Lenting Up

So a certain pastor at church kicked my butt last night and it was awesome! I mean yeah, I guess I needed to hear the "sinner" thing, but as little as I felt, I also felt very re-assured in my current reconstruction of beliefs. I hate Lent season because people give up selfish, silly things.
A couple of years ago, I gave up desserts and eating after 8pm. I was also on WeightWatchers and lost a lot of weight in about 2 months. It was effective for a diet, but let me just say...
God does not CARE if we are ten pounds lighter by Easter, people.

Okay, venting is over. Now I will speak constructively.

-I was really upset last night after church. I had this clumpy cross on my forehead that didn't really resemble a cross--It was more of a line. Two chunks of ashy charcoaliness that I touched up in the bathroom to spread the dust into a definitive cross. But I wasn't upset because the poor pastor dude messed up the cross; I was upset because people had all these great ideas of what they were sacrificing for 40 days and I had no idea.
Everything I thought of had a bit of a selfish turn to it. If chocolate was my alternative to praying, I would give it up. But it's not. Cokes don't prevent me from worshipping, ice cream doesn't keep me from reading el Bible.
-Then I started thinking about service. About those who need to bed fed, clothed, nurtured, and loved. Those who need relationships or reassurance.

--So here's my self-proposal. I want to give up one item that I own per day of Lent. So today I'm giving up a shirt. Tomorrow, a pair of jeans, the next day, a pair of shoes, the next, maybe a can of soup. By the end of the 40 days (or maybe weekly, depending on what I give up,) I will disperse of the stuff as necessary. So one week I could do a personal food drive, the next I could do a clothing drive, etc. But I don't want to limit myself to that.
--I want stop giving up things, you know? I need to stop giving up on people, on plans, on God, on friends, on writing.
--So when I get off work in 25 minutes, I am helping myself to a nice bowl of Orange Scream Ice Cream and I am gonna raid my closet.