God is just so good, and I want this post to be a testament to that. When I had started planning my Garage/Bake Sale I prayed believing for $1,000-$2,000. At the time I didn’t know that was considered unheard of for an amount during any garage sale, but that was on my heart. When I told my mom she chuckled and said $1,000 was admirable, but don’t get too ahead of myself (in all fairness I do get a bit overly ambitious at times). However I still wanted to believe for that $2,000. I prayed for favor, good items, and open hearts. And so the day came…
I had enough stuff to fill a flea market and baked goods worthy of being sold at a premier bake shop, now I had to wait lol. The first 3 hours or so I had a good steady trickle of people and was making a decent amount. Then came the afternoon dead time. I started to panic, “that can’t be it. Where is everyone?!” I still had another 6 hours left! I was checking my count incessantly trying to guess where I was, but I felt God prompt me to take a breather and just go sit quietly for 5 minutes.
I hid in the stairwell and quietly reminded myself God had to bring the people. I sowed the seed for provision, I prayed, I asked others to pray, but the end result was out of my hands. I was tempted to settle for any amount several times, you know, “God even if I just got $500 I would be grateful.” Not true. I wanted the $2,000 and asking for that wasn’t greedy or blindly hopeful. I was earnestly believing for it and knew He could do it. I gave up my fears and control and went back to sitting at my table with my mom as company.
Another 3 hours creeped by and every now and then a couple people would stop in, without buying anything. I was starting to think the rush was over, but hopeful I’d still sell a few more things. Judging by the amount of stuff I had it honestly looked like a dent had hardly been made. It came down to the last couple hours and slowly more people came. Neighbors, church members, and the occasional passerby. I sold some of the bigger items and was thrilled! By that point I has guesstimated I made close to $1,500 and was very happy until I got home to do the final count. I was getting more and more excited as the count increased. When I finally added the last bills and said $2,045 I couldn’t stop laughing and hollering. My mom was stunned and frankly to an extent so was I, but in my heart it was a huge confirmation and encouragement.
I’m so grateful. So so grateful! This was a big moment in my life because I don’t think I’ve believed for something this big before financially. It was a great learning experience and I feel that my heart is starting to have more revelation of his goodness and provision. It’s so exciting! My count now is close to $6,000. However my fear is reaching halfway and people getting tired of hearing about everything. The lesson isn’t done yet.
To my fellow racers still working on fundraising, don’t give up. I admit I thought it was corny they had us read about fundraising stuff because we tend to think that’s a no-brainer. Seriously though. LISTEN to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Even though I got $2,000 for my sale, it may not be the same for you. Just as you planning something may not be as successful for me. This is a great trust exercise in provision, prayer, and faith. Believe you have received! This really isn’t the time to settle for a little bit here and there. God has given us an opportunity to steward finances in order to help us bring His Kingdom to earth. I think we’ve been trained to shy away from asking for money, or sheepishly say “whatever you can give is ok,” (which is true because people can only give what they can) but we have to be bold in our approach with God. Hebrews 4:16 says just that. God wants us to come to him confidently and ask. I had to do that with my sale and now I feel a deeper level of courage has been given. We CAN do this!
