Obviously a yard sale is a great way to earn some extra money, but what I didn’t expect was all of the little lessons learned along the way.
The lease to my apartment was up, and I have moved back home with my parents until time to leave. As I was packing up all of the things I have accumulated over the years I realized how much I really have. Clothes I forgot I owned. Boxes full of things still packed from a previous move and over 100 pairs of shoes. I realized I needed to get rid of things, and stop holding onto stuff for that ‘what if’ day that I might need them. I knew parting ways with my things would be somewhat difficult for me because I worked hard for them. I earned them. So I prayed. God please help me to realize that these possessions are blessings from you and what is mine is yours. Help me to pass them along to someone who could love and appreciate them even more than I have as my own. As I started to pack up boxes and clean out things I found myself giving away boxes left and right. I even gave away about 40 pairs of shoes! I had fun going through boxes and finding things I had forgotten about. I was flooded with happy memories. God blessed me with these things and now it is my turn to give back.
We announced to our family and friends that we were hosting a yard sale to raise money for my trip. Soon enough we had a barn full of boxes and furniture donated from friends and family. The support was incredible! From this I learned that I am loved. People parted ways with their hard earned possessions to help me. They believe in me and God’s plan in my life. We seriously had our very own Goodwill store set up. Our neighbors down the road even had a yard sale the same day and helped promote ours. God was truly at work to make this a successful day. After hours and hours of exhausting preparation the day had come. We had a yard sale.
The morning of the yard sale I woke up exhausted with four hours of sleep and sore from not getting enough rest. I was cranky, and the last thing I wanted to be doing was standing outside all day talking to people. So I prayed. God please give me joy and energy today. That is exactly what he did. Our first customer came at 7:15 am. In the blink of an eye they had spent nearly fifty dollars. Soon enough the cars were so piled up in the driveway that my dad had to start directing traffic. The people were flooding in. As I walked around helping people I often got the question, “So are you the one going on the mission trip?” Then I had the opportunity to share with others about the World Race. Here comes the joy. I loved sharing stories with strangers and hearing about their own experiences. Simply telling people about what God is doing in my life gives me joy. I even met a lady who used to do mission work in Asia when she was my age. She gave me a donation and bought a huge box full of things. Then she went home and brought back her seven kids to spend their allowance. Watching these kids run around looking for the best thing to spend their money on was awesome. I found myself smiling all day as I saw people finding things they really liked and wishing me luck on my trip. I found an abundance of joy!
Our last customer of the day was a six year old boy who came with his grandparents. He discovered one of my favorite childhood toys. It was my old Little Tikes cassette player with a microphone. I suddenly remembered all those times when I was little standing in the living room, microphone in hand belting out the songs on my Little Mermaid cassette. I smiled as I watched him play with it and pick out his very own cassettes for it. I was happy to pass along a treasured toy to someone else and hope he gets as much joy from it as I did.
So THANK YOU to everyone who helped my yard sale be a success. Thank you to those who donated. I couldn’t have been so successful without you. Thank you to my friends and family who came out to support me. And thank you God for giving me so much love and joy through a yard sale! Seeing all of my hard work pay off and finally raising $1,600!!!! I am blown away. God has truly blessed me beyond measure.
