Ahhh, GOD IS SO GOOD!! I cannot get over His ridiculous LOVE and FAITHFULNESS!!
“Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies� (Psalm 36:5).
So
I had my second fundraising TAG SALE today and it went SOOO
ridiculously WELL!!! Ahh! That’s the understatement of the century! I
HAVE to tell you about some of the amazing things that happened and
testify to the pure GOODNESS of the Lord! Oh man, I am in awe. 🙂 THANK
YOU, JESUS!!
First,
I just have to take a second and give a shout-out to my sister (Mary)
and my dad. These guys are out of control amazing and helped me in more
ways than I could have ever imagined. I seriously would not have been
able to pull this day off without them (or the last tag sale for that
matter) and I just want to THANK THEM SO SO SO MUCH for all their time,
support, and purely sacrificial love! Gosh I am SO GRATEFUL!! Thank you,
JESUS for my phenomenal family!! 🙂
THANK
YOU also to Jim D. for allowing us to use the parking lot of ALPHA OIL,
CO. for the tag sale!! It was an AMAZING location and I bet over 300
people stopped by throughout the day (starting at 8am and going until
6:30pm… WOW!) So legit! Thanks again!
Now for some amazing stories… 🙂
1.
Jim (the owner of Alpha Oil) has a son named Jim as well. This guy is
awesome. He welcomed us in yesterday and let us into their garage to
begin transporting items from our house to the location of the sale.
Not only did he help unload all the items and organize them with us,
but he stayed there until well after dark helping out two girls he had
just met. Wow! Amazing! The next day he was there bright and early to
help Mary and I set up, move tables and items, and organize for the day.
WHAT A BLESSING!! Thank you, Jesus for Jim!!
2.
We also met a new friend named Bob. Wow. This man has one of the most
sacrificial, loving, compassionate hearts I know. He is absolutely
amazing and I’ve decided to adopt him as my new grandfather. 🙂 We met
Bob last night as well and he stayed around chatting and helping us move
things prior to the sale. He showed up bright and early today too with
boxes of items to donate – NEW items! Like… great stuff! He just kept
going to his house and bringing more to us throughout the day, and each
time with a smile on his face and warmth in his presence. Not only that,
but he simply enjoyed being around and seeing if he could do anything
to help. He loved to chat and just spend time with us. So precious! In
the morning he asked Mary and I if we wanted coffee and went right out
and got us two big cups, along with some donuts. When he arrived he
promptly told us that he’d forgotten the sugar but would be back in a
flash with it. Wow. So precious! He continued asking if we needed
anything and just took amazing care of us throughout the day. We had
some incredible conversations and I just feel deeply honored to have met
this man. There’s something special about him. He really knows how to
bless people and Mary and I agreed that we were truly touched by his
presence and love. We prayed for him on the ride home and I trust that
he’s experiencing the Lord’s love in a new and real way tonight. Thank
you, Jesus for Bob!!
3.
Early in the morning another car showed up and we were warmly greeted
by Margaret, the owner of a sewing shop in the same row of businesses.
She welcomed us with a smile and told us if we had to use the bathroom
at all throughout the day that she’d be more than happy to offer hers.
Score! (This was actually something I was wondering about so I felt
super grateful!) There was a Jesus fish printed on the sign of her shop
so Mary decided to ask if she was a Christian. She was! I went into her
store at one point and heard Christian music playing as she worked away.
It just made me smile. 🙂 She was talking to Mary a bit more and she
said she was interested in hearing more about my trip, wanted my support
letter and contact information, and would pass it along to her pastor!
Wow! I love these amazing, “random� connections all over the place! I
talked to her later and she was so sweet and encouraging! Man, thank you
Jesus for Margaret!
4.
A few of the guys from the Knights of Columbus at St. Cecilias donated
items to the tag sale after hearing me speak about my trip at one of
their meetings. SO sweet! One of them had donated a NICE futon bunk-bed
earlier in the week and showed up this morning to help bring it out and
put it together for people to view! It was awesome! The futon was pretty
much brand new and people loved it (it sold almost right away!) We were
talking later and he was SO encouraging of what I’m doing and wanted to
stay updated with my trip… so now he’s subscribed to my blog! THANK
YOU, Jesus for this man’s amazing support! 🙂
5.
The tag sale was advertised as a “fundraiser� so numerous people
throughout the day asked what it was for and were SO incredibly
encouraging when they heard about the Thailand Initiative! One couple
started talking to me more about it and it turns out they’re members of a
local church and were excited to hear about what I was doing. They said
their daughter wants to do missionary work in Africa and they’d love to
connect us so we could chat. Sweet! How old is their daughter you ask?
Only 13!! WOW! I was so encouraged that a 13-year old would have that
much passion and zeal for the Lord already and have such a clear calling
on her life. Praise God! So they got my contact information and said
they would be in touch. About an hour later the man showed up again with
his daughter and introduced us right there. So cool! I was just so
touched at how excited he was about our meeting and how eager he was to
introduce me to her. It was just really special. Thank you, Lord for
this interaction!! 🙂
6.
Numerous others were ridiculously encouraging of what I’m doing… and A
LOT of them had already seen/ read about me in the local newspaper!! So
sweet! (It was GREAT timing that this tag sale came only a few days
after being the feature story of the Wilbraham-Hampden TIMES! It
definitely helped people understand what it was for and I think they
were way more supportive because of it! Awesome!) A few people looked at
me strange for a second and then said, “You look familiar… you were
on the cover of the newspaper the other day weren’t you?!� Haha, it was
awesome. “Yup, that was me!â€� 🙂
7.
One mother was there with her little girl and they were buying some
Threads of Hope bracelets (made by people in the Philippines!) She was
telling me how awesome it was to hear about what I’m doing and that she
had read all about me in the paper. She then said, “I was reading the
paper to my daughter too and telling her about your work. You really are
an inspiration and a role model to kids her age and the younger
generation. It’s amazing to see.� WOW! Thank you, Jesus for speaking
into this mother and her daughter’s life!!
8.
This makes me so happy: the fabulous Janet Wise showed up to my tag
sale! Yay!! (She was the one who interviewed me for the newspaper and
wrote up an amazing article… and she is a blessed sister in Christ!)
She came just to say hi and encourage me… and she
brought her daughter too! I got a picture with her, introduced her to my
family, and thanked her again for all she’s done. Then she took 200
Threads of Hope bracelets to sell at her church!! WHOA!! Talk about
being blessed again and again… THANK YOU, JESUS for Janet!
9.
There was a woman looking at some of the jewelry that Bob had just
dropped off (yea… he brought us some GOOD STUFF) and she was SO
EXCITED about it! She came over to me and asked how much it would be.
Before I could answer/ calculate how much I thought she offered me more
than twice the amount! Whoa! She told me she loved this type of jewelry
and was so excited that she found it… she said I had MADE HER YEAR!
Dang! She was so encouraging of what I’m doing as well and blessed me in
my trip! Awesome! I love being able to make people happy! (I feel like
that happened A LOT today too… thank you, Lord!)
10.
There were multiple people who came, looked around, asked what I was
doing, and then bought only one or two small things but donated much
more to the Thailand Initiative! WOW! So awesome! Others came and only
bought Threads of Hope bracelets and told me how much they loved
supporting causes like this. Awesome! I love seeing people’s hearts and
being able to experience their incredible generosity and support. Even
when I don’t know them! Wow, God is so good!
11.
One of my dad’s friends and a previous teacher at Minnechaug (that I
haven’t seen in years) came by to say hi! So sweet! He of course was
incredibly encouraging and wrote out a generous check for my trip right
there… without even buying anything! Wow! He gave me two big hugs,
told me he had been (and will continue to) follow what I’m doing on facebook (and even update my dad sometimes as well!), and said he was so happy for
me. Ah, precious man! I love people! It just really touched me that he
would take the time to stop by, say hi, and offer such amazing support.
Thank you, Jesus for Dan!
12.
There were definitely some repeat customers that I saw both last
weekend and today. They love tag sales! One of them was a man who bought
only Bibles both times. I loved it. 🙂 He came up to me, recognized me
from the paper, got jazzed up about what I’m doing, and started sharing
his testimony about when he got saved. He said he’s been buying
these Bibles to give to the guys he works with in prison ministry.
LEGIT!! That made me so happy!! He was encouraging me to preach the
gospel all over the world, quoted the passage of scripture that was on
my shirt, and blessed me in what I was doing. I love meeting brothers
(and sisters!) in the body of Christ! Thank you, Lord!
13.
It was a BEAUTIFUL, SUNNY DAY… ALL DAY!!! And SOOO many people showed
up! Seriously… there was a steady flow of tag salers the WHOLE time we
were there, minus maybe a period of five minutes throughout the day. Thank you, JESUS!
14.
As we were in the midst of the busyness a man came over to me and asked
about the stuffed animals we had. There were two big boxes full of them
and we had generally been selling them for fifty cents a piece. He
asked how much I would charge for both boxes… and then he asked if I
could give him a deal. He told me he was from Ghana and wanted to bring
these stuffed animals over to children in his country who have never had
one before. He said he had never had any himself as a child, but he
wanted to bless the kids in his community when he returned. Wow. I was
simply amazed and chills rushed down my spine. From one missionary to
another, I boxed up as many toys as I could fit in and helped him bring
them to his car. Joy flooded my being. This is so legit!! I love how God works!
15.
Another one of the shops was open during the day and the owner came out
to say hello. She had a music store and was joyfully practicing and
working away. Towards the end of the day I saw her about to leave and
rushed up to her car. It turns out a whole crate of sheet music had been
donated to us but no one had even glanced at it to buy. Mary and I
thought it would be sweet to see if she wanted it since she in fact
works at a music store and could probably actually use it. I told her
what we had, asked her if she wanted it, and her eyes simply LIT UP!
“Yes, that would be wonderful!� she exclaimed! She was so appreciative
and put all the music in her car right away. Thank you, Lord for the
ability to bless others with what You’ve given us!! 🙂
16.
There were multiple children throughout the day that would come to look
at our stuff along with their parents. They were precious! Lucky for
them we had a WHOLE TABLE set up with toys, books, stuffed animals,
children’s clothes, and goodies galore for the little ones. Every once
and awhile a child would cautiously walk up to either Mary or I with a book
or toy in one hand and a pile of change (I’m talking pennies and dimes
here) in the other. “How much is this?� they would ask timidly.
“Twenty-five cents,� we would gently reply, and they would excitedly
dump the contents of change into our hands with a glimmer of joy in
their eyes and a smile inching across their faces. Gosh it just blessed
Mary and I’s hearts so much! These kids were AWESOME! Thank you, Lord
for precious children!
17.
Towards the end of our time people who had donated things or stopped by
earlier came back around to check on how we were and how the sale had
gone. It blessed me so much to feel so supported and loved! People
really care and took the time to show it. I felt so loved… thank you,
Jesus!
18.
This might be one of my favorite stories of all. We were beginning to
pack things up but people were still filtering through, so we started
telling them we’d be giving REALLY good deals on stuff at that point!
(Cause otherwise it was all going to be donated to either Goodwill or
Salvation Army.) Before the tag sale I had gone through most of my stuff
and decided to give a lot of it away… even the things I had held dear
since I was a child. One of my most loved things was my collection of
Precious Moments dolls, figurines, books, and memorabilia from the time I
was a little girl. I LOVE Precious Moments! I had them all nicely
displayed in a glass case in my room for years, but recently decided
that I wasn’t going to need them to look pretty when I was doing
missionary work in Thailand. One of my good friends encouraged me in
this by saying, “It’s time to sell all you have for the KINGDOM.� Praise
God! That’s what I want to do! So yea… out went my Precious Moments
collection along with a slew of others things that were unnecessary to
hold onto. It’s all meaningless anyway right? (Haha, thank you
Ecclesiates.) So a good portion of this collection was still left at the
end of the tag sale. A family showed up and were looking around at the
last of the stuff before we packed up. They stumbled upon the box of
Precious Moments items and excitedly began talking about how much they
loved them! I knew my whole collection would soon be gone at that point.
Only minutes earlier I had gone through the box and checked out the
things I would keep if no one bought them (a few crosses and a Bible),
but I suddenly realized I wouldn’t be keeping anything. This is good, Jenny, I said to myself. I don’t need any of that. And
praise the Lord… He made it really easy to let go! There was a little
girl in this family (about eight years old – the same age I was when I
started the collection), and she was simply overjoyed at the box of
goodies. She instantly grabbed two of the prayer books and the Bible and
held them close to her, looking at them lovingly every once in awhile.
“I love these!� she kept saying as she walked around the tag sale, and
would not put those things down. Her grandmother then picked up the
whole box and started walking over to me, telling me she was going to
take the whole thing. I told her that those all had been well-loved and
that it was actually my old collection. She smiled and said, “Oh good,
my granddaughter is going to love them. She loves Precious Moments…
and SHE LOVES JESUS!â€� Ahhh!! My life was complete at that moment. 🙂 It
was amazing to feel like I was passing something so precious and dear to
me onto another little girl who loves the Lord with all her heart and
will enjoy the collection much more than I will at this point. It just
felt so rewarding and so beautiful. I walked up to the little girl as
they were checking out and told her again that these were well-loved and well-taken care of.
She looked up at me, the Bible and books still pressed against her
chest, and thanked me so much. “You’re so welcome!� I said, and I told
her to keep Jesus in her heart forever and keep her eyes on Him. It was a
really sweet moment. A “precious momentâ€� if you will, haha. 🙂 Thank
you, Lord!
19.
One woman towards the end of the day was helping to pack stuff up with
us, along with her son. SO SWEET! She asked about what I was doing and when I told her she
said something like, “Wow… you’re going to change the world aren’t
you?� I responded, “Nope. JESUS is going to change the world!! But He’s
going to use me to do it! Praise God!� Haha, I love testifying about the
Lord!
20.
The tag sale was over and we were packing stuff up. A car pulled up and
one of the guys I had talked to earlier got out of the car and came
walking over with a smile on his face. “Do you have any more books? I
was thinking about it after I left today and I really want to get some
more of them. I like these Christian books… I want to start reading
them.� Wow! That’s the Spirit of the Lord in pursuit of this man’s heart
right there!! I LOVED IT!! I told him to take as many as he wanted and I
boxed them up for him before he left. PRAISE GOD for the work He’s
doing in people’s lives!!
21.
Jesus was definitely at work today. He was touching hearts and lives
through this tag sale and through the ways He is at work around the
world. People said stuff like, “Are these all of your books? They’re all
Christian. I knew there was something special about this.� Yea, that’s
CHRIST!! Others seemed to be seeking the Lord and would ask poignant
questions. It was amazing to be able to point all of this back to the
Lord and say that the work I’m doing is ALL BECAUSE OF HIM!! It is not
of me! It is of the Lord! 🙂
22.
And last but not least, I thought I would share with you how successful
this tag sale really was and how much Jesus can truly BLESS OUR SOCKS
OFF!! We made a total of $932.93 today!!! WHAT!? CRAZY, right?! I
know… I was floored. And still am. THANK YOU, LORD for your abundant provision!!
So
yea, sorry this blog was so long but I truly felt the need to share
with you the GOODNESS and FAITHFULNESS of the Lord and His divine favor
on the whole day! Gosh, I’m just amazed. GOD IS SO SO GOOD!!!
Thank you again for everyone’s support, help, and donations that made this tag sale such a success!! I am SO BLESSED!!
“‘Bring
the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my
house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not
THROW OPEN the FLOODGATES of HEAVEN and pour out SO MUCH BLESSING that
you will NOT HAVE ROOM ENOUGH for it’� (Malachi 3:10).
Heck yes! God poured out more blessing today than my little heart could contain. THANK YOU, JESUS!!!
