or "kingdom work." I do hope and pray that the places I sent those items will make a positive impact in God's economy. And I pray that I continue to let it sink into my marrow that things don't define me and that my "blessing" those less fortunate with my cast-offs doesn't make me any more righteous or good. Jen left us with these questions, which I know pose to you -

• What do we do with our riches? 
• What do we do with our privileges? 
• What should we keep? 
• What should we share?

7: Clothes

As my small group continues our own mutiny against excess, we came up with several ways to examine our clothing and reassess the way we view clothing.

I chose 7 non-descript items of clothing for work and wore variations of them all week. I got absolutely NO comments on my clothing so here are the conclusions I came to:

1. My coworkers think I'm weird but they are not going to say anything to me.
2. I see a variety of people each day so it's possible that they didn't see me consecutive days to know that I wore similar clothes.
3. Nobody really noticed at all and I am the only one preoccupied with my wardrobe choices.

In addition to those conclusions I also learned:

1. I have too many clothes, and I need to unlearn the value of buying something shiny and new. That was a value instilled in me long ago and is one area I want to investigate more.
2. I truly enjoying getting dressed and making choices regarding colors, fabrics, styles. And while I enjoy it I need to remember it's a choice, not an expectation. And when I get frustrated and feel "I have nothing to wear" I need to be chided!  
3. The American culture values consuming and newness A LOT and I get sucked in unwittingly too often. I want to increase my awareness of such messages and feel more confident questioning them.

So continues my saga with this book 7. I've realized I cry each chapter I read. Either because I overly identify with the author or because her lessons are refreshing and that soothes my soul in ways that are touching (and therefore covered in tears).