This weekend I had a garage sale and it was a HUGE success! There was a steady flow of people in and out starting at 9:30 on Thursday morning and continuing until 5:15 Saturday evening.  At the end of the evening on Saturday the  Lucky-Brand-cologne-tin-turned-till contained eight hundred forty dollars and six cents! Now, some of you might be thinking “that’s not all that great for a three-day garage sale” but those thoughts should change when I tell you that the only things I sold were a set of used Wal-mart brand dishes and a couple of shirts that were in a bag headed for goodwill!  I know- amazing, right? In case you’re wondering, Wal-mart did not ever produce gold-dipped china, the shirts were not magical in that they made you look super-hot and although Susan and my mom were great in helping me set up and run the sale, they have never been known to sell ice to Eskimos– the money was all made because my family, friends, neighbors and co-workers took the time to sort through their things and donate to my garage sale.

It wasn’t the dishes and the shirts that got me $840.06 closer to reaching my support goal for my mission trip, it was a bunch of other junk. Let me list for you some of the ‘precious’ things that brought in the big bucks: a carload of stuff leftover after Michele cleaned out her garage, seven bags of toys that Mandy was tired of tripping over in her attic, a lawnmower that my dad collected from the side of the road, several books from Sandy’s shelves, a set of patio furniture that my neighbor Scott didn’t need anymore, eight boxes of very random glassware from Justin’s mother-in-law, a globe and a rocking horse that Cheryl’s daughter had outgrown, a filing cabinet that was taking up space in Jeanne’s scrapbooking room, a few bridesmaid dresses that Renae would never wear again, a Mr. and Mrs. Claus that move when you plug them in from Donna, a suitcase that hadn’t been used in years from Bobbi, my Wal-mart dishes and a few shirts.

So now you are probably asking the same thing I did at the end of the day on Saturday: “How in the world did I end up with eight hundred bucks from THAT?”  It must be the same way the disciples were feeling as they collected the leftover fish and loaves. What a miraculous blessing!

I sit here this evening not only in awe of the way God has provided me with the money I need for my trip, but also feeling very grateful for the wonderfully supportive co-workers, neighbors, friends, and family He has blessed me with.  I can only imagine the Stone Soup we could make if we tried!!

Elizabeth