Yard Sale

In an effort to raise money for our trip to Kenya next summer we decided to participate in our neighborhood yard sale asking friends and family to donate items. With about fifteen donors we gathered enough items to fill a 3 car garage. I stood in the middle of the items pricing and organizing and I began to cry. I was overwhelmed at the gifts of others on our behalf. I was overwhelmed at God's goodness and grace. I was overwhelmed at the thought of Him using ordinary people like us. I couldn't hardly get anything done because of the tears. I even scared Ellie with my tears, but we had the opportunity to talk about God's goodness and grace with her and that some tears are happy and then we all shared a group hug full with happy tears.

twas the night before the sale

As I organized the items and put them in order I thought of how God does this in our lives. He takes all the junk and the old and gives it order and purpose. He takes sinners and gives us worth through the blood of the Lamb making us a new creation. Then He uses us for a greater purpose when we let Him.

day of the yiggity yard sale

We prayed for clear skies so that buyers wouldn't be scared away and because you couldn't move in the garage with everything stuffed in there. We used every bit of the driveway, garage, and lots of the sidewalk in front of our house to display all of the items for sale. We started the yard sale Friday morning and my parents came to finish it up for me so I could go to work at noon. I posted a picture with a caption about God answering our prayers for clear skies with YES! and my sister in law who lives about 45 minutes southwest of us commented "If that is today, you did get blessed because it is POURING here." It made me wonder what the radar looked like...was there a little donut hole around our neighborhood from 7a-1p that day? It could have been because He is the maker of the skies and He could tell the skies to do whatever. I don't know if there was donut hole on the radar that day but I do know that the God I serve could do that.

After two days the items went from packed into a three car garage to a small stack of items in the corner. The yard sale funded about half of one of us to go next summer and we are so grateful. If you donated items THANK YOU! If you prayed for us that weekend THANK YOU! If you came by and helped carry out to cars THANK YOU! It would not have been possible without you.

We plan on participating in our neighborhood's spring yard sale in May too. So as you gather items to get rid of over the next few months we would be happy to pick them up for you. Don't think anything is not worth selling because I even had a woman tell me she wanted to buy the triangle shaped mop cover because it was pretty :) Bless her heart she didn't even have a triangle shaped mop.

Thank you for your continued prayers for the ministry in East Africa and for our family!