The Big Purge

Give-away month was fun! This month, my friends decided to have a garage sale to sell all the things they were purging. All three of them started a pile in February as they went through their closets. Since my closet selection was already limited, I didn't do the same thing. I decided that my March purging would all be gifted in some way, but, in the end, I did have a bunch for the garage sale, too. And, at the end of the sale, we all donated whatever stuff was leftover. Here is a partial list (or rather, what I kept up with) that I gave away this month.

• 54 children's books to the Literacy Council (plus garage sale leftovers)
• 21 Christian books (fiction and non-fiction) to the church library
• 50 adult books to local library
• 22 videos to local library
• 27 Women's blouses or slacks to St. Paul closet
• 23 Little girl outfits, dresses,or shirts to St. Paul closet
• 12 Men's shirts to St. Paul closet
• 13 stuffed animals to St. Paul toy shelf
• 21 Toiletry items to St. Paul pantry
• 7 pantry items to St. Paul food pantry
• 14 books to a friend's Little Free Library
• 5 Chasing Rainbows blouses to the scrapbook store
• 6 Little girl outfits and
• 3 stuffed animals (who needed children to love them) to a friend with foster children
• lots of little books, new pencils, and happy meal-type toys to the kids' teachers for rewards
• lots of assorted items left from our garage sale to a missions sale
• garage sale leftover children's and men's clothes to St. Paul

My total needed to be 217 items or more for me to call this month successful, but I quit counting when I got past 250. In case that doesn't sound like much, let me share that I filled my trunk three times with stuff I got rid of just with the garage sale; and books going to literacy council, the church library, and the public library filled nine heavy boxes.

Some of the hardest things to give away were three well-loved stuffed animals that were in excellent shape after they were washed. Those were three that had just enough sweet cuddles to remember that I wanted to find a special new home for them, but not quite special enough to go in the keepsake boxes I have for each of the kids. In the end, I sent them to a friend who is a foster mom, and I trust that she will match each of the animals up with one of her children.  Some of the most fun things to giver were some of Maddie's dresses that she wore to church -- they were almost new, but too short for her, and I took them to St. Paul. They were immediately hung on the closet rack (rather than going into storage until sorted) and a mom picked one out for a pretty little four-year old (I'm guessing) girl with dark wavy hair, long eyelashes, and a shy smile. I'm not sure that this month's experiment brought me to my knees as often as the first month (7 foods) did, but it was A-MAZ-ING! to see how God orchestrated all his miracles with the garage sale. This month -- or that weekend -- brought my friends and I closer to him as a group, so I am definitely glad I came face-to-face with my excess STUFF. This is a project I need to do more often, and I plan to keep some boxes always ready to fill with stuff to share with others.