Abundant Life Advent Challenge: Day 1
Thanks for joining me in this fun challenge to make room for more of God’s blessings in our lives by freeing ourselves from the overflow of things in our homes taking up our time and more importantly, our energy.
Did you know that physical mess can cause mental stress? Yes, it’s true. It also is a waste of time. Remember the last time you spent time trying to find that one thing? You know, the one you stashed in a “safe” place. I’m still looking for my “safe” place for some particular items.
I’m not a home organizer, nor do I claim to be organized. But what I am is a woman on a mission to fulfill every calling God presents me with. And as I say in my first book, Save the Butter Tubs!, “Do you find yourself in a cluttered space, mind, or life? External clutter is internal clutter on display. Is what you’re filling your life with aligning with your mission?”
Maybe you haven’t discovered your mission yet. That’s okay, we’re going to make some room over the next twenty-four days for you to invite God into your space and He can share your mission with you. (And if you have read, Save the Butter Tubs!: Discover Your Worth in a Disposable World, you may want to grab a copy to read as we work through this challenge together.
As we move through each day's assignment, I want you to focus on the number of items and NOT on reorganizing your space or buying more containers and shelves to organize the abundance of things. We are parting with physical items that are taking up our precious space. We will take this day-by-day to keep it simple through this busy season. Trust me, you’ll feel so much better in twenty-four days. Most women who start this process, continue it after, and I’ll share how you can do that too. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves and get started.
Go to the messiest area of your home. For me, this is my closet that takes on a life of its own every few years. I wrote about my closet in Save the Butter Tubs! And I wish I could tell you it was a one-and-done deal, but it’s not. The only things in life are Salvation and death. So don’t beat yourself up if you’re heading back to a space you’ve cleaned a hundred times. Got to the space, grab the first item you see that no longer serves you for whatever reason, and in the Advent box to leave your home! Nothing more. One item. Don’t overthink this or start digging through everything. Just take one thing and move it to the box.
That’s it! Pat yourself on the back. Post your pic with #abundantlifeadvent and let us know what that most dreaded area is for you. Day one is done. Good job!
Praying for you,
Brenda
P.S. The blogs will be shorter moving through this challenge. I know it’s a busy season and you don’t want to read about your mess, you want to clear it. I got you. We can do this!
Brenda A. Haire is the Co-founder and CEO of Joy of Pursuit, helping authors write, publish, market, and build an author business. She is the founder of Publish & Tell creating retreats and cozy inspiration for writers. She’s the author of The Worth Saving Series: Knowing Your Worth Changes Everything, The Worth Pursuing Series: A Moved Soul, The Team Solution Series: HR Coaching to Grow Teams and Profit, and The Author Solution Series.
